China's Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology in Beijing will ship the Shen Zhou 5 spacecraft to the Jiuquan launch site for the country's first manned spaceflight at the end of September.

The launch on a Long March 2F launch vehicle, planned for late October/early November, is expected to involve one Chinese "taikonaut" on a one-day test flight ending with a soft landing.

It has been reported that an external camera will be used to transmit 1.6m-resolution reconnaissance images.

Source: Flight International