China will ship the carrier rocket for Shenzhou VI, the country's second manned space flight, in June or July next year, revealed a top scientist Monday.

Liu Zhusheng, the rocket's chief designer, said Shenzhou VI would be launched into space by a Long March II F carrier rocket , the same type used in the landmark space flight last October.

The rocket is currently in production and will undergo a comprehensive test at the beginning of next year, he said.

Shenzhou VI is being prepared to take two people into space for a flight lasting five to seven days to further test the practical capability of the spacecraft, said Wang Yongzhi, the chief designer of China's manned space program.

"The larger crew and greater flight time will add to the weight of food and equipment in the craft, which requires us to make a series of changes in the rocket to increase its carrying capacity," Liu said.

He said that Shenzhou VI might weigh over eight tons, while the Shenzhou V spacecraft weighed only 7.8 tons, according to a report in Tuesday's Beijing Morning Post.

"The reliability of the Long March II F carrier rocket has reached 97 percent, much higher than the 91 to 93 percent of most rockets," he said. Liu did not specify criteria for calculating this figure.

China is currently training 14 astronauts, two of whom will be selected for the second space flight. Training includes conducting various types of experiments in the orbital module.

China plans to build a space station and land an unmanned spacecraft on the moon by 2010.

China followed in the footsteps of the former Soviet Union and the United States in achieving manned space flight last October, when astronaut Yang Liwei orbited the Earth 14 times.

(Xinhua News Agency March 17, 2004)