China to launch 20 rockets, 25 satellites by year-end

China is planning to launch 20 rockets and 25 satellites into space by the end of this year.

By the end of 2011, eight satellites will be launched along with the country’s first space lab module, Tiangong-1, and the spacecraft Shenzhou-8, which is ready to launch in early November from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre in the north-west Gobi desert.

The preparation work for the launch of Shenzhou-8 is in its final stages and testing on another satellite is going on at the same time at the assembly and testing centre, which is 1.5km away from the launch pad.

China has launched 15 rockets to take 20 satellites into space in 2010, according to Xinhuanet.com.