First Chinese astronaut blasts off

15 October 2003
Shenzou 5 blasts off aboard the biggest and heaviest CZ-2F rocket China has built

(Image: Reuters)

China became only the third nation on Earth to send a man into space on Wednesday, when 38-year-old lieutenant colonel Yang Liwei was launched into orbit at 0900 China time (0100 GMT).

Yang entered orbit about 10 minutes later and at 0130 GMT, Yang told mission control: “I feel good and my conditions are normal”. Yang is expected to complete 14 orbits in the Shenzhou V (“divine vessel”) spacecraft, before returning after a 21-hour flight via parachute-assisted landing in the Gobi desert.

The feat was acclaimed as “an historic step” by China’s president and warmly praised by US and European space agencies, despite essentially duplicating what the US and the former Soviet Union did 42 years ago.


The launch has already triggered suggestions from some analysts that a whole new space race might be about to begin, while others warn that China’s key interest in space may be military. (Read the reaction here.)

Elliptical orbit

Shenzhou V, like the four unmanned test versions that were launched since 2001, was placed in orbit by a Long March CZ-2F rocket, from the Jiuquan launch site in Gansu province. The rocket is over 58 metres long and weighs 480 tonnes, the longest and heaviest launch vehicle China has developed.

Although it cancelled plans to broadcast the launch live, China did make it public very rapidly, releasing the news just six minutes after liftoff.

The initial orbit of the craft was elliptical, varying between 200 km and 343 km altitude, according to official reports from the Beijing Aerospace Command and Control Center. At 0857 GMT, the ship was boosted into a circular orbit of 343 km.

Early reports had called Shenzhou a virtual copy of Russia’s Soyuz, but it is actually quite different: larger, with much more electrical power (1200 W) and an orbital module that can be left in space for possible reuse.

Yang was scheduled to have two three-hour rest periods during the flight, and is reported to have already enjoyed a traditional Chinese dinner of chicken and rice with nuts and dates.

Ambitious programme

China’s manned spaceflight programme was launched in 1992. In 1995, Russia agreed to help with advice on technology and astronaut training. And the first of four uncrewed test flights of a Shenzhou craft took place in November 1999.

Sending a person into space is just one step in an ambitious programme, Gu Yidong of the space flight programme told China’s state news agency Xinhua on Wednesday.

China has revealed ambitious plans for missions to the Moon and Mars, and has talked about becoming a partner in the International Space Station.