China′s manned space programme Project 921 officially commenced in 1992, but the country′s preparation for
manned spaceflight can be traced back to the founding of the Spaceflight Medical Research Centre by Prof Qian Xuesen in 1968.
Following the launch of China′s first manmade satellite DFH-1, Chinese scientists began to study the design proposal of a
spaceship prototype capable of carrying two astronauts into outer space. However, the programme was later suspended in 1975 due to
political reasons as well as technical and funding difficulties. The Chinese leaders determined that economic development should be
given the highest priority instead of manned spaceflight.
While the manned space programme was temporarily halted, relevant researches never stopped. During the late 1970s and the 1980s,
China made significant progress in space launch vehicles, satellite recovery and other space technologies. At the same time, research
activities were carried out at the Spaceflight Medical Research Centre to help Chinese scientists understand human reactions in the
spaceflight environment. After over a decade of development in both national economy and space technology, manned space programme
was once again came into the country leaders′ agenda in the late 1980s.
In the early 1990s the Chinese leaders decided to resume the manned space programme to boost the nation′s confidence as
well as technological capabilities. In 1992 the manned space programme known as Project 921-1 was officially approved. The
programme was assisted by Russia as a result of the improving relationship between the two countries since 1990. The manned spaceship
was reportedly in engineering phase in 1996, and at the same time two Chinese astronaut trainees began training at the Yuri Gagarin
Cosmonaut Training Centre in Russia. By 1998 both the development of a new model space launch vehicle CZ-2F specially designed for
ShenZhou spaceship and the construction of a new launch site at Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre had been finished.
Right after the celebration of the nation′s 50th anniversary, in November 1999 China successfully launched and recovered
her first unmanned experimental spaceship ShenZhou, marking an important milestone in the development of the manned space programme
and a significant step towards manned spaceflight. A second unmanned spaceship ShenZhou-2 was successfully launched and recovered
in January 2001, followed by another two unmanned flights ShenZhou-3 and ShenZhou-4 in March and December 2002 respectively.
On 15 October 2003, the first manned spaceship ShenZhou-5 carrying China′s first astronaut Air Force Lt. Col. Yang Liwei
was successfully launched from Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre. After travelling 21 hours and 23 minutes on the earth orbit, the
spaceship landed in Inner Mongolia safely, making China the third country in the world to be able to send man into space.
It is understood that China′s manned space programme consists of three development phases. The first phase includes the
launch of several unmanned spaceships between 1999 and 2002, followed by two manned flights by 2005. The second phase aims to
achieve space docking and space walking by 2010, and eventually leads to an 8 tonnes class temporary space lab. The third phase is
to establish a permanent 20 tonnes class space station by 2020. Long-term goals of China’s manned space programme might include
space shuttle, large space manufactory station, and even landing on the moon.