Shenzhou-20 crewed spaceship all set for liftoff

All systems aboard the Shenzhou-20 manned spacecraft, atop a Long March-2F carrier rocket, are fully prepared, with all personnel in position for the scheduled launch on Thursday afternoon.

The Shenzhou-20 crewed spaceship is scheduled to be launched at 17:17 Thursday (Beijing Time) from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China, the China Manned Space Agency (CMSA) said on Wednesday.

The spaceship will carry three astronauts, Chen Dong, Chen Zhongrui and Wang Jie, who will conduct the Shenzhou-20 spaceflight mission, with Chen Dong serving as the commander.

The rocket's propellant filling was completed on Wednesday afternoon.

At 10:17 on Thursday, the rocket was powered up, and engineers conducted inspections of various functions.

At 13:47, the spacecraft was powered up.

At around 14:00, the three astronauts departed for the launch site.

Shenzhou-20 is the 35th flight mission of China's manned space program, and the fifth crewed mission during the application and development stage of China's space station.

The central parity rate of the Chinese currency renminbi, or the yuan, weakened 3 pips to 6.8657 against the U.S. dollar Monday, according to the China Foreign Exchange Trade System.

In China's spot foreign exchange market, the yuan is allowed to rise or fall by 2 percent from the central parity rate each trading day.

The central parity rate of the yuan against the U.S. dollar is based on a weighted average of prices offered by market makers before the opening of the interbank market each business day.