First Step return capsule and space suit displayed in the
National Museum of China. The development of
Long March 2F, China's first human-rated launch vehicle, began in September 1992. It was derived from the
Long March 2E, but with a
launch escape system and control system redundancy. In December 1994, the first hot test fire of a human-rated rocket's engine was completed successfully. In January 1998, 14 pilots were selected as the first batch of Chinese astronaut candidates. In November 1998, a new flight control center,
Beijing Aerospace Flight Control Center, was opened to support CMS missions. On 19 November 1999,
Shenzhou 1, the first uncrewed
Shenzhou spacecraft, was launched from
Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center and entered predetermined orbit. The ground electrical test model was used during this test flight to meet the deadline by the end of 1999. However, the parachutes failed to open upon re-entry, which resulted in hard-landing. In 2002, China launched
Shenzhou 3 and
Shenzhou 4; both ended in success. At 587 seconds after taking off, the spaceship separated from the rocket and entered an elliptical orbit with an inclination of 42.4°, the perigee height of 199.14 km and the apogee height of 347.8 km. Yang became the first Chinese launched into space with Chinese launch vehicle and spacecraft. At 22:23 UTC on 15 October 2003, the re-entry module landed safely in central Inner Mongolia. The whole mission lasted for 21 hours and 23 minutes, making China the third country capable of sending humans to space and back independently, after Russia and the United States. The first "multi-person and multi-day" crewed space flight,
Shenzhou 6, was conducted during 12–17 October 2005. Astronauts
Fei Junlong and
Nie Haisheng spent more than 4 days in space and orbited the Earth for 76 orbits.
Second Step The goal of the Second Step of CMS was to make technology breakthroughs in
extravehicular activities (EVA) as well as
space rendezvous and
docking to support short-term human activities in space. To complete the goal, China launched multiple crewed and uncrewed missions, including two prototypes of China's space station.
Phase 1: EVA, space rendezvous and docking mission On 25 September 2008,
Shenzhou 7 was launched into space with three astronauts,
Zhai Zhigang,
Liu Boming and
Jing Haipeng. During the flight, Zhai Zhigang and Liu Boming completed China's first EVA with the Feitian extravehicular space suit made in China and the Sea Hawk extravehicular space suit imported from Russia respectively. In order to practice space rendezvous and docking, China launched an target vehicle,
Tiangong 1, in 2011 with a variant of
Long March 2F, followed by
Shenzhou 8, the first uncrewed Shenzhou spacecraft since
Shenzhou 5. The two spacecraft performed China's first automatic rendezvous and docking on 3 November 2011, which verified the performance of docking procedures and mechanisms. About 9 months later,
Tiangong 1 completed the first manual rendezvous and docking with
Shenzhou 9, a crewed spacecraft carrying
Jing Haipeng,
Liu Wang and China's first female astronaut
Liu Yang. On 11 June 2013, crewed spacecraft
Shenzhou 10 carrying astronauts
Nie Haisheng,
Zhang Xiaoguang and
Wang Yaping was launched into orbit and docked with
Tiangong 1. The three astronauts spent 12 days in
Tiangong 1 by conducting scientific experiments, giving lectures to over 60 million students in China, and performing more docking tests before returning to Earth safely. The completion of the missions from
Shenzhou 6 to
Shenzhou 10 demonstrated China's technical advancement in human spaceflight, ending phase 1 of the Second Step.
