China expects to launch its first manned spacecraft in the second half of this year, a senior aerospace official said yesterday.

Yuan Jie, director of the Shanghai Aerospace Bureau, was reported by the China News Service to have revealed the time on his return to Shanghai after witnessing the successful launch of Shenzhou IV on Monday morning.

The spacecraft blasted into space at 12:40 am on that day on a powerful Long March 2F rocket, and detached itself from the launch vehicle, entering its pre-set orbit at around 12:50 am.

The launch of Shenzhou IV, China's fourth unmanned spacecraft, is the second time in a year that the country has staged an unmanned mission, following the launch of Shenzhou III nine months ago.

If Yuan's wishes are met, China will become the world's third country to independently launch a human into the space, following the former Soviet Union and the United States.

Preparation of the first manned spacecraft has entered the overall assembly and testing phase, Yuan said.

Shenzhou IV has laid a solid foundation for the coming manned space mission.

Compared with the three previous unmanned space capsules launched between November 1999 and March 2002, Shenzhou IV represents the country's most sophisticated and fullest preparation so far to realize the nation's long-cherished dream of manned space flight, said Yuan.

Sources from the Beijing Aerospace Command and Control Center said all experiments carried on Shenzhou IV had been running well, Xinhua News Agency reported yesterday.

And at 00:09 am, it sent back a clear New Year's greeting to the whole nation, the first of its kind by the spacecraft.

(China Daily January 2, 2003)