Shenzhou program


The Shenzhou program is a crewed spaceflight initiative by China. The program put the first Chinese citizen, Yang Liwei, into orbit on 15 October 2003.
The 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 crewed launch in October 1999, prior to the new millennium.
The first four uncrewed test flights happened in 1999, 2001, and 2002. These were followed by crewed missions. Shenzhou missions are 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 crewed Shenzhou missions.
The name Shenzhou is variously translated as Divine vessel, Divine craft, or Divine ship.

History

China's first efforts at human spaceflight started in 1968 with a projected launch date of 1973. Although China did launch an uncrewed satellite in 1970 and has maintained an active uncrewed program since, the crewed spaceflight program was cancelled due to lack of funds and political interest. Instead, China decided in 1978 to pursue a method of sending astronauts into space using the more familiar FSWderived ballistic reentry capsules. Two years later. in 1980, the Chinese government cancelled the program citing cost concerns.
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:
The chief designers include Qi Faren and Wang Yongzhi. The first uncrewed flight of the spacecraft was launched on 19 November 1999, after which Project 921-1 was renamed Shenzhou, a name reportedly chosen by Jiang Zemin. A series of three additional uncrewed flights ensued. The Shenzhou reentry capsules used are 13% larger than Soyuz reentry capsules, and it is expected that later craft will be designed to carry a crew of four instead of Soyuz's three, although physical limitations on astronaut size, as experienced with earlier incarnations of Soyuz, will likely apply.
The fifth launch, Shenzhou 5, was the first to carry a human and occurred at 01:00:00 UTC on 15 October 2003.
Like similar space programs in other nations, Shenzhou has raised some questions about whether China should spend money on launching people into space, arguing that these resources would be better directed elsewhere. Indeed, two earlier human spaceflight programs, one in the mid-1970s and the other in the 1980s, were cancelled because of expense. In response, several justifications have been offered in the Chinese media. One is that the long-term destiny of humanity lies in the exploration of space, and that China should not be left behind. Another is that such a program will catalyze the development of science and technology in China. Finally, it has been argued that the prestige resulting from this capability will increase China's stature in the world, in a similar manner to the 2008 Olympics.
On 17 October 2005, following the success of Shenzhou 6, Chinese media officially stated that the cost of this flight was around US$110 million, and the gross cost of Project 921/1 in the past 11 years was US$2.3 billion. These values are lower than the cost of similar space programs in other nations.
The Chinese media has heavily promoted the experiments undertaken by Shenzhou, particularly exposing seeds, including some from Taiwan, to zero gravity and radiation. Most scientists, however, discount the usefulness of this type of experiment.
The experience during the 1960s of both the United States with the Manned Orbiting Laboratory and the Soviet Union with the Almaz space station suggests that the military usefulness of human spaceflight is quite limited and that practically all military uses of space are much more effectively performed by uncrewed satellites. Thus while the Shenzhou orbital module could be used for military reconnaissance, there appears to be no military reason for incorporating such a system in a crewed mission, as China could use purely uncrewed satellites for these purposes.

Shenzhou spacecraft

The Shenzhou spacecraft resembles the Russian Soyuz, although it is larger. Unlike the Soyuz, it features a powered orbital module capable of autonomous flight.
Like Soyuz, Shenzhou consists of three modules: a forward orbital module, a reentry capsule in the middle, and an aft service module. This division is based on the principle of minimizing the amount of material to be returned to Earth. Anything placed in the orbital or service modules does not require heat shielding, and this greatly increases the space available in the spacecraft without increasing weight as much as it would need to be if those modules needed to withstand reentry.

Missions launched

PatchMissionLaunchDurationLandingCrewNotes
Shenzhou 119 November 199921 h 11 m20 November 1999Uncrewed test flight
Shenzhou 29 January 20017 d 10 h 22 m16 January 2001Carried scientific payload including monkey, dog, rabbit and other animals.
Shenzhou 325 March 20026 d 18 h 51 m1 April 2002Carried a test dummy.
Shenzhou 429 December 20026 d 18 h 36 m5 January 2003Carried a test dummy and several science experiments.
Shenzhou 515 October 200321 h 22 m 45 s15 October 2003 Yang LiweiFirst Chinese crewed flight, 14 Earth orbits.
Shenzhou 612 October 20054 d 19 h 33 m16 October 2005 Fei Junlong
Nie Haisheng		Multiple days in space, 75 orbits.
Shenzhou 725 September 20082 d 20 h 27 m28 September 2008 Zhai Zhigang
Liu Boming
Jing Haipeng		First three-person crew, first Chinese spacewalk.
Shenzhou 831 October 201116 d 13 h 34 m17 November 2011Uncrewed mission, rendezvoused and docked with Tiangong-1.
Shenzhou 916 June 201212 d 15 h 24 m29 June 2012 Jing Haipeng
Liu Wang
Liu Yang		First Chinese woman in space; first repeated flight; first crewed docking with Tiangong-1 space station, 18 June 2012, 06:07 UTC.
Shenzhou 1011 June 201314 d 14 h 29 m26 June 2013 Nie Haisheng
Zhang Xiaoguang
Wang Yaping		Second Chinese woman in space; second crewed docking with Tiangong-1 space station.
Shenzhou 1117 October 201632 d 06 h 29 m18 November 2016 Jing Haipeng
Chen Dong		First and only crewed docking with Tiangong-2 space station, crew set record for longest Chinese crewed spaceflight.

Future missions

Astronauts

November 1996 trainer selection

There were two astronaut trainers selected for Project 921. They trained at the Yuri Gagarin Cosmonauts Training Center in Russia.
  1. Chen Quan
  2. Deng Qingming – from Jiangxi Province and PLAAF pilot, back up on Shenzhou 11
  3. Fei Junlong – second Chinese astronaut, commander of Shenzhou 6
  4. Jing Haipeng – born October 1966 and PLAAF pilot, astronaut of Shenzhou 7, Shenzhou 9 and Shenzhou 11
  5. Liu Boming – born September 1966 and PLAAF pilot, astronaut of Shenzhou 7
  6. Liu Wang – born in Shanxi Province and PLAAF pilot, flew on Shenzhou 9
  7. Nie Haisheng – back up in Shenzhou 5, flight engineer on Shenzhou 6, commander of Shenzhou 10
  8. Pan Zhanchun – PLAAF pilot
  9. Yang Liwei – first man sent into space by the space program of China on Shenzhou 5, made the PRC the third country to independently send people into space
  10. Zhai Zhigang – back up in Shenzhou 5, commander of Shenzhou 7
  11. Zhang Xiaoguang – born in Liaoning Province and PLAAF pilot, flew on Shenzhou 10
  12. Zhao Chuandong – PLAAF pilot

    2010 astronaut candidate selection

  13. Cai Xuzhe
  14. Chen Dong – flew on Shenzhou 11
  15. Liu Yang – first Chinese woman into space, flew on Shenzhou 9
  16. Tang Hongbo – back up on Shenzhou 11
  17. Wang Yaping – second Chinese woman into space, flew on Shenzhou 10
  18. Yi Guangfu
  19. Zhang Hu