In 1999, the Peoples Republic of China launched and landed an unmanned version of its first spacecraft capable of carrying human beings to Earth orbit. The successful launch was Nov. 20 and the controlled landing was Nov. 21. The flight was part of preparations to send the nation's first persons into orbit in the near future.
China wants to become the third nation on Earth to put a human in space.
Only the United States and Russia have done so using their own rockets. Shenzhou is similar to Russia's Soyuz capsule, which carries cosmonauts to and from Russia's Mir space station. The craft was launched atop a new model of China's Long March rocket from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China. About 10 minutes after liftoff, Shenzhou separated from its launch vehicle and went into orbit, circling Earth 14 times over 21 hours before controllers brought it down safely in Inner Mongolia. A second Shenzhou unmanned capsule was launched successfully to Earth orbit January 10, 2001.