BEIJING - China plans to launch its third manned space mission that will feature its first-ever space walk during 2008, state media said Tuesday.
China will also send up 15 rockets and 17 satellites, Huang Qiang, secretary general of the Commission of Science Technology and Industry for National Defense, was quoted as saying by the official Xinhua News Agency.
He described Shenzhou 7, which will carry three astronauts into space, as a priority for this year.
China has denied any link between the manned mission and its staging of the Olympics, which start Aug. 8, although both events are a source of huge national pride.
Huang was also quoted as saying that nearly 30 new technologies would be used during the Olympics, including the Olympic torch, security system and meteorological services provided by a new satellite.
In 2003, China became only the third country in the world after the United States and Russia to send a human into orbit. It followed with a two-man mission in 2005. It launched a moon probe last year about one month after rival Japan blasted its own lunar orbiter into space.
