BEIJING - China will start a third round of astronaut selection in 2017, an official from the Astronaut Center of China said Friday.

Huang Weifen, deputy chief designer of the astronaut system with the center, made the announcement at a press conference after the Tiangong-2 and Shenzhou-11 mission came to completion on Friday afternoon.

In preparation for the manned space station program, the new selection process will pick candidates from air force pilots, space engineers and technical staff in aerospace-related fields.