China to launch spacecraft

Beijing: China will launch a spacecraft that will perform the country's first docking with a space lab module.

The country will launch the Shenzhou-8 spacecraft in early November at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China, reported Xinhua.

The spacecraft is expected to perform China's first space docking with Tiangong-1, or Heavenly Palace-1, a space lab module that was launched in September from the same launch centre.

The Shenzhou-8 spacecraft and the carrier rocket, Long March-2F, are being vertically transferred to the launch pad at the centre.