Manned space program of the People's Republic of China

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The Manned Space Program of the People's Republic of China ( Chinese  中國 載人 航天 工程  /  中国 载人 航天 工程 , Pinyin Zhōngguó Zàirén Hángtiān Gōngchéng ) or Project 921 , often abbreviated as “CMS” abroad because of the English name China Manned Space , is used by the office for Manned Spaceflight (中国 载人 航天 工程 办公室, China Manned Space Agency or CMSA) coordinated at the Weapons Development Department of the Central Military Commission . Components of the program have so far been the Shenzhou spaceships for manned flights in Earth orbit, a multi-purpose spacecraft for passenger, freight and combined passenger-cargo transportation, the unmanned Tianzhou - supply spacecraft and the Tiangong -Raumstationen. The first Chinese astronaut, Yang Liwei , took off into orbit on October 15, 2003 for a 21-hour flight. Hao Chun (郝 淳) has been the director of the manned space agency since July 12, 2018.

History and planning

Qian Xuesen , the father of Chinese space travel, worked early on on concepts for manned spaceships. One of the key technologies here was the safe return of the astronauts to Earth. Therefore, in 1965, he developed the “ three-satellite plan ” which, in addition to a satellite in low orbit ( Dong Fang Hong I ) and a communications satellite in geostationary orbit ( Dong Fang Hong II ), also provided for a satellite returning to Earth. In August 1965, a group at the Chinese Academy of Sciences led by Zhao Jiuzhang and Qian Ji (钱 骥, 1917–1983) began developing a satellite that could return to Earth unscathed. In this project, which had the working title "Chinese Return Satellite" (中国 返回 式 卫星, Pinyin Zhōngguó Fǎnhuí Shì Wèixīng ), a parachute landing on land was planned. The total of 22 satellites of the series later called “pioneers” (尖兵, Pinyin Jiānbīng ), which were launched between 1975 and 2005, already resembled the return capsules of today's Shenzhou spaceships, even though their return capsule was 1.5 m shorter by one meter that of the spaceship.

After the " 5th Research Institute of the Ministry of Defense " had been outsourced on January 4, 1965 and was able to operate independently as the "Seventh Ministry of Mechanical Engineering" (第七 机械 工业 部, Pinyin Dì Qī Jīxiè Gōngyè Bù ), a “ten-year plan for the development of Chinese satellites ”(发展 中国 人造卫星 事业 的 十年 规划). The document also mentions manned spaceships, which at the time were named "Millstone Cudgel" (千钧 棒, Pinyin Qiān Jūn Bàng ) after the weapon of the Monkey King Sun Wukong . The Qianjunbang 1 was designed as a reconnaissance spaceship for 2, 3 or 5 astronauts, the Qianjunbang 2 as a fighter spaceship for 2, 3 or 5 astronauts (it was in conflict with both the USA and the Soviet Union). The launch vehicle was an ICBM variant called Dongfeng 6 with a payload of 6 tons, which should be operational in 1969 or 1970, followed by a civilian rocket called Langer Marsch 10 with a payload of 50-150 tons, operational in 1975, with which one wanted to try a manned moon landing (for comparison: the Saturn V was able to transport 133 tons of payload into orbit).

Given China's economic and technical capabilities in the 1960s, these plans were illusory. What was actually started, what the Shuguang project , also called "Project 714" because of the approval date July 14, 1970, in which a scaled-down replica of the American Gemini spaceship was to be launched into space with the Langer Marsch 2 launcher, which is currently under development . The Changzheng 2A, which actually launched on November 5, 1974, had a payload capacity of 2 tons, while the Gemini spacecraft weighed 3.8 tons. It would not have been possible to reduce this type of spaceship to such an extent that it would have fitted on the rocket (for comparison: today's Shenzhou spaceships weigh almost 8 tons). In May 1972 this attempt at a leap innovation was also ended.

In addition to the spacecraft construction, the "Research Group High Atmospheric Physiology" (高空 生理 研究 组) was formed at the then Institute for Biophysics of the Academy of Sciences in 1958 , which was supposed to deal with the development of life support systems for living beings flying in rockets. In 1960 the research group was expanded to become the “Research Laboratory for Space Biology” (宇宙 生物 研究室) on the instructions of the State Commission for Development and Reform . After eight mice were sent on a suborbital flight up to an altitude of 70 km with the two-stage sounding rocket T-7A from the launch site in Guangde in Anhui on July 19, 1964 , the research laboratory carried out a series of further experiments in which the behavior and the vital functions of animals during the strong acceleration during take-off and in weightlessness were examined. On June 1 and 5, 1965, rats and mice were initially used as experimental animals, on July 15, 1966 the dog Xiaobao (小 豹) and on July 28, 1966 the bitch Shanshan (珊珊). All animals survived the flights safely, the dogs were later mated and gave birth to healthy puppies.

