Figure 1：The assembly of Shenzhou 10 spaceship and Long March 2F/Y10 carrier rocket is being transferred.

[June 3, CMSE News] China Manned Space Engineering press spokesman announced on June 3 that China will launch Shenzhou 10 spaceship sometime in mid-June and three astronauts will visit Tiangong 1 again. The assembly of Shenzhou 10 spaceship and Long March 2F/Y10 carrier rocket has been vertically transferred from the technical area to the launch pad in Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, which indicates that the Shenzhou 10 mission has entered the final preparation phase.

All main works such as assembly and testing of Shenzhou 10 spaceship and Long March 2F/Y10 carrier rocket have been completed in the technical area since they arrived at the launch centre in late March. After propellant was loaded onto Shenzhou 10 spaceship, Shenzhou 10 spaceship and Long March 2F/Y10 carrier rocket were assembled together. At 9:00 a.m. June 3, the mobile launch platform carrying the assembly rolled out of the Vertical Assemble Building (VAB) and was transferred safely to the launch pad along the 1500-long seamless steal trail at the speed of no more than 20 meters per minute. In the following days, the spaceship testing, rocket function testing and the crew-spaceship-rocket-ground joint testing will be consecutively carried out. After the final status check and confirmation, the rocket will be loaded for launch at appropriate time.

Figure 2: The assembly of Shenzhou 10 spaceship and Long March 2F/Y10 carrier rocket has been safely transferred to the launch pad.

 Shenzhou 10 spaceship will conduct rendezvous and docking with Tiangong I target vehicle which was launched into orbit in 2011, and some related space science experiments will be carried out during the filght. At present, the preparation work for the Shenzhou 10 mission goes on smoothly and the crew members have taken part in various training and are in good physical and mental condition.

Now, Tiangong I target vehicle has been maneuvered to the docking orbit in late May. It is functioning well in the orbit and can meet the needs of the coming mission. (Translated by Yu Yanjuan)