25 Years of «Shenzhou-1»

On November 19, the 25th anniversary of the launch of China's first spacecraft, "Shenzhou-1," was celebrated. On that day in 1999, the launch took place with the help of the "Long March" rocket from the Jiuquan Space Launch Center, located on the edge of the Badain Jaran Desert in the lowlands of the Heihe River.

The development of "Shenzhou"-type spacecraft was handled by the China Academy of Space Technology (CAST). The program began in 1992, with the Soviet "Soyuz" spacecraft serving as the basis for its main structural and design solutions.

"Shenzhou-1" was purely an experimental, uncrewed vehicle. It consisted of three modules: orbital, service, and reentry. Its total mass was 7,600 kg. The spacecraft had significant differences from crewed versions. Notably, it lacked an emergency escape system, its solar panels were not deployable and were instead fixed on the service module, and the onboard equipment included numerous mock-ups, with only 8 of 13 subsystems being operational.

The spacecraft was placed in an orbit with a perigee of 195 km, an apogee of 315 km, and an inclination of 42.6°. It completed one orbit around the Earth in 89.6 minutes. After 14 orbits, "Shenzhou-1" was commanded to deorbit. Its reentry module made a soft landing 110 km northwest of Wuhai in the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region.

CAST announced that the mission was highly successful. However, the spacecraft remained relatively "raw," requiring an additional four years before China's first crewed spaceflight could take place.

After the necessary work was completed, the reentry module of "Shenzhou-1" was transferred to the China Science and Technology Museum in Beijing, where it can still be seen today.