Jiuquan Credit - © Mark Wade

China's first launch center, also known as Shuang Cheng Tzu. Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre, situated at 100 degrees East, 41 degrees North, is located in the Jiuquan Region, Gansu province, north-western China. It was China's first ballistic missile and satellite launch centre. The Jiuquan Airport was 75 km south of the site. A dedicated railway at Jiuquan went directly to the launch site. Jiuquan’s facilities provided support for every phase of a satellite launch campaign. It included the Technical Centre, the Launch Complex, the Launch Control Centre, the Mission Command and Control Centre, propellant fuelling system, tracking systems, communications systems, gas supply systems, weather forecast systems, and logistic support systems. Jiuquan was originally used to launch scientific and recoverable satellites into medium or low earth orbits at high inclinations.

In 1999 the new South Center (LA4) became operational for heavy CZ-2E/CZ-2F launches. This consisted of two areas, the Technical Center and the Launch Center. The Launch Center was located at 100 deg 17.4' E, 40 deg 57.4' N at an elevation of 1073 m. The 75 m high umbilical tower was equipped with an explosion-proof elevator. The mobile launch pad weighed 75 tonnes with dimensions of 24.4 m x 21.7 m x 8.4 m and had a top speed of 28 m per minute. The Technical Center was 1.5 km away from the Launch Center. This included the VAB Vertical Processing Building with two 26.8 x 28 x 81.6 m processing halls. All important buildings, including the vertical processing building and an area of the umbilical tower, were air-conditioned to cleanness class 100,000. The VAB, code name 920-520, was built by the 8th Division of CSCEC, and was the world's tallest single-floor concrete building. It also had the world's tallest (86.1m above the ground) and heaviest (13,000 tonnes) concrete roof.

• Name: Launch Area 2. Latitude: 41.3100 N. Longitude: 100.3050 E. Launch Pads: 3. CZ-1, CZ-2A, CZ-2C, CZ-2D, DF-3, DF-5, FB-1. Single launch complex consisting of 3 launch pads.

• Name: Launch Area 3. Latitude: 41.1000 N. Longitude: 100.7800 E. Launch Pads: 1. DF-1, DF-2, R-2.

• Name: Launch Area 2S. Latitude: 41.1000 N. Longitude: 100.3000 E. Launch Pads: 1. New launch complex near the CZ-2F South Launch Site, first operational in 2003, for launch of CZ-2D class launch vehicles.

• Name: South Launch Site. Latitude: 41.1000 N. Longitude: 100.3100 E. Launch Pads: 1. CZ-2F. New launch complex for the CZ-2F manned spacecraft launcher. Vehicle processed at nearby Vertical Assembly Facility.

Jiuquan Credit - © Mark Wade

• June 1956 - Beginning of construction at Jiuquan missile test site Launch Vehicle: R-2, DF-1. The 20th Corps of the People's Liberation Army begins construction of launch and tracking facilities at Jiuquan. Wells are dug, willow and poplar trees are planted, roads and housing are constructed.

• 1960 Sep - Test mission Launch Vehicle: R-2. LC: LA3. Apogee: 100 km (60 mi). The rocket was built in the Soviet Union but used Chinese propellants. This launch took place just a month after all Soviet experts were withdrawn from China.

• 1960 November 5 01:00 - Test mission Launch Vehicle: DF-1. LC: LA3. Apogee: 100 km (60 mi). First launch of all-Chinese version of Russian R-2, model 1059. Radio guidance was used. Nie Rongzhen is present to observe the event.

• 1960 Dec - Test mission Launch Vehicle: DF-1. LC: LA3. Apogee: 100 km (60 mi). Two further launches are made from Jiuquan.

• 1960 Dec - Test mission Launch Vehicle: DF-1. LC: LA3. Apogee: 100 km (60 mi).

• 1962 March 21 - Test mission Launch Vehicle: DF-2. Failure of guidance and engine mounting. Impacted after 69 seconds of flight.. LC: LA3. First DF-2 launch attempt. The rocket impacted the earth after only 69 seconds of flight. Fundamental design errors were discovered in calculating flexing of the rocket in flight, placement of the guidance system, and engine mounting. The missile was completely redesigned for reduced thrust.

