BEIJING, Oct.5 -- China's second manned spacecraft Shenzhou VI is scheduled to be lifted in mid-October, and the mission is supposed to last about five days with two astronauts on board, according to China's first astronaut Yang Liwei.

Yang Liwei said he was too involved in the selection and training of 13 other astronauts in line for a seat on the craft to prepare himself, at a meeting in Nanjing about three weeks ago.

Space authorities were carrying out various tests on the craft, and the final launch time will be adjusted according to the test results, according to Zhang Qingwei, president of the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corp.

An official who is close to the manned space programme earlier said the launch would be in daytime to enhance safety and ease preparations.

Yang was quoted as saying the astronauts would have more space this time than when he made his 21-hour flight, inhabiting the craft's orbit capsule as well as its return module. They'll have more creature comforts too, including heated food, sleeping bags and "essential sanitary equipment."

After the re-entry module returns to the Earth, the orbital module will continue working in space as an independent satellite carrying out a series of scientific experiments, scientists said.

China's first manned spacecraft, the Shenzhou V, was shot into space by the Long March-II-F carrier rocket from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in the northwestern province of Gansu at 9 a.m. on October 15, 2003,

The spacecraft was piloted by Yang Liwei, 38, a lieutenant colonel of the People's Liberation Army (PLA). Yang, a member of the PLA's Astronauts Team, was trained at home.

The Shenzhou mission made China the third nation to send a man into outer space, following the former Soviet Union and the United States.