Shenzhou 1

Shenzhou 1 (Chinese神舟 一号) launched on 19 November 1999 and was the first unmanned flight of a Chinese spacecraft Shenzhou -type. The capsule was not equipped with a life support system or an emergency. After Shenzhou had 1 orbited the Earth 14 times, the command for a braking maneuver by the Monitoring and control ship "Yuan Wang 3" was at 18:49 UTC clock, which was stationed off the coast of Namibia given. After the successful re-entry into Earth's atmosphere, the return capsule of Shenzhou landed about 1 415 km east of the launch pad and 110 kilometers northwest of Wuhai, Inner Mongolia.

The first Shenzhou spacecraft differed from those used later copies. Instead of the normally folded out solar panels Shenzhou 1 was equipped with rigid fixed solar cells. During the first flight there was no change in the Earth's orbit. According to Qi Faren, the chief designer of the spacecraft only eight of the 13 sub-systems were operational and in use. Shenzhou 1 was primarily designed to test the carrier rocket Long March 2F and the flight behavior of the Shenzhou spacecraft. There the separation of modules that control the orbit, the behavior of the spacecraft during re-entry into Earth's atmosphere, the heat shield and the recovery on the ground were tested.

Shenzhou 1 was 100 kg seeds on board to investigate the effects of space on growth. Probably a dummy package for electronic reconnaissance was attached to the tip of the orbital module, which was developed with the mission Shenzhou 2 to a fully functioning model.

In June 1999 it was announced that the flight would take place in October of this year. At about the same time images of the carrier rocket CZ- 2F and the Assembly building were published on a Chinese military internet forum. After a fuel explosion on the satellite launch center in Jiuquan, also known abroad, but was denied by the Chinese authorities, the launch was postponed.