China's Shenzhou VII shuttle shipped to Jiuquan for October launch mission

2008-07-10 08:30:27 GMT2008-07-10 16:30:27 (Beijing Time) Xinhua English

BEIJING, July 10 (Xinhua) -- China's third manned spaceship, Shenzhou VII, set to launch in October, reached the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in the northwestern Gansu Province on Thursday, a military source said.

The space shuttle was transported to the launch center by air from Beijing early on Thursday morning, the source said, adding the move marked the start of the Shenzhou VII launch mission.

China successfully put two manned spacecraft into orbit in 2003and 2005 respectively. Shenzhou VII was expected to be launched in October, although the exact date was not available.

Earlier reports said a crew of six astronauts had been chosen for the mission, with three manning the spacecraft and three substitutes.

Compared with Shenzhou VI, China's second manned space mission with a crew of two, Shenzhou VII has more stringent technological requirements: one of its three astronauts is scheduled to conduct a space walk.

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