Phase 2: Space laboratory To further enhance China's human spaceflight capabilities and make preparation for the construction of future space station, China launched the second phase of the Second Step, which consisted of four space laboratory missions. In June 2016, China conducted the maiden flight of
Long March 7, a new generation medium-lift launch vehicle with higher payload capability to
low Earth orbit, from the newly built
Wenchang Space Launch Site located in the coastal
Hainan Province. In September 2016,
Tiangong 2 was launched into orbit. It was a space laboratory with more advanced functions and equipment than
Tiangong 1. A month later,
Shenzhou 11 was launched and docked with
Tiangong 2. Two astronauts,
Jing Haipeng and
Chen Dong entered
Tiangong 2 and were stationed for about 30 days, breaking China's record for the longest human spaceflight mission while verifying the viability of astronauts' medium-term stay in space. The mission inaugurated the Third Step of CMS. The Third Step aims to complete the construction of China's space station
Tiangong. It can be divided into two phases:
Phase 1: demonstration of key technologies On 29 April 2021, the second Long March 5B rocket lifted off from
Wenchang, carrying the
Tianhe core module, the most complex spacecraft independently developed by China. The core module entered the predetermined orbit about 494 seconds after launch, marking the start of the in-orbit construction of China's space station. The shipment included astronaut supplies, space station equipment, extravehicular space suits and propellant. The first crewed mission to
Tianhe,
Shenzhou 12, was launched from
Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center on 17 June 2021. The spacecraft conducted China's first crewed autonomous rapid rendezvous and docking 6 hours 32 minutes after launch. Three crew members,
Nie Haisheng,
Liu Boming and
Tang Hongbo, became the first inhabitants of
Tiangong Space Station. At 00:11 UTC on 4 July 2021, two of the
Shenzhou 12 crew members,
Liu Boming and
Tang Hongbo, conducted the first
EVA on the space station, which lasted for 6 hours 46 minutes, breaking the previous 20-minute EVA record made during
Shenzhou 7 mission in 2008 by a huge margin. The
Shenzhou 12 crew returned to Earth safely on 17 September 2021. On 20 September 2021,
Tianzhou 3 cargo spacecraft was launched to Tiangong Space Station. On 15 October 2021,
Shenzhou 13 was launched and docked with the
Tianhe core module 6.5 hours later. The plan was for the crew, including
Zhai Zhigang,
Wang Yaping and
Ye Guangfu, to complete a six-month stay, the longest one since the beginning of the program. About three weeks later, Zhai Zhigang and Wang Yaping completed the crew's first
EVA on 7 November 2021, making Wang the first Chinese female astronaut to perform an EVA. At 07:59 UTC on 27 March 2022, the
Tianzhou 2 cargo spacecraft was undocked from the
Tianhe core module after completing its mission, followed by its controlled reentry into the atmosphere over the south Pacific on 31 March 2022. The
Shenzhou 13 crew returned to Earth safely on 16 April 2022.
Phase 2: assembly and construction ,
Chen Dong and
Liu Yang ahead of docking. Following the conclusion of phase 1, 6 more missions will be conducted to implement phase 2, including launches of 2
laboratory modules of
Tiangong, 2 cargo spacecraft and 2 crewed spacecraft. All these missions are scheduled to be carried out by the end of 2022. On 9 May 2022,
Tianzhou 4 cargo spacecraft was launched to Tiangong Space Station, which docked with the station the next day. On 5 June 2022,
Shenzhou 14 was launched and docked to the
Tianhe core module almost 7 hours later. The crew, including
Chen Dong,
Liu Yang and
Cai Xuzhe, spent six months on the space station during this very first crewed mission of the construction phase. On 17 July 2022 at 02:59 UTC, Tianzhou 3 cargo spacecraft was undocked from the Tianhe core module after completing its mission. On 24 July 2022, the third Long March 5B rocket lifted off from
Wenchang, carrying the
Wentian laboratory cabin module, the largest and heaviest spacecraft launched by China. The module docked with the space station less than 20 hours later, adding the second module and the first laboratory module to it. At 10:26 UTC on 1 September 2022, two of the
Shenzhou 14 crew members, Chen Dong and Liu Yang, conducted the first
EVA from the
Wentian module's airlock, which lasted 6 hours 7 minutes. About two weeks later, on 17 September 2022, at 05:35 UTC, the second spacewalk carried out by Chen Dong and Cai Xuzhe through the airlock of the Wentian lab module, with Liu Yang assisting the pair from inside the Tianhe core module. On 31 October 2022, the fourth Long March 5B rocket lifted off from
Wenchang, carrying the
Mengtian laboratory cabin module. The module docked with the space station less than 13 hours later, adding the third module and the second laboratory module to it. On 3 November 2022, the 'T-shape' Tiangong space station was formed with the transpositioning of the last module. On 9 November 2022 at 06:55 UTC, Tianzhou 4 cargo spacecraft was undocked from the Tianhe core module after completing its mission. On 12 November 2022,
Tianzhou 5 cargo spacecraft was launched to Tiangong Space Station and docked after 2 hours and 7 minutes, breaking the world record for the fastest rendezvous and docking between a spacecraft and a space station. On 17 November 2022 at 03:16 UTC, the third spacewalk was carried out, again by Chen Dong and Cai Xuzhe through the airlock of the Wentian lab module, with Liu Yang assisting the pair from inside the Tianhe core module. On 29 November 2022 at 15:08 UTC,
Shenzhou 15 launched from
Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center; the spacecraft docked with the space station about 6 and one-half hours later at 21:42 UTC. Astronauts
Fei Junlong,
Deng Qingming, and
Zhang Lu (the
Shenzhou 15 crew) were greeted by the Shenzhou 14 crew, completing the first crew handover on the China space station. With the completion of construction, the Space Station began the application and permanently crewed phase in which crew rotations would become routine. The station is expected to operate in orbit for no less than 10 years, == Composition ==