China will launch its second manned spacecraft Shenzhou-6 between October 12 and 15, an official said on Tuesday.

The spacecraft, carrying two astronauts, will be launched into space from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre in northwest China's Gansu Province.

The astronauts have been selected and they have completed comprehensive ground drills, the official said.

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However, he did not name the astronauts and the time of the spacecraft's return.

"Preparations for the launch are doing well," the unnamed official was quoted as saying by Xinhua news agency.

China became the third country after the US and Russia [Images] to have the capability to undertake manned space missions in October 2003, when the 'Long March' rocket blasted into orbit carrying astronaut Yang Liwei onboard Shenzhou-5 spacecraft.

Chief designer of China's manned flight programme, Wang Yongzhi said the two astronauts on Shenzhou-6 will for the first time enter into the orbital module from the re-entry capsule and live and work several days under microgravity conditions.

Microgravity is a condition of free-fall within a gravitational field in which the weight of an object is reduced compared to its weight at rest on Earth.

They will also for the first time carry out 'scientific experiments with human participation in its real sense' in space, Wang said.

Commander-in-chief of the rocket system Liu Yu, said the rocket for Shenzhou-6 is more reliable and safe than th3e one used for Shenzhou-5.