The first actual space flight of Chinese animals took place from October 5th to 13th, 1990 with two white mice. They were in a return satellite of the type "Groundbreaker-1" (尖兵 一号, Pinyin Jiānbīng Yīhào ), which was equipped with life support systems including a feeding mechanism for the eight-day flight, and landed safely back in China.

At the beginning of 1992, the experts agreed that the goal of further development should be a space station, for which the first step was to construct a manned spacecraft, an intermediate goal that was appropriate to the economic and technical possibilities of China at the time (the requirement was that the Project was feasible by China alone, without any outside support). Manned moon flights were briefly discussed, but then excluded.

On January 17, 1992, the Defense Technology Commission set up a “Working Group on the Feasibility Study of the Manned Space Program” (载人 飞船 工程 可行性 论证 组), or “Central Expert Commission” (中央 专 委), of which Wang Yongzhi was appointed. Wang was a graduate of the Moscow State Aviation Institute and a specialist in the design of launchers and ICBMs . Previously, he was involved in the assessment of the animal experiment project from 1990. The group prepared the said feasibility study relatively quickly, both in terms of the technical problems and the financial viability of the undertaking. In principle, the project should run in three phases:

  1. Launch of two unmanned and one manned spaceship, implementation of earth observation and scientific experiments
  2. Mastery of technology for spacecraft and rendezvous maneuvers ; Start of a briefly inhabited space laboratory
  3. Construction of a 20-ton, long-term manned space station

The plan was approved by the Standing Committee of the Politburo of the Communist Party of China on September 21, 1992 . Subsequently, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China , the State Council of the People's Republic of China and the Central Military Commission approved the funds for the first phase of the project. Because of the September 21 approval date, the program is also known as "Project 921" and the first phase as "Project 921-1". The political and organizational commander of the manned space program (中国 载人 航天 工程 总指挥) was General Ding Henggao (丁 衡 高, * 1931), the head of the Defense Technology Commission, technical director of the program (中国 载人 航天 工程 总设计师) became Wang Yongzhi. In February 2005, the Politburo under the new General Secretary Hu Jintao approved the second phase of the manned space program (Project 921-2), then on September 25, 2010, again after Hu Jintao's explicit endorsement, the “plan for a manned space station” (载人空间站 工程 实施 方案), in short "Project 921-3".

The Commission for Science, Technology and Industry for National Defense was initially responsible for the manned space program . When this passed into civilian hands in April 1998, the newly established main witness office of the People's Liberation Army took over responsibility for manned space travel. Personnel continuity was ensured by the fact that General Cao Gangchuan , the previous head of the Defense Technology Commission, took over the management of the main witness office. Something similar happened on January 1, 2016, when the main witness office was dissolved as part of the far-reaching reform of national defense and the military and largely transferred to the weapons development department of the Central Military Commission . General Zhang Youxia , previously head of the main witness office, became head of the weapons development department while remaining in command of the manned space program.

On October 15, 2019, the position of chief scientist (中国 载人 航天 工程 空间 科学 首席 专家) was created in the manned space program with the entry into the "Age of the Space Station", i.e. the official start of the third phase of the program. The first holder of this position was Gu Yidong (顾逸东, * 1946), 1999-2003 director of the national center for space science of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and, since he had been technical director of the payload system from 1995 to 2008 (see below), with the processes deeply familiar with the manned space program.

organization structure

Commander and Technical Director

There is great continuity in the technical management of the manned space program. Wang Yongzhi remained technical director from 1992 to 2006. Then Zhou Jianping (周建平, * 1957), until then Chief Engineer at the Jiuquan Cosmodrome and Technical Director of the Cosmodrome System (发射场 系统) in the manned space program, took over the office in which he was confirmed on October 15, 2019. The commander, on the other hand, is a political post that is always occupied by the head of the department of the People's Liberation Army responsible for the manned space program. Strategic decisions must be submitted to the State Council of the People's Republic of China for approval.

