China will undertake its next manned spaceship mission in June 2013, state media reported.
China is the third country to send a human into space in 2003. The country is planning to launch its next mission of sending 10 Shenzhou spacecrafts to conduct experiments in space to compete with Russia. The mission, which is followed by the success of Shenzhou 9 spacecraft earlier in June, will include a woman and two men on board, reported Reuters
"They will stay in space for 15 days, operating both automated and manual space dockings with the target orbiter Tiangong-1, conducting scientific experiments in the lab module and giving science lectures to spectators on the Earth," state-run China Radio International quoted Niu Hongguang, deputy commander-in-chief of China's manned space program, Press trust of India reported.
Shenzhou 9 spacecraft verified the manned docking space capabilities of China. With the success of its next mission China aims to develop a space lab and a space station by 2020.
"The success of this mission might enable China to construct a space lab and a space station," Hongguang added.
China, which is trying to compete with the established space superpowers like the US and Russia, also considers sending an unmanned and manned spacecraft to the moon by 2020. Space giants like US and Russia are unlikely to undertake any space project due to some issues like budget restrain and shifts in priorities.
Earlier, there was also a talk about China becoming part of International Space Project. This is unlikely to happen due to existing tension between Beijing and Washington, said reports.
