A Chinese official said China remains on course for its first manned mission into space by the end of December.
While visiting Paris, Liu Youguang, general manager of the space department at China Great Wall Industry Corp., said two astronauts might take part in the historic flight.
He said the capsule would also carry instruments for scientific experiments in addition to its human payload.
If all goes well, China will become only the third country to launch a human into space, more than four decades after the former Soviet Union and the United States.
(People's Daily June 18, 2003)
