Posted: Tue, Nov 1, 2011, 6:49 AM ET (1049 GMT)
A Long March rocket placed an uncrewed Shenzhou spacecraft into orbit early Tuesday on a mission to demonstrate docking technology essential to China's space station plans. The Long March 2F rocket lifted off from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center at 5:58 pm EDT Monday (2158 GMT Monday, 5:58 am Beijing time Tuesday) and placed the Shenzhou 8 spacecraft into orbit. While the previous three Shenzhou missions were all crewed, this Shenzhou carried no people, but will instead attempt to rendezvous and dock with China's new Tiangong-1 module, the first such docking attempted by a Chinese spacecraft. That docking attempt is expected to take place later this week, with Shenzhou 8 returning to Earth after making two dockings with the module. A successful mission would clear the way for a crewed mission to Tiangong-1 next year and keep China on the path to its long-term goal of a permanent space station by the end of the decade.
