As China's fourth manned space flight, the spacecraft will carry three astronauts, potentially including a woman. China was the third country to independently send a man into space in 2003. It has not launched a flight since 2008. The mission is apparently part of a larger goal to develop a “full orbiting space station,” which is scheduled for completion by 2020. This program was launched by Beijing after China was rejected from a place with the International Space Station, largely as a result of objections by the United States, which sees China as an economic and political rival.

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