A senior Chinese space program official said in Beijing on Wednesday that development of the Shenzhou VII manned spacecraft was proceeding smoothly, but declined to give a timetable for its launch.

"The Shenzhou VII project is going smoothly. The next step of the manned spaceflight program involves allowing the taikonaut to exit the spacecraft and docking the craft with another target object," said Sun Laiyan, head of China National Space Administration, in an interview at www.gov.cn, a Chinese central government website that covers the application of military technology for civilian use.

He said the taikonaut will walk out of the spacecraft wearing a space suit and that the technology is complex with high risks.

"We do have a timetable for the manned spaceflight program, but our foremost concern is safety and reliability," said Sun, who is also deputy head of the Commission of Science Technology and Industry for National Defense.

"We will announce the timetable on this website when we believe the time is ripe and conditions are mature," he said.

He did not rule out the possibility of sending female taikonauts, female scientists, engineers and even philosophers into space in the future.

"A space flight will help philosophers develop new philosophic views. That's good for human society," said Sun.

China successfully launched its Shenzhou VI spacecraft carrying two taikonauts into space on Oct. 12, 2005. It returned to earth safely after 115 hours and 32 minutes of flight.

Previous news reports predicted the Shenzhou VII would be launched around 2007 and space docking would take place between 2009 and 2012.

(Xinhua News Agency October 26, 2006)