• 1964 June 29 - Test mission Launch Vehicle: DF-2. LC: LA3. Apogee: 200 km (120 mi). This followed a two-year complete redesign and test program following the first launch failure in 1962. The reduced-thrust missile had a range of 1050 km with a 1550 kg warhead, barely enough to reach Japan.

• 1964 July 9 - Test mission Launch Vehicle: DF-2. LC: LA3. Apogee: 200 km (120 mi).

• 1964 July 11 - Test mission Launch Vehicle: DF-2. LC: LA3. Apogee: 200 km (120 mi).

• 1965 - DFHTechnology test mission Launch Vehicle: T-7. Apogee: 83 km (51 mi).

• November 1965 - First successful test of DF-2A. Launch Vehicle: DF-2. DF-2A LC: LA3. Apogee: 200 km (120 mi). First launch of redesigned DF-2. The flight demonstrated a 20% improvement in range for the same 1500 kg payload, and replaced the radio guidance of the DF-2 with an autonoumous gyroscopic system.

• 1966 October 27 - Nuclear test mission Launch Vehicle: DF-2. DF-2A LC: LA3. Apogee: 200 km (120 mi). DF-2A launched with a 1290 kg, 12 kt warhead from Jiuquan flew over a range of 800 km to Lop Nor, where the warhead successfully exploded. The Ninth Academy was responsible for development of the nuclear package. Tsien protégé Guo Yonghuai was the liaison between the Fifth and Ninth Academies for the development.

• 1966 December 26 - Test mission Launch Vehicle: DF-3. LC: LA2A. Apogee: 500 km (310 mi).

• 1968 August 8 - GF-01A satellite test mission Launch Vehicle: T-7. T-7/GF-01A Apogee: 311 km (193 mi).

• 1968 August 20 - GF-01A satellite test mission Launch Vehicle: T-7. T-7/GF-01A Apogee: 311 km (193 mi).

• 1969 - DFHTechnology test mission Launch Vehicle: T-7. Apogee: 81 km (50 mi).

• 1969 Jun - FSW satellite technology test mission Launch Vehicle: T-7A. Apogee: 100 km (60 mi).

• 1969 Jul - FSW satellite technology test mission Launch Vehicle: T-7A. Apogee: 100 km (60 mi).

• 1969 November 16 - First Chinese satellite launch attempt ends in failure. Launch Vehicle: CZ-1. The program distributor in the second stage broke down. The rocket crashed into the earth within view of the launch site after 69 seconds of flight.. Chang Zheng 1 LC: LA2A. The launch vehicle arrived at the site on 18 March 1969. The objective was to launch China's first satellite before Japan lofted its counterpart. Ren Xinmin had obtained this specific order from Deng Hsiao Peng. Great difficulties were encountered in the middle of the Cultural Revolution, including the sending of most of the satellite engineers to work on irrigation ditch construction in the provinces. The skirt for the satellite, designed to make it easily visible to ground observors, had to be made from a special silk produced in a factory without the knowledge of the Red Guards. The engineers went by bus to a department store in Beijing to study an imported folding umbrella as a model for the deployment mechanism -- they could not afford to buy it. The entire launch was kept secret until a documentary was released in 2001.

• 1970 January 30 - Test mission Launch Vehicle: DF-3. DF-4 LC: LA2A. Apogee: 500 km (310 mi). First test of prototype DF-3 (perhaps same configuration as CZ-1); not deployed.

• 1970 April 24 13:35 - DFH Mao 1 Launch Vehicle: CZ-1. Chang Zheng 1 LC: LA2A. Apogee: 2,162 km (1,343 mi). The final campaign to launch China's first satellite began on April 1, 1970, when two DFH-1 satellites and the CZ-1 rocket arrived by train at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre. This was over a year after the first attempt in 1969. Ren Xinmin was project leader and Qi Faren was leader of the DFH-1 experiment team. On April 2 Premier Zhou Enlai called a special meeting in the Great Hall of the People in Beijing for a final readiness review of the satellite and the launch vehicle. Zhou wanted special guarantees that the satellite would transmit the march 'The East is Red' from orbit.

