At 17:38 Beijing time (09:38 GMT) on Tuesday, China will again hurtle into space its newest space mission aboard Shenzhou-10 as part of plans to build and place a permanent Chinese space station above the Earth in the near future.

The Shenzhou-10 spacecraft will carry three astronauts, including a woman, and is expected to spend the next 15 days in space. As China's fifth manned spacecraft, Shenzhou-10 will perform one automatic and one manual docking test with the orbiting space lab Tiangong-1, according to Wu Ping, a spokesperson for China's Manned Space Program, during a news conference on Monday.

While aboard the Tiangong-1, the crew will test the module's systems, conduct medical and technical experiments, as well as deliver a weightless lecture to a group of elementary and middle-school students via a live video feed, a first in China's space agency program.

"The functionality, performance, and coordination of all systems will be evaluated during this mission," Ms Wu said.

China was able successfully perform an orbital rendezvous and docking maneuver with Tiangong-1 a year ago, which is considered a vital step needed towards developing a full-fledged space station. Shenzhou 10 represents the final mission to Tiangong-1, set to be deorbited later this year. It will be replaced with the Tiangong 2 and Tiangogn 3 modules in the coming years.

Tiangong-1 was launched into space September 2011.

China's aggressive advance into space exploration mirrors its growing financial strength and military clout, something that both surprises and worries Western observers.

"China is developing a multi-dimensional program to improve its capabilities to limit or prevent the use of space-based assets by adversaries during times of crisis or conflict," according to a 92-page report on Chinese military development the Pentagon released in May.

Last year, China had said its manned space missions would cost the country a total of almost 40 billion yuan (US$6.27 billion).