This undated photo released on Tuesday September 23, 2008, by China's official Xinhua news agency shows technicians help the Shenzhou-7 manned spaceship to dock with the Long-March II-F rocket at an assembly plant. (AP Photo/Xinhua, Qin Xian'an)From The BBC:
The launch of Shenzhou-VII by China is another reminder of the country's growing confidence and capability in space.
It delivers a message to the traditional space powers: after a slow start, China is rising fast.
This mission is a critical step in a "three-step" human spaceflight programme aimed at docking spacecraft together to form a small orbiting laboratory and, ultimately, building a large space station.
It has sent a robotic spacecraft, Chang'e, to the Moon and there are plans to land a robotic rover on the lunar surface in 2010.
Last year, China faced international criticism when it used a medium-range ballistic missile to destroy an ageing weather satellite in a weapons test.
But what are the forces driving Beijing's space endeavours?
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