China will need to launch fewer unmanned space flights than what the United States and Russia undertook before it will be able to send its astronauts into space, a senior Chinese space expert claimed on November 22, according to report of China Daily.

But he declined to disclose what is the target date or projected target date for a mission carrying Chinese astronauts. Nor would he say what is the scheduled launch date for China's second unmanned mission.

Russia needed seven unmanned missions before it could successfully send a cosmonaut into space. The United States needed eight unmanned missions before it sent its first astronaut into space.

Shi, the deputy general designer and deputy general commander of the "Shenzhou," a divine ship in Chinese, unmanned spacecraft, said economic efficiency would be a factor in China needing fewer tests launches before beginning to send astronauts into orbit.

Shi said Saturday's mission relied solely "on Chinese hardware and expertise, which indicates that the Chinese people can fully depend on themselves in developing first-rate space technology."

Shenzhou blasted into space from Jiuquan in Northwest China's Gansu Province at 6:30 am on Saturday, carried by a new type of Long March rocket. At 3:41 am on Sunday, mission control guided Shenzhou to a soft landing in Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region after a 21-hour journey in space.

Analysts said the success of the unmanned test mission paves the way for China to be the third nation in history to eventually launch its own astronauts into space.

"The breakthrough in China's research on manned space travel technology lies in the fact that we are now capable of launching a spacecraft and retrieving it," Shi said.