China aims for second manned launch in Oct – paper

BEIJING (Reuters) – China is aiming to launch its second
manned space capsule in October with two astronauts on a five-
to six-day mission, the China Daily newspaper reported on
Friday.

Astronaut training has been stepped up in preparation for
the flight, which will come two years after China first
launched a man into space on a craft called Shenzhou V.

“The manned spacecraft (Shenzhou VI) will … preferably be
launched in early October,” the paper quoted Sun Weigang,
director of the Space Department of the China Aerospace Science
and Technology Corp., as saying.

China became the third nation to send a man into space in
October 2003 when astronaut Yang Liwei orbited the earth 14
times.

Six candidates for the Shenzhou VI mission were chosen from
a pool of 14 in December.

China’s space plans are ambitious.

It hopes to be ready to set up its own orbiting space
station in five years. The country also aims to have an
astronaut perform a spacewalk during a planned Shenzhou VII
mission, and eventually put men on the moon.