BEIJING, Sept. 20 (UPI) -- China's launch of its unmanned space module Tiangong-1, put off earlier this month, is now set for later this month, a spokesman said Tuesday.
The launch will occur sometime between next Tuesday and the end of the month, Xinhua news agency reported.
Earlier this month, Chinese scientists rescheduled the event due to the failed launch of an experimental orbiter.
The project's spokesman said the space module and its carrier rocket, Long-March II-F, have been moved to the launch platform at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China's Gansu Province, and all final preparations are running smoothly, the report said.
The 18,740-pound (8.5-metric tons) Tiangong-1, or "Heavenly Palace 1," will be sent into space to perform the nation's first space-docking procedure. The module is scheduled to dock with the unmanned Shenzhou-8 spacecraft, which will be sent into space after Tiangong-1's launch.
Scientists also plan to test the long-term unmanned operation as well as carry out medical and technical experiments aboard the Tiangong-1.
The Long-March II-F belongs to the same series as the malfunctioning rocket that played a role in experimental orbiter SJ-11-04's failure to enter Earth's orbit in August, Xinhua reported.
