As per a report published by the Wen Wei Po, a Hong Kong newspaper, China will carry out its third manned space flight sometime in the second half of September this year. This mission initiates the second phase of Project 921. Even though the newspaper did not mention a source, it stated that the Shenzhou VII spacecraft will embark on its space mission between 17 September and October 1.

The Shenzhou VII spacecraft will have a crew capacity of three and the duration of the mission will be three to five days. It has been further reported that the spacecraft has already been flown down to Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre in the northwest Gansu province. The landing on its return, on the other hand, will take place in the northern Inner Mongolia province. Earlier reports had mentioned that the launch would take place in November.