HONG KONG — China’s space agency said on Saturday that it will launch astronauts later in June to perform the country’s first manned space docking, the latest step in the country’s ambitious plan for space exploration.

The Shenzhou 9 spacecraft will dock with the Tiangong 1 orbital module “sometime in mid-June,” according to Xinhua, China’s official news agency, quoting an unidentified spokesman for the country’s space program. The government did not say how long the mission will last.

Niu Hongguang, deputy commander-in-chief of the country’s manned space program, said the three-person crew may include female astronauts, Xinhua reported, but the decision will be made “on the very last condition.”

On Saturday the spacecraft and its carrier rocket were moved to the launch platform at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, a rocket-launching complex in the Gobi Desert in northwest China. In the coming days, tests will be performed on the selected astronauts, the spacecraft, carrier rocket and ground systems, according to Xinhua, citing the spokesman for the space agency.