The crew for China's next manned flight to its space station will include the country's youngest astronaut to undertake a space mission, authorities said Thursday, as well as four lab mice.

The Tiangong space station -- crewed by teams of three astronauts that are exchanged every six months -- is the crown jewel of China's space programme, into which billions of dollars have been poured in a bid to catch up with the United States and Russia.

The Shenzhou-21 mission is set to blast off at 11:44 pm on Friday (1544 GMT) from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China, said China Manned Space Agency (CMSA) spokesperson Zhang Jingbo.

Flight engineer Wu Fei, who has just turned 32, is set to become the youngest Chinese astronaut to undertake a space mission, authorities said.

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