China will launch up to two manned space missions in 2012 as it hones the skills needed to secure a long-term manned presence in outer space, an official spokeswoman said on Monday, on the eve of the launch of an unmanned spacecraft. The spokeswoman for China's space programme, Wu Ping, said a rocket will lift the unmanned Shenzhou 8 spacecraft into orbit from northwest China on Tuesday at 0558 AM local time (2158 GMT), preparing the way for the spacecraft to dock with the Tiangong 1, an experimental module launched on Sept. 29. The rendezvous and docking exercises between the two vessels are part of China's effort to develop the technological and logistical skills needed to run a full space lab that could house astronauts for long stretches. The next step, planned for 2012, will entail similar exercises with at least one mission carrying astronauts onboard, Wu told a news conference at the launch site in the Gobi Desert. “Next year, we will carry out the Shenzhou 9 and 10 flight missions, and they will also carry out rendezvous and docking tests with the Tiangong 1,” said Wu. Beijing is still far from catching up with the established space superpowers: the United States and Russia. The Tiangong 1 is a trial module; not the building block of a space station. China's impending unmanned tests will help determine whether a modified version of the Shenzhou spacecraft “is suited to the needs of manned space travel,” said Wu.