  On the morning of April 24, 1970, the first and second stages of CZ-1 were loaded with propellant and stacked. The satellite was mated to the spin-stabilized solid-propellant third stage, and the launcher entered the final eight hours of launch preparation. Weather forecast for the launch at 9:30 p.m. called for clouds at above 7,000 meters and a wind speed of less than 4 to 5 meters per second.

  The historic launch came at 9:35 p.m. local time (13:35 UTC). Upon hearing the command "ignition", a launch controller pressed the button to start the rocket engines. The three-stage CZ-1, which was 29.46 meters tall and had a maximum diameter of 2.25 meters, lifted off the launch pad with a thrust of 104 tonnes. Liftoff weight of the CZ-1 was 81.5 tonnes. Rocket expert Shen Jianan recounted that "..as soon as I saw the liftoff on the TV screen inside the bunker, I ran outside. I could only see the beautiful rocket lighting up the night sky and streaking towards the southeast. I ran back inside to listen to the transmissions. Broadcasting on the speaker were status reports like 'capturing target', 'nominal tracking', 'nominal flight', 'nominal second and third stage separation'..." Thirteen minutes after launch, at 9:48 p.m., mission control announced "...satellite and rocket stage separation, satellite enters orbit...the bunker was filled with cheers".

  China became the fifth nation after the former Soviet Union, the United States, France and Japan to achieve an indigenous space launch capability. At 9:50 p.m., the National Broadcasting Bureau announced the acquisition of the tune 'East is Red' from the satellite loud and clear. In the following days, the People's Central Broadcasting radio and newspapers in Beijing announced and printed worldwide times of DFH-1 and CZ-1 third stage passages, and directions of travel in the sky. Senior officials in Beijing dispatched a chartered plane to JSLC to bring back Qi and other scientists. In the International Labour Day celebration on May 1, Chairman Mao and Premier Zhou warmly welcomed them at the Tiananmen Square.

• 1971 March 3 12:15 - SJ-1 Launch Vehicle: CZ-1. Chang Zheng 1 LC: LA2A. Apogee: 1,833 km (1,138 mi). Similar in appearance to the American Telstar and conducted communications technology tests.

• 1971 September 10 - Test mission Launch Vehicle: DF-5. Dong Feng 5 LC: LA2B. Apogee: 1,000 km (600 mi). Research and Development Suborbital Flight

• 1972 August 10 - Test mission Launch Vehicle: FB-1. Feng Bao 1 FB1-1 LC: LA2B. Apogee: 200 km (120 mi). Research and Development Suborbital Flight

• 1973 September 18 - JSSW 1 Launch Vehicle: FB-1. Failure. Feng Bao 1 FB1-2 LC: LA2B.

• 1974 July 14 - JSSW 2 Launch Vehicle: FB-1. Vehicle lost attitude stability and destroyed by range safety.. Feng Bao 1 FB1-3 LC: LA2B.

• 1974 November 5 - FSW-0 Launch Vehicle: CZ-2A. Cable carrying pitch rate gyro signal disconnected.. Chang Zheng 2A CZ2-1 (3) LC: LA2B.

• 1975 July 26 13:28 - JSSW 3 Launch Vehicle: FB-1. Feng Bao 1 FB1-4 LC: LA2B. Apogee: 455 km (282 mi). Photo surveillance; radio transmission.

• 1975 November 26 03:29 - FSW-0 No. 1 Launch Vehicle: CZ-2C. Chang Zheng 2C CZ2C-1 (4) LC: LA2B. Apogee: 483 km (300 mi). First orbital test of Chinese recoverable photo surveillance satellite. The spacecraft was brought down early, after three days in orbit, due to problems with the attitude control system cold gas supply. Along the skirt of the return capsule some wires and instruments were burnt during re-entry and capsule impacted far from its planned landing point. However usable film was obtained from the capsule. The Chinese Academy of Space Technology organised a team to determine the cause, and improvements were made in the next spacecraft of the model.

