Chinese officials confirmed that the third manned mission of its space programme is scheduled for launch from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwestern Gansu Province on Thursday. The Shenzhou-7 spacecraft will carry three astronauts in an ambitious project to conduct a spacewalk.

The launch will take place on September 25th between 9:07 p.m. and 10:27 p.m. and although the names of the astronauts have not been revealed so far, a team of Russian specialists will reportedly ensure that everything will go well during the Chinese 30-minute spacewalk.

Taking that into consideration, and according to mission spokesperson Wang Zhaoyao, this will benefit the collaboration between China and Russia, and will create premises for a future cooperation between the two countries.

China also hopes to soon create the technology for its first space station, however, it still remains unclear how far they are now with their development plans, especially considering that they rely mostly on home-made technology.

Two of the astronauts aboard Shenzhou-7 will have don suits, a Russian-made suit and a Chinese-made suit, however only one of them will conduct the spacewalk. The name of the astronaut remains unknown, and so does the suit selection.

Earlier this month, a spokesperson for the Chinese Space Agency confirmed the completion of the main tests for the spacecraft and the spacewalk, also announcing the entering of all major systems involved in the launching in the final phase of preparation.

Rumors have it that 42-year-old force pilot Zhai Zhigang will be one of the three astronauts to perform the Shenzhou-7 mission, and perhaps the one to perform the spacewalk as well, although that has not been confirmed yet.

Update 1: The government said astronaut Zhai Zhigang was chosen to make the spacewalk. The other two crew members were named as Liu Boming, who is to assist Zhai with leaving and re-entering the spacecraft, and Jing Haiping.

In 2003, China's successful Shenzhou V mission made it the third country to launch a manned space mission, after Russia and the United States.

Update 2: Chinese President Hu Jintao on Thursday saw off the three astronauts. He met the astronauts at the Jiuquan space centre in the north-western province of Gansu before they headed to the nearby launch-pad.

Hu praised the astronauts, who are all former military fighter pilots, for their "excellent quality," in a brief meeting some three and a half hours before the scheduled launch at 9:10 pm (1310 GMT).

Flanked by civilian and military leaders of the space programme, Hu addressed the astronauts as "comrades" as they sat behind a protective glass screen in their space suits.

"I come here on behalf of the Communist Party, the State Council and the Central Military Commission, and the people of our whole nation, to encourage you in this mission, and I wish you every success," Hu said in his speech, which was broadcast live by state television.

"We believe you will certainly complete your mission and we hope you can return safely and successfully," he said.
The three men, all 42, saluted Hu and the other leaders before leaving for the launch-pad.

"Please let the whole nation rest assured, we will obey the orders and instructions, work carefully and try to keep ourselves calm to make sure we complete our mission," Zhai said at the send-off ceremony.