BEIJING, Mar. 2 (China Space News) —  China will send its second orbiting space lab Tiangong-2 into space in the third quarter of this year, which is expected to dock with a cargo ship scheduled to be launched in the first half of next year.

As part of the country's space lab program, China also plans to launch the Shenzhou-11 spacecraft, which will carry two astronauts on board, in the fourth quarter of this year to dock with Tiangong-2.

After its first test flight in the Wenchang satellite launch center in south China's Hainan Province, the Long March-7 rocket will put the cargo ship Tianzhou-1, which literally means "heavenly vessel," into space in the first half of 2017 to dock with Tiangong-2 and conduct experiments.