Commanders of the manned space program of the People's Republic of China
General Ding Henggao
丁 衡 高
* 1931		 1992-1996 Head of the Defense Technology Commission
Cao Gangchuan 071105-D-7203T-005 0Y2A3.jpg General Cao Gangchuan
曹刚川
* 1935		 1996-2002 until 1998 head of the defense technology commission, then head of the main witness office
General Li Jinai
李继 耐
* 1942		 2002-2004 Head of the main witness office
Gene. Chen Bingde.jpg General Chen Bingde
陈炳德
* 1941		 2004-2007 Head of the main witness office
Chang Wanquan Senate of Poland.JPG General Chang Wanquan
常 万全
* 1949		 2007–2012 Head of the main witness office
Zhang Youxia (2017-12-07) 3.jpg General Zhang Youxia
张 又 侠
* 1950		 2012-2017 until 2016 head of the main witness office, then head of the weapons development department
General Li Shangfu
李尚福
* 1958		 2017 - Head of the weapons development department

All important questions are decided by the commander and the technical director in joint meetings, with the commander originally with six deputies having more weight than the technical director with two deputies. Since in the third phase of the manned space program with the large space station, which in the final state of development consists of three modules and a space telescope, the technical challenges increase many times over, with a higher work density due to the more frequent missions and the increased probability due to the longer stays of the space travelers for accidents, the position of the technical director was strengthened on October 15, 2019. Instead of two, he now has eight deputies and can thus outvote the political leadership. The Deputy Technical Director appointed on that day are engineers from the “Systems” (see below) of the program. As of October 15, 2019, the management level of the manned space program has been as follows:

General Li Shangfu commander Space engineer, 2003–2013 commander of the Xichang cosmodrome
Zhang Kejian (张克俭, * 1961) Deputy Commander Physicist, Director of the National Space Agency of China since 2018
Lieutenant General Shang Hong (尚 宏, * 1960) Deputy Commander Mechanical engineer, 2013–2016 commander of the Jiuquan Cosmodrome
Xiang Libin (相 里 斌, * 1967) Deputy Commander Mechanical engineer, Vice President of the Chinese Academy of Sciences since 2016
Wu Yansheng (吴燕生, * 1963) Deputy Commander Electrical engineer, CEO of China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation since 2018
Gao Hongwei (高 红卫, * 1956) Deputy Commander Electrical engineer, chairman of the board of the China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation since 2013 (中国 航天 科 工 集团 有限公司)
Xiong Qunli (熊 群 力, * 1956) Deputy Commander Communications engineer, CEO of China Electronics Technology Corporation since 2017 (中国 电子 科技 集团 有限公司)
Zhou Jianping (周建平, * 1957) technical director Aerospace engineer
Wang Zhonggui (王忠贵) Deputy technical director Computer engineer
Maj. General Yang Liwei Deputy technical director Fighter pilot, spaceman
Maj. General Chen Shanguang Deputy technical director Aerospace engineer
Zhou Yanfei (周雁飞) Deputy technical director Computer engineer
Liu Jin (刘晋) Deputy technical director Aerospace engineer
Grand Colonel Deng Yibing (邓一兵, * 1966) Deputy technical director Communications engineer
Tang Yihua (唐一华, * 1962) Deputy technical director Engine engineer
Zhang Bainan Deputy technical director Materials engineer
Gu Yidong (顾逸东, * 1946) Chief scientist Technical physicist

Manned Space Office

Under the leadership of the dual leadership of Commander and Technical Director's office works for manned space (中国载人航天工程办公室, Pinyin Zhōngguó Zaire Hángtiān Gongcheng Bàngōngshì , CMSA) that the Department of weapons development of the Central Military Commission under standing correspondence with the National Space Agency (国家航天局, Pinyin Guójiā Hángtiānjú , CNSA) at the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology , which only deals with unmanned space travel. The China Manned Space Agency is responsible internally for the organization of the manned space program and for the allocation of tasks to the companies involved. For example, for the Shenzhou spaceship, the Chinese Academy of Space Technology is manufacturing the orbital module and the return capsule, while the Shanghai Academy of Space Technology is building the service module. In addition, the CMSA is responsible for the long-term planning of the manned space program, for developing a research plan, for quality control and for administration. Externally, the manned space agency represents the Chinese government in negotiations with the space agencies of other countries and is responsible for international cooperation projects and scientific exchange.

