China's next manned space launch will carry three astronauts into orbit for a week, a newspaper reported Tuesday, citing a space program official.

Plans call for the next launch within two years, the Chengdu Evening Post said, citing Xu Dazhe, deputy general manager of the China Aerospace Technology Group.

China's first manned space launch on October 15 carried astronaut Yang Liwei's Shenzhou V capsule into orbit for a 14-orbit flight that lasted 21 1/2 hours.

Following Yang's return, space officials said the next Shenzhou launch would take place within two years, but they didn't give a date or say how many astronauts it would carry.

The space officials said China eventually wants to send up a permanently manned space station, suggesting they already are at work on supporting space crews for long periods.

In the China News Service report on Saturday, the space program's deputy chief designer was cited as saying the rocket that boosted Yang into orbit already is strong enough to carry up to three astronauts.

Tens of thousands of young Chinese professionals working for China's manned space project are becoming experienced and increasingly important for the country's future in the space sector, senior space experts said.

Qi Faren, 70, chief designer of China's spacecraft, said a group of well-educated young professionals with good managerial skills were trained during the development of the vessel, which is more valuable than the successful manned space mission itself. 

China's first astronaut returned to the Earth on October 16 after orbiting the planet 14 times in 21 1/2 hours, making China the third country capable of independently putting a person into space.

Space officials and experts say thousands of young professionals tempered in the 11-year-old project are an important human resource for China's future space endeavors.

About 80 percent of the engineers and technicians working for the space project are under 40, with some even under 30.

Liu Feng, 27, is the commander of the error inspection system for the carrier rocket while Qin Wenbo, vice-chief designer of the spacecraft system, is only 37 years old.

The stars include rocket expert Zhang Qingwei, 42, deputy chief commander of the space project; Yuan Jiajun, 41, chief commander of the spacecraft system and president of the China Academy of Space Technology; and rocket expert Wu Yansheng, 39, president of the China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology.

At the age of 40, Zhang Qingwei was appointed in 2001 general manager of China Aerospace Science and Technology Corp, which has 103,000 employees, and develops the launch vehicle and spacecraft.

(Xinhua News Agency October 29, 2003)