Shenzhou 5: The First Crewed Orbital Flight and Safe Return

Shenzhou 5 undertook China's first human spaceflight. Its central task was to carry an astronaut into Earth orbit, operate safely there and return to Chinese territory. In his retrospective account, Qi Faren placed this stage within the human spaceflight programme launched in 1992. Earlier planning had chosen to begin with spacecraft and organized personnel training, application payloads, spacecraft, launch vehicles, the launch site, tracking and control, and the landing site into coordinated systems.

Shenzhou 1 completed an uncrewed test flight in 1999, and Shenzhou 2 through 4 continued testing the various systems. Qi Faren, chief designer of the Shenzhou 1 through 5 spacecraft, said that the first crewed flight was planned for one person and one day to leave a margin in the mission. Yang Liwei was therefore the sole crew member on this crewed validation flight.

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The China Academy of Space Technology had overall responsibility for developing the spacecraft system. In a report after the 2003 mission, deputy chief designer Yang Hong explained that the team had selected a three-module spacecraft configuration and identified seventeen key technologies, including guidance, navigation and control, re-entry control, large parachutes and landing-impact attenuation. Development covered not only orbital operation but the entire process of returning the crew safely to the ground.

Yang Hong reported that the team had designed more than twenty emergency escape and rescue plans for 108 failure modes. He also cited the dismantling and inspection of an anomalous gyroscope before Shenzhou 1's launch as an example of how troubleshooting during uncrewed testing built experience for subsequent crewed missions. These preparations involved equipment redundancy, testing and emergency return procedures.

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At 09:00 Beijing time on 15 October 2003, a Long March 2F rocket launched from the Jiuquan launch centre carrying Shenzhou 5 and Yang Liwei. Mission commander-in-chief Li Jinai subsequently announced that the spacecraft had entered its planned orbit. Before launch, the astronaut had completed checks of his seat restraints, communications, physiological signals, oxygen supply and ventilation connections. After orbital insertion, the solar arrays on the propulsion and orbital modules deployed in succession.

According to the following day's press conference record, the spacecraft separated from the rocket 587 seconds after launch and moved into a circular orbit at an altitude of about 343 kilometres during its fifth orbit. Yang Liwei monitored instruments, performed relevant operations and photographed Earth. Telemetry and cabin images allowed the ground team to assess spacecraft operations and the crew member's condition.

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While in orbit, Yang Liwei ate, rested and observed his surroundings through the windows. Yuanwang tracking ships and land-based tracking and control facilities followed the flight, while cabin images were transmitted to the Beijing command and control centre. In a subsequent paper, medical personnel involved in the mission recorded a brief sensation of being upside down, to which the astronaut then adapted. A spacesuit airtightness check was carried out before return.

The medical team at the primary landing site included personnel from the People's Liberation Army's 306th Hospital and other units, operating from two platforms: helicopters and vehicles. Before the mission, the team conducted airborne and vehicle-based exercises, prepared portable emergency equipment, and developed plans for on-site examinations, evacuation and medical handover. Support extended from contingency planning and exercises through post-landing transport.

The medical team arrived in Siziwang Banner in late September and then conducted exercises for its air and ground units. On the night of the return, members moved to the designated area; helicopters took off to search before landing, and vehicles deployed towards the predicted touchdown point. Equipment preparation addressed monitoring, treatment and evacuation. Medical personnel continued to accompany the astronaut when he transferred to an aircraft for the flight back to Beijing. Location of the landing point, on-site examination and long-distance transport were thus connected in sequence.

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At 06:23 Beijing time on 16 October, the re-entry capsule landed at the primary landing site in Inner Mongolia. The crewed flight lasted 21 hours and 23 minutes and completed fourteen orbits of Earth. The actual touchdown point was approximately 4.8 kilometres from the predicted point. The return sequence first separated the orbital module, then used braking to lower the orbit, separated the propulsion module and finally brought the re-entry capsule into the atmosphere to decelerate and land.

The medical team recorded that rescue personnel quickly reached the capsule. After adapting to the ground environment inside it, Yang Liwei exited unaided, underwent examinations and returned to Beijing by helicopter and a dedicated aircraft. Clinical and laboratory examinations after his return were reported as normal. The orbital module remained in orbit to carry out experiments, so the crewed return and continuing orbital work proceeded separately.

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The flight made China the next country after the Soviet Union and the United States able to send people independently into Earth orbit. The aerospace chronology compiled by the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration records the launch, fourteen-orbit flight and return, as well as congratulations sent to Yang Liwei by Ed Lu and Yuri Malenchenko aboard the International Space Station. Subsequent missions expanded from a short single-person flight to Shenzhou 6's multi-person, multi-day flight. Extravehicular activity, rendezvous and docking, and the construction of a space laboratory became objectives for further development.

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