China's Shenzhou VII spacecraft under assembly

China's third manned spacecraft is under assembly, a chief Shenzhou spaceship consultant said here Thursday.

"All the equipment of the separate systems has been delivered to China's space aviation center for assembly," Qi Faren, chief designer of China's first five Shenzhou spaceships, and chief consultant for Shenzhou VI and VII, said at a major air show here in Guangdong province.

Qi said three astronauts will man Shenzhou VII and they are expected to carry out spacewalks during the third manned space flight planned for 2008.

China's first manned space flight took place in 2003, becoming the third nation to conduct independent manned space flight.

Last year, the second manned spaceship, the Shenzhou VI, was launched and completed a five-day flight with two astronauts carrying out space-based experiments.

Source: Xinhua