According to China's Xinhua news agency China launched a second Shenzhou spacecraft early Wednesday morning. Shenzhou II was launched from the Jiuquan range in northwestern China. The configuration of the vehicle is identical to that which will be used to carry humans into space. Some unspecified research animals are also being carried aboard the spacecraft. While no date for a human mission has been given this flight is designed to flight qualify the vehicle for human use.

Related Links

° China Unveils its Plans For Space, SpaceRef
° Full Text of the "White paper on China's Space Activities"
° Shenzhou 2 Launch Imminent, Chinese Manned Space Program Targets the Moon, SpaceRef
° 3 November 1999: Comments by Luo Ge, Director General, Department of Foreign Affairs China National Space Administration to the International Space Business Assembly (ISBA) held in Washington, D.C.
° Shenzhou, Encyclopedia Astronautica
° Chinese Space Activities, Federation of American Scientists
° Go Taikonauts! (aka Dragon in Space)
° China National Space Administration