• 1975 December 16 09:19 - JSSW 4 Launch Vehicle: FB-1. Feng Bao 1 FB1-5 LC: LA2B. Apogee: 387 km (240 mi). Photo surveillance; radio transmission.

• 1976 June 1 - Date uncertain. First test of DF-4. Launch Vehicle: DF-4.

• 1976 August 30 11:53 - JSSW 5 Launch Vehicle: FB-1. Feng Bao 1 FB1-6 LC: LA2B. Apogee: 2,145 km (1,332 mi).

• 1976 November 10 - JSSW 6 Launch Vehicle: FB-1. Failure. Feng Bao 1 FB1-7 LC: LA2B.

• 1976 December 7 04:38 - FSW-0 No. 2 Launch Vehicle: CZ-2C. Chang Zheng 2C CZ2C-2 (5) LC: LA2B. Apogee: 489 km (303 mi). Photo surveillance; film capsule recovered 9 December. First completely successful test of the FSW spy satellite. Many improvements in comparison to the first FSW orbited.

• 1977 September 14 - Test mission Launch Vehicle: FB-1. Feng Bao 1 FB1-8 LC: LA2B. Apogee: 200 km (120 mi). Research and Development Flight

• 1978 January 26 04:58 - FSW-0 No. 3 Launch Vehicle: CZ-2C. Chang Zheng 2C CZ2C-3 (6) LC: LA2B. Apogee: 507 km (315 mi). Photo surveillance; film capsule; capsule returned January 30. Second fully successful FSW mission.

• 1978 April 13 - Test mission Launch Vehicle: FB-1. Feng Bao 1 FB1-9 LC: LA2B. Apogee: 200 km (120 mi). Research and Development Flight

• 1979 January 7 - Test mission Launch Vehicle: DF-5. Dong Feng 5 LC: LA2B?. Apogee: 1,000 km (600 mi). Other sources say launch was from Taiyuan.

• 1979 July 15 - Test mission Launch Vehicle: DF-5. Dong Feng 5 LC: LA2B?. Apogee: 1,000 km (600 mi). Other sources say launch was from Taiyuan.

• 1979 July 28 - SJ-1 Launch Vehicle: FB-1. Second stage failure.. Feng Bao 1 FB1-10 LC: LA2B. The SJ-1 was similar in appearance to the American Telstar and conducted communications technology tests.

• 1979 August 21 - Test mission Launch Vehicle: DF-5. Dong Feng 5 LC: LA2B?. Apogee: 1,000 km (600 mi). Other sources say launch was from Taiyuan on 2 August.

• 1979 September 4 - Test mission Launch Vehicle: DF-5. Dong Feng 5 LC: LA2B?. Apogee: 1,000 km (600 mi). Other sources say launch was from Taiyuan.

• 1979 November 26 - Test mission Launch Vehicle: DF-5. Dong Feng 5 LC: LA2B?. Apogee: 1,000 km (600 mi). Other sources say launch was from Taiyuan on 15 October.

• 1980 May 18 - Test mission Launch Vehicle: DF-5. Dong Feng 5 LC: LA2B?. Apogee: 1,000 km (600 mi).

• 1980 May 21 0200? 02:00 - Test mission Launch Vehicle: DF-5. Dong Feng 5 LC: LA2B?. Apogee: 1,000 km (600 mi).

• 1981 September 19 21:28 - SJ-2A Launch Vehicle: FB-1. Feng Bao 1 FB1-11 LC: LA2B. Apogee: 1,598 km (992 mi).

• 1981 December 7 - Test mission Launch Vehicle: DF-5. Dong Feng 5 LC: LA2B?. Apogee: 1,000 km (600 mi). Other sources say launch was from Taiyuan.

• 1982 September 9 07:19 - FSW-0 No. 4 Launch Vehicle: CZ-2C. Chang Zheng 2C CZ2C-4 (7) LC: LA2B. Apogee: 392 km (243 mi). Photo surveillance; film capsule recovered 14 September.

