China is expected to launch a crewed spacecraft in the second half of this year, state media said today.
Preparation for the first crewed spacecraft has entered the overall assembly and testing phase, the official
China Daily
newspaper quoted the director of the Shanghai aerospace center as saying.
China has already launched spacecraft designed to accommodate people. The fourth such launch took place on Monday in what is probably a final test before China sends its first astronaut into orbit around earth.
Shenzhou IV, or "Divine Ship," has already settled into its course around earth, state media said. All experiments carried on Shenzhou IVhas been running well, the newspaper quoted the Beijing Aerospace Command and Control Center as saying.
China's space program is a test of national pride as the country seeks a place on the world stage alongside great powers.
China aims to become the third nation in the world capable of putting people in space. The Soviet Union first accomplished the feat in 1961, with the United States following the next year.
Chinese astronauts - dubbed "taikonauts," taken from "taikong," the Chinese word for space - had fighter pilot backgrounds and were absolutely capable of making their first voyages to outer space, the official Xinhua news agency said.