China says launch of Shenzhou VIII successful

神舟八号飞船成功发射升空

BEIJING - Commander-in-chief of China’s manned space program Chang Wanquan announced early Tuesday that the launch of Shenzhou-8 unmanned spacecraft is successful.

北京-中国载人航天计划总指挥常万全在本周二早上宣布神舟八号飞船成功发射。

The spacecraft was successfully sent into the designated orbit after the blastoff at 5:58 am at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwestern desert area， carried by an upgraded Long March-2F rocket.

周二凌晨5时58分酒泉卫星发射中心，神舟八号搭载长征二号F型火箭发射升空，进入预定轨道。

It is heading to rendezvous with the Tiangong-1， or “Heavenly Palace-1” that was put into space on September 29 for the country’s first space docking.

神舟八号将与9月29日发射升空的天宫一号实现“太空相会”，实施中国航天史上首次空间交会对接。

The docking， if successful， will pave the way for China to operate a permanent space station around 2020， and make the nation the world’s third to do so.

这次交会对接如果能成功完成，将为中国在2020年左右建立永久性太空站铺平道路，中国也将继美国和俄罗斯之后成为世界上第三个建立永久空间站的国家。

The docking will happen within two days after the launch of the Shenzhou VIII at a height of 343 km above Earth’s surface. The spacecraft will return to Earth after two docking operations.

万众瞩目的交会对接任务将在神舟八号发射升空的两天内完成，交会对接轨道距离地球表面343公里。神舟八号将在完成两次对接任务后返回地球。