Systems

On the working level, the manned space program is divided into originally seven, today 14 task areas, so-called "systems" (系统). Similar to the entire program, each of the sub-areas has a commander (总指挥) and a technical director (总设计师) - often provided by the People's Liberation Army. For each of the areas there is a main responsible department or company (总体 单位):

  • Spaceman system (航天员系统, Pinyin Hángtiānyuán Xìtǒng )

The space travel system is under the responsibility of the Chinese Astronaut Training Center in Beijing . There, the Chinese astronauts are selected from the numerous applicants and trained, and the most suitable astronauts for a given mission are determined. Both during training and during a mission, the spaceman system is responsible for the medical monitoring and care of the spacemen, for which telemetry devices were developed at the Chinese astronaut training center, plus a 10 kg and 100,000 yuan space suit for take-off and landing as well as the 120 kg and 30 million yuan expensive Feitian suit for up to four hours of continuous spacewalks .

  • Payload system (空间 应用 系统, Pinyin Kōngjiān Yìngyòng Xìtǒng )

The payload system is under the responsibility of the Center for Projects and Technologies for Utilizing Space of the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Beijing. Said center was founded in 1993 and has carried out more than 50 research projects in space since the Shenzhou-2 mission in 2001, for which more than 500 payloads have been developed and built. The experiments carried out on the spaceships and so far two space stations range from biotechnology , studies of liquid behavior and combustion in microgravity , materials science and engineering to space-based astronomy and the study of space weather.

  • Spaceship system (载人 飞船 系统, Pinyin Zàirén Fēichuán Xìtǒng )

The spaceship system is under the responsibility of the Chinese Academy for Space Technology in Beijing and deals with the production of the Shenzhou spaceships, some of which are already carried out with CNC machines in series production. Under the leadership of the Space Technology Academy, the Shanghai Space Technology Academy (上海 航天 技术 研究院) is building the spacecraft's service module and the Chinese Astronaut Training Center is in charge of the life support system. The new-generation manned spaceship, also developed under the leadership of the Academy for Space Technology , is still being tested and successfully completed its first unmanned test flight in May 2020.

  • Freighter system (货运 飞船 系统, Pinyin Huòyùn Fēichuán Xìtǒng )

The freighter system is also under the responsibility of the Chinese Academy of Space Technology, but has its own commander and technical director for the manned space program. This system is responsible for the development and manufacture of the Tianzhou supply spaceship , which is used to transport supplies and equipment for scientific experiments to a space station, refuel them and, when docked, serve as a material store. Unlike the new-generation spaceship, which can also serve as a freighter, the Tianzhou spaceship is not reusable, but burns up in the atmosphere together with any waste that the space station may have picked up.

  • Room laboratory system (空间 实验室 系统, Pinyin Kōngjiān Shíyànshì Xìtǒng )

The space laboratory system under the responsibility of the Chinese Academy of Space Technology and was responsible for the development and construction of the space laboratories Tiangong 1 and Tiangong 2 . These were prototypes for the modular space station, with which the technologies for rendezvous and coupling maneuvers should be tested. Alternating crews lived in the two room laboratories for a few weeks each, with long breaks in between, during which the restarting of the life support systems was tested. The Manned Space Office currently has no plans to put another small space laboratory into orbit, but the space laboratory system as an organizational unit still exists (as of 2019).

  • Space station system (空间站 系统, Pinyin Kōngjiānzhàn Xìtǒng )

The space station system set up in October 2010 under the responsibility of the Chinese Academy for Space Technology is responsible for the development and construction of a long-term manned modular space station , completing the three-phase program "Project 921" that began on September 21, 1992. The core of the space station, which consists of three firmly coupled modules, is intended to offer a crew of three to live and work; the planned service life of the station is ten years. The core module with the residential areas should start in 2021 with a launch vehicle of the type Long March 5B for launch until 2022, the space station should be operational.

  • Optical system (光学 舱 系统, Pinyin Guāngxuécāng Xìtǒng )

The optical system is also under the responsibility of the Chinese Academy for Space Technology and has the same technical director as the spaceship system, Zhang Bainan . Initially, the engineers there are working on the development and construction of a large optical telescope similar to the Hubble space telescope with a primary mirror of 2 m in diameter. Originally, the plan was Xuntian (巡天, "Heaven screenable ") called telescope fixed to couple the core module. Then it was decided to orbit the earth separately but close to the space station; a second science module called Mengtian (梦 天, “Himmeldäumer”) takes the free space. The telescope, which is similar in resolution to Hubble but has a field of view 200 times the size , costs more than 10 billion yuan (as much as the Liaoning aircraft carrier ), driving the cost of building the space station to 40 billion yuan. About the same amount is needed to operate the space station over its planned lifespan of 10 years.

