China's Commitment to Manned Space

It is no secret that China has major space aspirations. China has been spending more than $3 billion annually on its space program, on everything from developing a domestic satellite manufacturing capability to building a modern fleet of expendable launch vehicles. The budget continues to grow, as does the diversity and ambitiousness of the Chinese program. There is no better example of this than Shenzhou.

Shenzhou (“Divine Vessel”) is a Chinese manned capsule. It is based on Russia’s Soyuz re-entry crew capsule. Four unmanned test flights of a prototype Shenzhou occurred during 1999-2002. The first manned Shenzhou was carried out on October 15, 2003. The first dual-manned Shenzhou was launched on October 12, 2005. The first manned Shenzhou mission to conduct extra-vehicular activity (EVA) by one of its taikonauts was launched on September 25, 2008. A total of 12 missions have been completed thus far. The Shenzhou program has made China the third nation (after Russia and the US) to test an unmanned spacecraft designed for manned operations and then successfully launch a manned spacecraft into Earth orbit. The Shenzhou is capable of conducting missions lasting about three weeks.

In 1992, the Chinese government’s State Council directed the creation of the Chinese National Manned Space Program, designated Project 921. The first phase, Project 921-1, aimed to accomplish a first manned capsule flight by October 1999. In October 1993, the Shanghai Astronautics Bureau submitted the first proposal for Project 921. The initial Shenzhou mission was approved for launch by a modified Long March 2E—the Long March 2F. Shortly thereafter, construction began on ground control facilities north of Beijing, China.

Propulsion for the vehicle is provided by four expansion ratio main engines. Inside the base of the aft service module, there are high-thrust pitch and yaw thrusters arranged in four pairs. On the outside of the flared base, there are low-thrust pitch and yaw thrusters arranged in four pairs. Just below the central re-entry capsule, there are four pairs of roll/translation thrusters. At the base of the forward orbital module, there are four groups of four thrusters.

The reaction control thrusters at the base of the forward orbital module allow autonomous orientation and some maneuverability. The aft service module carries orientation instruments, including horizon, ion flow, and(or) star and Sun sensors. Ground      control is handled by the Beijing Aerospace Directing and Controlling Center of Beijing, China.

The 12 Shenzhou launches during the past two decades, including the first manned Shenzhou in 2003, the first dual-manned Shenzhou in 2005, and the first Shenzhou with a three-member crew and the first to carry out a spacewalk in 2008, the four dockings with the orbiting space laboratory Tiangong-2 (which carried the Tianzhou-1 unmanned cargo spacecraft) and the Tianhe-1 core module are the latest milestones in China’s space program, and they mark what has become a regular series of Chinese manned launch missions. It symbolizes a breakthrough in the basic technology of manned spacecraft.

There is no question about China’s commitment to a manned space capability. Now that so many taikonauts have made it to Earth orbit, the next step will be for China to continue launching and docking with a series of space laboratories which would be manned for short periods of time. This will eventually pave the way for a more permanent presence in space, with the completion of the Tiangong space station in the next couple of years. We know that several Shenzhou missions are planned during the next two years, including the manned Shenzhou 13 later this year.

The twelfth Shenzhou mission was successfully launched by a Long March 2F rocket on June 17, 2021 from the Jiuquan space launch center. The manned (three taikonauts) spacecraft docked with the Core Cabin Module (known as “Tianhe-1”) of China’s proposed three-module Tiangong space station, which is planned for completion by 2023. The Shenzhou 12 mission involves conducting a series of technical verification tasks pertaining to the Tianhe-1 module, including extravehicular activities and verification of a regenerative life support system.  It will be followed by the launch of the manned Shenzhou 13 resupply mission to the Tianhe-1 in October.