• 1983 August 19 06:00 - FSW-0 No. 5 Launch Vehicle: CZ-2C. Chang Zheng 2C CZ2C-5 (8) LC: LA2B. Apogee: 493 km (306 mi). Photo surveillance; film capsule recovered 24 August.

• 1984 September 12 05:44 - FSW-0 No. 6 Launch Vehicle: CZ-2C. Chang Zheng 2C CZ2C-6 (11) LC: LA2B. Apogee: 398 km (247 mi). Photo surveillance; film capsule recovered 17 September.

• 1985 October 21 05:04 - FSW-0 No. 7 Launch Vehicle: CZ-2C. Chang Zheng 2C CZ2C-7 (12) LC: LA2B. Apogee: 393 km (244 mi). Fanhui Shi Weixing photo surveillance satellite; film capsule recovered 26 October.

• 1986 October 6 05:40 - FSW-0 No. 8 Launch Vehicle: CZ-2C. Chang Zheng 2C CZ2C-8 (14) LC: LA2B. Apogee: 337 km (209 mi). Fanhui Shi Weixing recoverable satellite; capsule re-entered October 11 after five day mission.

• 1987 August 5 06:39 - FSW-0 No. 9 Launch Vehicle: CZ-2C. Chang Zheng 2C CZ2C-9 (15) LC: LA2B. Apogee: 366 km (227 mi). Fanhui Shi Weixing recoverable satellite; carried microgravity experiments; return capsule recovered August 10 after five days in space.

• 1987 September 9 07:15 - FSW-1 No. 1 Launch Vehicle: CZ-2C. Chang Zheng 2C CZ2C-10 (16) LC: LA2B. Apogee: 222 km (137 mi). Fanhui Shi Weixing recoverable satellite; return capsule recovered September 17 after eight days in space.

• 1988 August 5 07:29 - FSW-1 No. 2 Launch Vehicle: CZ-2C. Chang Zheng 2C CZ2C-11 (18) LC: LA2B. Apogee: 311 km (193 mi). German crystal growth experiment in recoverable capsule. Results marred by hard landing.

• 1990 October 5 06:14 - FSW-1 No. 3 Launch Vehicle: CZ-2C. Chang Zheng 2C CZ2C-12 (25) LC: LA2B. Apogee: 312 km (193 mi). Fanhui Shi Weixing recoverable satellite; carried biological research experiments.

• 1992 August 9 08:00 - FSW-2 No. 1 Launch Vehicle: CZ-2D. Chang Zheng 2D CZ2D-1 (27) LC: LA2B?. Apogee: 332 km (206 mi). Fanhui Shi Weixing recoverable imaging satellite; carried microgravity experiments; capsule returned August 25 after 15 days in orbit.

• 1992 October 6 06:20 - Freja Launch Vehicle: CZ-2C. Chang Zheng 2C CZ2C-13 (29) LC: LA2B?. Apogee: 1,763 km (1,095 mi). Ionospheric, auroral, amgnetospheric studies. Freja is a Swedish/German satellite designed for research into the aurora. The satellite was launched piggyback on a Long March 2C (CZ-2C) rocket and weighs 214 kg in orbit. It is a sun-pointing spinner (10 rpm) with a 2.2 m diameter. It will make high re solution measurements in the upper ionosphere and lower magnetosphere. Data will be received at Esrange, Kiruna, Sweden and at the Prince Albert Satellite Station in Canada's Saskatchewan Province. Launch time 0620 UT.

• 1993 October 8 08:00 - FSW-1 No. 5 Launch Vehicle: CZ-2C. Chang Zheng 2C CZ2C-14 (31) LC: LA2B?. Apogee: 2,860 km (1,770 mi). The only FSW-1 mission conducted during 1993-1994 was launched into an orbit of 209 km by 300 km at an inclination of 57.0 deg. In addition to an Earth observation Payload, FSW-1 5 carried microgravity research equipment and a diamond-studded medallion commemorating the 100th anniversary of Chairman Mao Tse-Tung's birth. The spacecraft operated normally until 16 October when an attempt to recover the satellite failed. An attitude control system failure aligned the spacecraft 90 deg from its desired position, causing the re-entry capsule to be pushed into a higher elliptical orbit (179 km by 3031 km) instead of returning to Earth. Natural decay did not bring the capsule back until March 12, 1996.

