China's technological sleight has taken a new dimension as it plans to launch its experimental aero-spacecraft, which will also gear towards building its own space station, says a report from Reuters.

The launch is seen to earn the reputation of conquering the outerspace, which only the United States and Russia have currently held for many decades.

Xinhua news agency said the eight-ton Tiangong 1 spacecraft will take off between Sep. 27 and 30 from a launch site in Gobi Desert. Its Long March rocket in Jiuquan satellite launch center in Gansu province has long been ready for the take off.

However, officials told media early Wednesday the real challenge comes later when Tiangong 1 docks on an unmanned Shenzhou spacecraft that China will send off weeks later.

"The main task of the Tiangong 1 flight is to experiment in rendezvous and docking between spacecraft," Reuters quoted a Chinese spokesperson as saying.

China aims to succeed in its spacecraft mission as part of its technological might.

"Without rendezvous and docking, you really cannot run an advance space program," Sydney-based space analyst, Morris Jones told AFP.

A Proving Ground for Higher Plans

The International Space Station is operated by Russia, the United States and other countries. But neither the United States nor Russia will have a space mission soon.

The United States announced its next space mission will be held in 2017, while Russia maintained after the Nov. 12 manned mission to the International Space Station, it will no longer prioritize manned missions.

China isthe third country to have successfully launched a moon orbiter. In 2008, its astronauts have walked in space outside their spacecraft.

Joan Johnson-Freese, a U.S.-based expert on China's space program told AFP that China's Tiangong 1 is a pilot project for China's goal of constructing a space station.

"Tiangong 1 is, I think, primarily a technology test bed," AFP quoted Freese as saying.

"The real story is that when they eventually get around to building a space station, it will look nothing like Tiangong. It is a test of a spacecraft that will one day be used as a cargo carrying vessel to a larger space station," Morris told AFP.

A related report said China will soon deploy a moon rover in 2012 and retrieve samples of lunar soils and stones in 2017. There have also been dialogues held among scientists concerning sending a man to land on moon after 2020.