BEIJING (AFP) Oct 07, 2003
Premier Wen Jiabao said Tuesday China would send a man into space "very soon" in the first comments by a high-ranking Chinese leader on the imminent launch of Shenzhou V.
"This will be very soon, very soon," he told reporters at an ASEAN summit in Bali and monitored here, in response to questions about the launch of China's first manned space mission, 42 years after the Soviets first put a human in orbit.
Experts believe a seven-day launch window could begin on Friday with October 15 touted as a possible date for lift-off, weather permitting.
The Beijing-backed Wen Wei Po newspaper in Hong Kong cited authoritative sources as saying last week that the launch is expected "right after" a Communist Party Central Committee plenary meeting ending on October 14.
Wen however insisted a specific date had yet to be finalised.
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