Launch of China’s Tianzhou-1 Cargo Spacecraft, Apr 2017, Hainan Island

UPDATE, APRIL 19:  China confirmed through China Global Television News (CGTN) that Tianzhou-1 will be launched on April 20 at 7:41 pm local time (7:41 am Eastern Daylight Time).  CGTN, an English language Chinese media outlet, plans live coverage. (CGTN was launched by China Central Television, CCTV, in December 2016 as a new international media organization.)

ORIGINAL ENTRY: China plans to launch its first space station cargo resupply spacecraft, Tianzhou-1, in April 2017.   Official Chinese sources say only that it will be launched between April 20 and April 24, but analysts who follow the Chinese space program report that a launch on April 20 at 11:40 GMT (7:40 am Eastern Daylight Time) is likely.