• 1994 July 3 08:00 - FSW-2 No. 2 Launch Vehicle: CZ-2D. Chang Zheng 2D CZ2D-2 (33) LC: LA2B?. Apogee: 350 km (210 mi). The second Fanhui Shi Weixing FSW-2 was launched on 3 July 1994 into an orbit of 173 km by 343 km at an inclination of 63.0 deg. The spacecraft remained in orbit for 15 days, making four small manoeuvres before successfully returning to Earth. The payload included Earth observation systems, a biological experiment, and microgravity research instruments. The retrievable capsule was recovered in China on July 18

• 1996 October 20 07:20 - FSW-2 No. 3 Launch Vehicle: CZ-2D. Chang Zheng 2D CZ2D-3 (43) Apogee: 133 km (82 mi). Final launch in the FSW series. Landed in China on November 4 after 15 days in orbit.

• 1999 November 19 22:30 - Shenzhou Launch Vehicle: CZ-2F. Chang Zheng 2F CZ2F-1 (59) LC: SLS. Apogee: 324 km (202 mi). The unmanned first test flight of a prototype of the Chinese Project 921-1 spacecraft took place 49 days after the planned date of October 1, 1999. Shenzhou separated from its launch vehicle and went into orbit about ten minutes after lift-off. The spacecraft was controlled from the new Beijing Aerospace Directing and Controlling Centre. The spacecraft did not manoeuvre during the flight. The first attempt to return the spacecraft to earth came on orbitt 12, but the retrofire command would not be accepted by the spacecraft's computer. A retry on the next orbit also failed.

  The Yuanwang-3 tracking ship off the coast of Namibia picked up the spacecraft's signal at 18:49 UT, and commanded retro-fire. This time the spacecraft accepted the command, which probably saved the entire program. The spacecraft passed out of range of the tracking ship nine minutes later. Its trajectory arced over Africa, skimmed the coast of the Arabian peninsula, and then over Pakistan, before re-entering over Tibet.

  Following re-entry, the drogue chute deployed at an altitude of 30 km with the capsules soft-landing rockets firing 1.5 m above the ground. The capsule landed at 41 deg N, 105 deg E, (415 km East of its launch pad and 110 km north-west of Wuhai, Inner Mongolia), at November 20 19:41 UT. The spacecraft had completed 14 orbits of the earth in 21 hours and 11 minutes.

  After the flight it was reported that not a single primary spacecraft system had failed, so none of the back-up systems were tested. The touchdown point was only 12 km from the predicted position. The soft landing braking rocket worked well - no damage was found to the capsule structure, heat shield or the seals. The jettisoned heat shield, parachute hatch, and drogue chute were found within 5 km of the landing point. The orbital module, which separated prior to retro-fire, continued in controlled flight until 27 November, when it decayed and reentered the atmosphere. A primary payload returned by Shenzhou were 100 kg of seeds, considered valuable to the Chinese after one day of exposure to the space environment. The Chinese space tracking fleet returned from the Shenzhou mission between 12 December 1999 and 4 January 2000. During their 259-day voyage, the four ships traveled 185,000 km and experienced some heavy seas while tracking and communicating with the Shenzhou for a total of 150 minutes.

• 2001 January 9 17:00 - Shenzhou 2 Launch Vehicle: CZ-2F. Chang Zheng 2F CZ2F-2 (65) LC: SLS. Apogee: 346 km (214 mi). The second unmanned test flight of the Shenzhou manned spacecraft design carried a monkey, a dog and a rabbit in a test of the spaceship's life support systems. Shenzhou 2 was the first test of an all-up flight model of the spacecraft, with a functioning orbital module. It was also the most ambitious space science laboratory ever launched by China. It carried 64 scientific payloads: 15 in the re-entry module, 12 in the orbital module and 37 on the forward external pallet. These included a micro-gravity crystal growing device; life sciences experiments with 19 species of animals and plants, cosmic ray and particle detectors; and China's first gamma ray burst detectors.

