China has launched its first data relay satellite in preparation for the inaugural spacewalk by a Chinese astronaut scheduled for later this year, a state news agency said Saturday. The Tianlian I satellite was launched on a Long March-3C carrier rocket from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in southwest China's Sichuan Province late Friday night, Xinhua News Agency said. It said the satellite would not begin functioning until the Shenzhou 7 mission _ scheduled for the second half of 2008 _ when Chinese astronauts were to leave their spacecraft for the first time. Xinhua reported earlier this year that China's space program was considering a live broadcast of the spacewalk.
