The "Shenzhou IV", China's fourth unmanned spaceship, will be launched by next January 10 at the latest, Xinhua News Agency quoted an expert saying Thursday.
The conditions in Shenzhou IV will be absolutely the same as a manned spacecraft, according to the expert.
China successfully launched the unmanned Shenzhou III vessel atop a CASC Long March 2F rocket in March. The spacecraft returned after seven days and having circled the earth 108 times.
The three consecutive successes of the Shenzhou series since 1999 have sparked widespread speculation that China, vowing to become the third nation in the world to put a human in space, will stage manned flights soon.
Earlier Chinese newspaper reports have said this could be as early as 2005.
(Xinhua News Agency August 22, 2002)
