China to launch manned spacecraft, complete longest Chinese space stay

Chinese astronauts Jing Haipeng and Chen Dong meet the press on October 16 at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China. [Photo by Feng Yongbin/asianewsphoto]

China will launch a manned spacecraft on Monday morning to transport two astronauts to the Tiangong II space laboratory, according to the China Manned Space Agency.

Wu Ping, deputy director and spokeswoman for the agency, told reporters at a news conference at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center on Sunday that the Shenzhou XI will blast off at 7:30 am atop a Long March 2F carrier rocket from the Jiuquan center. It will carry two male astronauts – Jing Haipeng and Chen Dong.

After its launch, the spacecraft will travel two days before docking at the Tiangong II. Then the astronauts will enter the space lab and stay there for 30 days, which will be the longest space stay by Chinese astronauts, Wu said.

The core tasks of the Shenzhou XI mission are to test rendezvous and docking technologies for the country's planned space station, to verify the life support capability of the spacecraft-space lab combination as well as conduct scientific research and test engineering experiment, Wu said.