China's first cargo spacecraft, Tianzhou 1, will be launched between April 20 and 24, China Manned Space Agency announced.
The spacecraft was transferred with a Long March-7 Y2 carrier rocket to the launch site at Wenchang space centre in Hainan province on Monday morning to complete the final preparations before the launch.
During its mission, the automated transport ship will dock with the Chinese space laboratory, Tiangong 2, and conduct in-orbit refuelling.
Various scientific experiments will also be carried out and once the mission is completed, the ship will undock from the space lab and disintegrate during its return to the upper layers of the atmosphere.
Tianzhou 1, which can carry around six tonnes of supplies, is crucial to the development of the Chinese space station.