Apart from the astronomical observations - it is hoped to be able to photograph 40% of the sky in the 10 years - the telescope is also used to practice maintenance work in orbit. It has its own drive and can dock with the space station for refueling. Then the astronauts can also carry out repairs and measures to increase the performance of the telescope. With the techniques tested here, abandoned but still usable satellites should be put back into operation in the future. The People's Republic of China has billions of yuan worth of old satellites in orbit that could be considered for such treatment. An application has already been made to include the development of the systems required for this in the funding program for major national scientific and technical projects from 2020 . However, a public participation process is currently (October 2019) still running .

  • Changzheng 2F launch vehicle system (长征 二号 F 运载火箭 系统, Pinyin Chángzhēng Èrhào F Yùnzài Huǒjiàn Xìtǒng )

The Changzheng 2F launch vehicle system, which was set up in 1992 immediately after the start of “Project 921”, is under the responsibility of the China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology in Beijing and is responsible for building the Changzheng 2F launch vehicle . In this rocket, which was developed on the basis of the Changzheng 2E and intended for manned missions from the start, redundant systems were introduced to increase reliability and safety and the second stage was structurally reinforced; Since the unmanned test flight with Shenzhou 3 on March 25, 2002, the Changzheng 2F has a rescue rocket at its head. The rocket with a diameter of 2.4 m has a cantilevered payload fairing with a diameter of 3.8 m for the transport of a Shenzhou spaceship or 4.2 m for the Tiangong space laboratories.

  • Changzheng 7 launch vehicle system (长征 七号 运载火箭 系统, Pinyin Chángzhēng Qīhào Yùnzài Huǒjiàn Xìtǒng )

The Changzheng 7 launch vehicle system, which was set up in 2009, is also under the responsibility of the Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology, which is supported in the development of the environmentally friendly liquid oxygen - kerosene engines by the Academy for Liquid Rocket Engine Technology in Xi'an . The medium-weight Changzheng 7 launcher, manufactured in Tianjin by Changzheng Raketenbau GmbH (天津 航天 长征 火箭 制造 有限公司), a subsidiary of the China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology, takes off from the Wenchang Cosmodrome on Hainan . It can also launch satellites into orbit, but in the context of the manned space program, it is intended for the launch of the Tianzhou supply spaceship and, in the future, Shenzhou spaceships as well.

  • Changzheng-5B launch vehicle system (长征 五号 B 运载火箭 系统, Pinyin Chángzhēng Wǔhào B Yùnzài Huǒjiàn Xìtǒng )

The Changzheng 5B launcher system, under the responsibility of the Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology, specifically deals with the Changzheng 5B heavy launcher . With a maximum payload of 23 tons that can be put into low earth orbit , this is currently (2020) the most powerful launcher in China. It is specially designed to put the modules for the large space station into orbit. Due to its diameter of 5 m, which makes rail transport impossible, the Changzheng 5B - like the Changzheng 7 made in Tianjin - can only take off from the Wenchang Cosmodrome . On May 5, 2020, the rocket successfully completed its first test flight with the new generation spacecraft .

  • Jiuquan system (酒泉 发射场 系统, Pinyin Jiǔquán Fāshèchǎng Xìtǒng )

The Jiuquan system set up in 1998 on the Jiuquan Cosmodrome is under the responsibility of the Cosmodrome, its commander, Lieutenant General Shang Hong (尚 宏, * 1960), was the commander of the cosmodrome from 2013 to July 2016, then he switched to the Strategic Combat Support Force of the People's Republic of China as deputy commander , where he also heads the Space Department (航天 系统 部). The Jiuquan system of the manned space program is responsible for the final assembly, test and launch of launch vehicles, spaceships and payloads. Many of the tests, as well as the refueling, are not carried out directly on the rocket, but remotely from the control center of the cosmodrome.

  • Hainan system (海南 发射场 系统, Pinyin Hǎinán Fāshèchǎng Xìtǒng )

Analogous to the Jiuquan system, the Hainan system is under the responsibility of the Wenchang Cosmodrome . Its commander is Lieutenant General Zhang Zhenzhong (张振 中, * 1961), commander of the cosmodrome until July 2016, then, after the successful first launch of the Changzheng 7 launch vehicle on June 25, 2016, deputy commander of the rocket forces of the Chinese People's Liberation Army . The Hainan system is responsible for testing and launching launch vehicles, spaceships, the components for the modular space station and their payloads.

