Shenzhou program

Shenzhou program
Nie Haisheng exits the re-entry capsule of Shenzhou 6 at the main landing field in Central Inner Mongolia.
Chinese
Hanyu Pinyin	Shénzhōu
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Shénzhōu

The Shenzhou program (/ˈʃɛnˈdʒoʊ/,Chinese: ) is a manned spaceflight initiative by China. The program put the first Chinese citizen, Yang Liwei, into orbit on 15 October 2003.

Development began in 1992, under the name of Project 921-1. The Chinese National Manned Space Program was given the designation Project 921 with Project 921-1 as its first significant goal. The plan called for a manned launch in October 1999, prior to the new millennium.

The first four unmanned test flights happened in 1999, 2001 and 2002. These were followed with another manned launch on 12 October 2005. It is launched on the Long March 2F from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center. The command center of the mission is the Beijing Aerospace Command and Control Center. The China Manned Space Engineering Office provides engineering and administrative support for the manned Shenzhou missions.

The name is variously translated as "Divine Ark", "Divine Vessel" or similar, but is also a reference to a literary name for China with the same pronunciation ( Shénzhōu; literally "Divine Land").

China's first efforts at human spaceflight started in 1968 with a projected launch date of 1973. Although China did launch an unmanned satellite in 1970 and has maintained an active unmanned program since, the manned spaceflight program was cancelled due to lack of funds and political interest.

The current Chinese human spaceflight program was authorized on 1 April 1992 as Project 921-1, with work beginning on 1 January 1993. The initial plan has three phases: