新華社消息，神舟八號于11月1日凌晨5時58分在酒泉發射中心成功發射升空，神舟八號將與天宮一號完成中國航天史上首次太空交會對接任務，這將為中國在2020年建設太空站鋪平道路。

China says launch of Shenzhou VIII successful
神舟八號飛船成功發射升空

BEIJING - Commander-in-chief of China’s manned space program Chang Wanquan announced early Tuesday that the launch of Shenzhou-8 unmanned spacecraft is successful.
北京-中國載人航天計劃總指揮常萬全在本周二早上宣布神舟八號飛船成功發射。

The spacecraft was successfully sent into the designated orbit after the blastoff at 5:58 am at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwestern desert area, carried by an upgraded Long March-2F rocket.
周二凌晨5時58分酒泉衛星發射中心，神舟八號搭載長征二號F型火箭發射升空，進入預定軌道。

It is heading to rendezvous with the Tiangong-1, or "Heavenly Palace-1" that was put into space on September 29 for the country’s first space docking.
神舟八號將與9月29日發射升空的天宮一號實現“太空相會”，實施中國航天史上首次空間交會對接。

The docking, if successful, will pave the way for China to operate a permanent space station around 2020, and make the nation the world’s third to do so.
這次交會對接如果能成功完成，將為中國在2020年左右建立永久性太空站鋪平道路，中國也將繼美國和俄羅斯之后成為世界上第三個建立永久空間站的國家。

The docking will happen within two days after the launch of the Shenzhou VIII at a height of 343 km above Earth’s surface. The spacecraft will return to Earth after two docking operations.
萬眾矚目的交會對接任務將在神舟八號發射升空的兩天內完成，交會對接軌道距離地球表面343公里。神舟八號將在完成兩次對接任務后返回地球。