  The launch was originally scheduled for January 5, but the second stage of the launch vehicle was dented by an access platform while being prepared for roll-out in the vehicle assembly building. This caused several days of delay until it was cleared for flight. Shenzhou 2 made three orbit-raising manoeuvres during its flight, reaching a 330 x 345 km orbit by the end of the initial phase of the mission. Ninety minutes before landing the orbital module depressurised, and the spacecraft went briefly out of control. However this was regained after venting of the atmosphere from the module ended. The descent module and service modules separated from the forward orbital module and external pallet normally. After retrofire by the service module, it separated and the descent module landed at 11:22 GMT on January 16 in Inner Mongolia. Lack of post-recovery photographs led to speculation that the recovery may not have been completely successful. The Shenzhou orbital module had its own solar panels and remained operational in orbit, conducting scientific experiments. It was actively controlled for six months, maneuvering in orbit several times (reaching a final orbit of 394 x 405 km). It then was allowed to decay and reentered the atmosphere at 09:05 GMT on August 24, 2001. The reentry point was near 33.1 deg S in latitude and 260.4 deg E in longitude, over the western Pacific Ocean between Easter Island and Chile.

• 2002 March 25 14:15 - Shenzhou 3 Launch Vehicle: CZ-2F. Chang Zheng 2F CZ2F-3 (66) LC: SLS. Apogee: 379 km (235 mi). The third unmanned test of the Shenzhou spacecraft was delayed almost three months when a defective connector was found on the booster after roll-out to the pad in January 2002. The vehicle was disassembled, and all suspect connectors were replaced. The stand-down also revealed ten previously undetected defects in the space capsule. The spacecraft, the first all-up flight model with a functioning (but deactivated) launch escape system, was finally launched and placed into an initial 197 x 326 km x 42.4 deg orbit at 1425 UTC. At about 2120 UTC Shenzhou used its own engine to raise its orbit to 332 x 337 km. The capsule included a dummy astronaut instrumented to monitor life support systems. The descent module returned to Earth on April 1 at 0851 UTC, landing in Inner Mongolia. The orbital module remained in orbit to carry out further experiments, finally being deorbited on 12 November 2002. The spacecraft carried 44 scientific payloads, including a medium-resolution imaging radiometer developed by Chinese Academy of Sciences, installed on the instrument pallet atop the orbital module.

• 2002 December 29 16:49 - Shenzhou 4 Launch Vehicle: CZ-2F. Chang Zheng 2F LC: SLS. Apogee: 337 km (209 mi). Final unmanned test of the Shenzhou spacecraft. First night launch of the CZ-2F was viewed by Party leaders on a very cold but clear night. The spacecraft carried fifty-two science payloads in four main areas: microwave Earth observation, space environment monitoring, microgravity fluid physics, and biological technology research. The spacecraft's reentry capsule was successfully recovered on 5 January 2003 at 1116 UT. The Chinese released the news and photographs of the capsule in the dusk snow only an hour later. The landing site was 40 km from Hohhot (40.51deg N, 111.38 deg E). As in prior missions, the orbital module continued in orbit. Chinese astronauts trained on the actual flight hardware before the launch and it was officially announced that this successful mission set the stage for a first Chinese manned spaceflight in the second half of 2003. Western observors noted that the orbit and ground track allowed launch of a second rendezvous vehicle, an indication of future manned space station missions. Shenzhou 4 carried 52 scientific payloads including a microwave radiometer using a reflector antenna, installed on top of the orbital module.

• 2003 October 15 01:00 - Shenzhou 5 Launch Vehicle: CZ-2F. LC: SLS. Apogee: 336 km (208 mi). China's first manned spaceflight began with the lift-off of the CZ-2F booster into the clear blue morning sky. All went according to plan and China's first man in space, Yang Liwei, entered an initial 200 km x 343 km orbit ten minutes after launch. The naval vessels standing buy for rescue in the Sea of Japan were called back to port.

