Shenzhou 5

Shenzhou 5
Shenzhou 5 spacecraft mockup and parachute displayed at the National Museum of China
OperatorCMSA
COSPAR ID2003-045A Edit this at Wikidata
SATCAT no.28043
Mission duration21 hours, 22 minutes, 45 seconds
Orbits completed14
Spacecraft properties
Spacecraft typeShenzhou
Launch mass7,790 kilograms (17,170 lb)
Crew
Crew size1
MembersYang Liwei
Start of mission
Launch date15 October 2003, 01:00:03 (2003-10-15UTC01:00:03Z) UTC
RocketLong March 2F
Launch siteJiuquan LA-4/SLS-1
End of mission
Landing date15 October 2003, 22:22:48 (2003-10-15UTC22:22:49Z) UTC
Orbital parameters
Reference systemGeocentric
RegimeLow Earth
Perigee altitude332 kilometers (206 mi)
Apogee altitude336 kilometers (209 mi)
Inclination42.4 degrees
Period91.2 minutes

Yang Liwei

Shenzhou 5 (Chinese: 神舟五号; pinyin: Shénzhōu Wǔ Hào, see § Etymology) was the first human spaceflight mission of the Chinese space program, launched on 15 October 2003. The Shenzhou spacecraft was launched on a Long March 2F launch vehicle. There had been four previous flights of uncrewed Shenzhou missions since 1999. China became the third country in the world to have independent human spaceflight capability after the Soviet Union (later, Russia) and the United States.