The Shenzhou-9 manned spacecraft will be launched at 6:37 p.m. Saturday, according to a decision made by China's manned space docking program headquarters. Three astronauts, two male and one female, will board China's fourth manned spacecraft to fulfill the country's first manned space docking mission. They are Jing Haipeng, Liu Wang and Liu Yang who is female, according to the headquarters. Read more
Ed ~ the launch of the Shenzhou-9 spacecraft is scheduled for 10:37 UT (18:37 Beijing time) 16th June, 2012.
Chinese female taikonaut to join Shenzhou-9 docking mission
The rocket carrying the Shenzhou-9 spacecraft has been taken to its launch pad, according to the original plan, and is scheduled to take-off in mid June. The move means Shenzhou 9 mission is entering its final stage. A test of the rocket and Shenzhou 9 will be carried out on the launch pad in the next few days. The unmanned capsule, Tiangong 1, launched last year, is now operating well, and has lowered itself into a docking orbit. Shenzhou 9 will carry astronauts to dock with Tiangong 1 as part of Chinas plan to launch a manned space centre. Read more
China has announced it will carry out a manned space flight at some point in the middle of June. A rocket carrying the Shenzhou 9 spacecraft has been moved to a launch pad in the north-west of the country. Read more
China plans to launch the unmanned Shenzhou 9 spacecraft in June 2012, to complete space rendezvous and docking missions with the Tiangong-1 space lab module, the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation told the Legal Evening News. The launch of the manned Shenzhou 10 will be delayed until next year according to the latest schedule. Read more
Gearing up to land a rover on moon and send manned spaceflights to built space station, China on Thursday said it will push forward its exploration of planets, asteroids and solar system in order to achieve self sufficiency. China will launch lunar mission to land a rover on moon for carrying out a survey of its surface in the next five years and conduct studies for a human lunar landing, a white paper issued today by the Chinese government listing the country's space achievement in the last five years. Read more
China To Launch Shenzhou-9, Shenzhou-10 Spacecraft Next Year
China will launch the Shenzhou-9 and Shenzhou-10 spacecraft and achieve space rendezvous and docking missions with the orbiting Tiangong-1 vehicle in 2012, a spokesman for the China National Space Administration said Thursday. Read more