China is set to launch its sixth crewed spaceflight on the first and only crewed mission to its Tiangong-2 space lab.
The Shenzhou 11 spacecraft will lift off with Chinese astronauts Jing Haipeng and Chen Dong to stay 30 days aboard the orbiting module. The launch is scheduled for Sunday (Oct. 16) at 7:30 p.m. EDT (2330 GMT).
The docking of Shenzhou 11 with
Tiangong-2 will take place two days later.
The spacecraft's Long March 2F rocket was rolled out to the launch pad at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center on Monday (Oct. 10).
The Shenzhou 11 crew are expected to perform science experiments and test the systems on Tiangong-2 in an effort to advance China's plans for a modular, larger space station, Tianhe-1, slated to launch in 2018.