China may be just days away from launching its first manned docking mission to the country's Tiangong-1 space station module, according to reports. A Shenzou-9 spacecraft atop a Long March-2F rocket was moved on Saturday to a launch platform at Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China in preparation for a mid-June launch, Chinese space agency officials said over the weekend.

The China National Space Administration (CNSA) is now conducting final tests ahead of the launch, according to the Global Times. Tiangong-1 was successfully lowered to docking orbit earlier this month, the China-based tabloid newspaper reported.

The three-person crew aboard Shenzou-9 will include a female astronaut, either Liu Yang and Wang Yaping, China's official Xinhua news agency reported Monday.

One of the two candidates from the Chinese Air Force's Wuhan Flight Unit could become the first Chinese woman to travel to space, joining six male astronauts who have done so. Officially, the CNSA has only said that a female astronaut could be part of the Shenzou-9 crew and that the final decision would be made very late in the game, but Xinhua is regarded as the de facto voice of the Chinese government so it seems likely that the decision has been finalized.

"The Shenzhou-9 will perform our country's first manned space docking mission with the orbiting Tiangong-1 space lab module," said Zhou Jianping, chief designer of CNSA's manned space program, according to Global Times. "It means China's spacecraft will become a genuine manned shuttle tool between space and Earth. It can send human beings to space stations or space labs. This will be a significant step in China's manned space flight history."

The 9.4-ton Tiangong-1 module, launched and placed in orbit last September, is not a fully developed space station but rather a testing platform for rendezvous and docking missions like the one planned later this month. The CNSA aims to launch a fully functioning space station as part of the agency's Tiangong, or "Heavenly Palace" program.

The unmanned Shenzou-8 spacecraft successfully docked with Tiangong-1 last November. The upcoming mission calls for two astronauts to board the space station module, with the third remaining in the Shenzou-9 spacecraft.

Tiangong-1 is scheduled to be de-orbited in 2013 following the Shenzou-9 mission and another manned mission to the module.

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Originally posted here:

China Set for Manned Mission to Tiangong-1 Module