(ECNS) -- No female astronauts will be aboard the Shenzhou-11 spacecraft for the scheduled launch later this year, the Beijing Morning Post reports.
China announced Sunday that it will send its second space lab Tiangong-2, or "Heavenly Palace-2," into orbit in the third quarter of this year.
In the fourth quarter, the Shenzhou-11 spacecraft will go up with two astronauts and try to connect with Tiangong-2 while in orbit, a statement from the office of the China Manned Space Program said.
No women astronauts will board the Shenzhou-11, mainly because of the "requirements," as the space station is in the process of being built up, according to the report.
Huang Weifen, deputy chief designer of China's astronaut system, disclosed in September 2014 that current Chinese astronauts were all former air force pilots, and that in the new round of selection China plans to select engineers from research departments of the space program.
China plans to have a permanent manned space station in service around 2022.
