China hopes to launch second manned space mission

China hopes to launch its second manned space mission in October, two years after the first flight.

Earlier reports said the government planned to fire a two-man crew into orbit in September or October on a five- to six-day flight.

The Shenzhou VI capsule will “preferably be launched in early October,” said Sun Weigang, director of the Space Department of the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation.

The report did not say whether astronauts for the flight had been picked or give any other details.

China’s first manned space flight in October 2003 made it the third country able to launch a human into space on its own, after Russia and the US.

Col. Yang Liwei, a former fighter pilot, orbited the Earth for 21 hours aboard the Shenzhou V capsule before landing in China’s northern grasslands.

The 14 candidates for the next flight – all former fighter pilots – have “stepped up training in weightless conditions and learned to repair faults and deal with other emergencies in space,” the China Daily newspaper reported.

The military-linked manned space program is a major prestige project for the communist government, but still operates largely in secret.

Yang’s name wasn’t announced until shortly before his flight and the identities of candidates for the next flight haven’t been released.

The Chinese manned space program’s technology is based on Russia’s Soyuz space capsule but with extensive modifications.

In April, the government announced plans to build a new campus for the Shanghai space centre that built part of Yang’s capsule, indicating a longer-term commitment to manned spaceflight.

Chinese officials say they planned to land an unmanned probe on the moon by 2010 and operate a space station.

Beijing doesn’t participate in the US-led International Space Station.