JIUQUAN, Gansu, Sept. 24 --- The Shenzhou-7 spaceship will carry Zhai Zhigang, Liu Boming and Jing Haipeng, all aged 42,for China's third manned space mission that will feature China's "first step in the space."

The Shenzhou-7 spaceship is due to blast off on a Long March II-F rocket on Thursday from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in Gansu province of northwestern China. The launch window was set between 9:07 p.m. to 10:27 p.m. (Beijing Time).