  The highly conservative mission plan was for Yang to remain in the Shenzhou re-entry capsule for the entire 21-hour mission, and not to enter the orbital module. He had two rest periods of three hours each, and was scheduled to eat once or twice meals of what was said to be a superior form of Chinese space food. Frequent communications sessions, including colour television links to the spacecraft, were made possible by China's four tracking ships deployed in the oceans of the world.

  As the spacecraft was in its 21st orbit, the orbital module separated. It would stay in the 343 km orbit for a planned six-month military imaging reconnaissance mission. Retrofire was commanded via a tracking ship in the Atlantic off the coast of Africa. Shenzhou-5 landed only 4.8 km from the aim-point in Inner Mongolia with the parachute being sighted by the ground recovery forces prior to landing. Yang landed after 21 hours 23 minutes aloft.

• 2003 November 2 07:20 - FSW-3 No. 1 Launch Vehicle: CZ-2D. LC: LC-2S. Apogee: 165 km (102 mi). Expected to have been long-awaited 'seeds in space' mission but official announcements spoke only of photography.

• 2004 August 29 07:50 - FSW-3 No. 2 Launch Vehicle: CZ-2C. Apogee: 547 km (339 mi). Recoverable satellite officially stated to be conducting space scientific research, land surveying, mapping and other scientific experiments. Said to have improved experimental technology, with higher orientation precision and more complex on-board computers and software. Controlled from the Xian Satellite Monitoring and Control Centre. Successfully re-entered and recovered after 27 days in space at 23:55 GMT on 24 September.

• 2004 September 27 08:00 - FSW-3 No. 3 Launch Vehicle: CZ-2D. Apogee: 297 km (184 mi). Recoverable military satellite. Returned to Earth at 02:48 GMT on October 15, falling through the roof of a house in the village of Penglai, Sichuan province.

• 2005 July 5 22:40 - SJ-7 Launch Vehicle: CZ-2D. Apogee: 573 km (356 mi).

• 2005 August 2 07:30 - FSW-3 No. 4 Launch Vehicle: CZ-2C. Stretched CZ-2C-3 Apogee: 259 km (160 mi). Military reconnaisance satellite, which maneuvered to raise its apogee on Aug 5 and 7 to a 166 x 552 km x 63.0 orbit; and again to the same altitude on Aug 19 after the apogee decayed to 535 km. Return capsule with film aboard recovered on 29 August.

• 2005 August 29 08:45 - FSW-3 No. 5 Launch Vehicle: CZ-2D. Apogee: 224 km (139 mi). Decayed 17 October 2005.

• 2005 October 12 01:00 - Shenzhou 6 Launch Vehicle: CZ-2F. Apogee: 334 km (207 mi). Moved up from October 13. Second Chinese manned space mission. The two-astronaut crew spent 5 days in space, and worked in the Shenzhou orbital module for the first time. Aside from biomedical experiments, the nature of their work was not divulged, and few images of the interior of the orbital module (with its probable military experiments) were released.

• 2006 September 9 07:00 - SJ-8 Launch Vehicle: CZ-2C. Apogee: 336 km (208 mi). Long delayed Seed Satellite, an experiment in which a large payload of seeds were exposed to te space environment for two weeks. The modified FSW optical reconnaisance satellite capsule was recovered in Sichuan at 02:43 GMT on September 24.

• 2007 May 25 07:12 - Yaogan 2 Launch Vehicle: CZ-2D. Apogee: 655 km (406 mi). Second Chinese synthetic aperture radar military surveillance satellite.

• McDowell, Jonathan, Jonathan's Space Home Page, Harvard University, 1997-present. Jonathan McDowell's complete on-line listing of all objects orbited and over 20,000 rocket launches Accessed at: http://www.planet4589.org/jsr.html.

• Official Site of the Topic, Information obtained from the manufacturer or operator's official web site.