China's first cargo spacecraft Tianzhou-1 ready for launch

WENCHANG, Hainan -- China's first cargo spacecraft, Tianzhou-1, is ready for launch, according to the Wenchang Space Launch Center in Southern China's Hainan province.

The center on Tuesday conducted the final rehearsal for the launch, which covered all systems involved in the launch, such as the rocket, spacecraft, launching site and testing, control and communication systems, the center said in a statement.

Before the rehearsal, staff finished testing the rocket's hermeticity and its power and electric systems.

The rehearsal showed that all the systems are working well and the technical conditions are good, it said.

This means the conditions for all systems are ready for the launch, the statement said.

Tianzhou-1 will be launched into space between April 20 and 24.

It is the first cargo ship independently developed by China and is expected to dock with the orbiting Tiangong II space lab and conduct in-orbit refueling.

The cargo spacecraft will also carry out space experiments, including one on non-Newtonian gravitation, before falling back to earth.