China is readying a Shenzhou spacecraft for liftoff in October - a mission that will involve three "Taikonauts" orbiting the Earth, one of which will conduct that country's first spacewalk.

Chinese news outlets are reporting today that the Shenzhou-7 spaceship has reached the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in Gansu province. Technicians there will carry out a series of final checks on the vehicle, all in preparation for  the Shenzhou launch on a Long March booster in October.

Some 5,000 pieces of equipment involved in the upcoming mission have already undergone testing.

A team of six space travelers are in training for the mission - with a down-select to the three that will actually fly expected shortly. 

The October flight marks the third time China has lofted people into Earth orbit. A single pilot was flown in 2003; a second mission carrying two people flew in 2005. Several flight tests of unpiloted Shenzhou spacecraft were conducted prior to the first passenger-carrying sojourns.

Meanwhile, reports from China indicate progress is being made on building a more-powerful Long March rocket.

Engines for the Long March 5 booster are to be first tested by year's end. Current projections by China's rocket designers are that the launcher is to be in operation by 2014.

Capable of tossing far heavier payloads into space -- including Shenzhou-series spacecraft -- the Long March 5 is viewed as an important step in China's space station effort, as well as bolstering its ability to carry out lunar exploration objectives.

This October's Shenzhou mission is manifested to have a spacewalker test construction techniques that would permit the building of an outpost in Earth orbit. 

-- Leonard David