China has designed contingency plans to address more than 700 emergencies during the Shenzhou-9 space mission, which includes both automated and manual docking between the spaceship and the target orbiter Tiangong-1.

Ma Yongping, deputy head of the Beijing Aerospace Control Center, said here Saturday, "We have put in place all preparations concerning the flight control of the mission."

China successfully launched an upgraded Long March-2F rocket in late Saturday afternoon, carrying Shenzhou-9 spacecraft, with the country's first female astronaut and another two men aboard, into space for a 13-day space voyage.

"In terms of safety requirements and risks control, there are so many differences between manned and unmanned missions," Ma said, noting that changes in flight states and much longer flight hours this time would bring difficulty to the flight control efforts.

The control center has upgraded the spaceship-to-Earth communication system needed for conversation, video and email between astronauts and ground commanding officers, Ma said.

The contingency plans would provide astronauts with guidance to countermeasures for any of the 700 scenarios, he said.

Source: Xinhua News Agency