  • Landing system (着陆 场 系统, Pinyin Zhuólùchǎng Xìtǒng )

The landing pad system is under the responsibility of the Xi'an Satellite Control Center; its commander is Major General Yu Peijun (余培军, * 1966), who has been in command of the Satellite Control Center since 2017. The main landing site for manned landings is in Inner Mongolia , about 80 km north of Hohhot in the area of ​​the Dörbed banner . In addition, in the event of a sudden change in weather, there is an alternative landing site, the so-called "East Wind Landing Site" (东风 着陆 场) in the Badain-Jaran Desert southeast of the Jiuquan Cosmodrome . In the event of problems up to 160 seconds after take-off, the Shenzhou spaceships have a rescue rocket that carries the return capsule out of the danger zone after it has been detonated by the launch vehicle. For this case, which has not yet occurred , two helicopters with rescue teams are stationed at the Ostwind landing site near the cosmodrome, in Yinchuan , Yulin and Handan , i.e. along the path of a rocket launched with the earth's rotation to the east, each with two helicopters with rescue teams, which quickly landed on an emergency Can be capsule.

If there are problems during the burn time of the 2nd stage of the Changzheng 2F , the spacecraft behind the service module is separated from the rocket, which has a ton of fuel for such cases. Since the Navy of the People's Republic of China has only a limited number of ships, three landing zones have been designated over a distance of 5200 km in the Pacific, from Lianyungang on the Yellow Sea to a sea area southeast of Guam where rescue ships are waiting. In the event of an emergency over the sea, the engine in the service module is ignited and the spaceship takes a pre-programmed trajectory to the nearest landing zone. A Shenzhou spaceship can float at sea for 24 hours, after which the safety of the crew can no longer be guaranteed. Apart from that, there are 10 designated areas for emergency landings on solid land in Asia, Africa, Oceania , South and North America, which are unpopulated and treeless, without high-voltage lines from 110 kV and with a slope of less than 15 °, so that the Landing capsule does not roll over more than five times.

  • Control and communication system (测控 通信 系统, Pinyin Cèkòng Tōngxìn Xìtǒng )

The control and communication system is under the responsibility of the Beijing Space Control Center , and its technical director is Dong Guangliang, head of the Research Institute for Track Tracking and Communication Technology of the People's Liberation Army's Strategic Combat Support Force . The task of this system is primarily to track and control the spacecraft supervised by the manned space flight office. For this purpose, the control and communication system has three control centers: the Beijing Space Control Center, the Xi'an Satellite Control Center and the Jiuquan Cosmodrome Control Center. In addition, the system can also access the ground stations and tracking ships of the Xi'an satellite control center as well as the relay satellites of the Tianlian series , which were launched in 2008 .

Costs and benefits

As part of the 14 systems, more than 110 research institutes, universities, military bases and high-tech companies work directly for the manned space program of the People's Republic of China, plus more than 3000 suppliers from the aerospace, shipbuilding, mechanical engineering, electronics, chemistry, metallurgy and textile sectors. In total, several hundred thousand men and women take part in the development, construction and testing of manned spacecraft; tens of thousands of experts were directly involved in the Shenzhou 5 mission, China's first manned space flight. From the start of the program on September 21, 1992 to the completion of the Shenzhou-6 mission on October 16, 2005, the Chinese government spent almost 20 billion yuan on manned spaceflight, of which almost half went to building infrastructure is also used for other purposes, such as the Beijing Space Control Center or the Chinese deep space network for the People's Republic of China's lunar program . Xu Dazhe , then deputy general director of China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation , put the cost of developing, building and launching the Shenzhou spacecraft at just over 10 billion yuan on December 1, 2005.

It was a lot of money, considering that a large bowl of beef noodle soup, the staple food of Chinese construction workers, cost around 3 yuan. General Ding Henggao, the first commander of the manned space program, was aware of this problem and therefore gave the engineers the requirement to make China's manned spacecraft necessarily bigger and better than the Russian Soyuz spacecraft in order to justify the enormous costs of the program to the population to be able to.

In contrast to the lunar program, where it was stipulated from the start that it was about exploration and mining of mineral resources on the earth's satellite, the manned space program initially did not define any scientific or economic goals. It was a purely engineering project that was decided by the CCP Politburo bypassing state bodies and was only subsequently approved by the State Council. The underlying motivation was explained by Lieutenant General Zhu Zengquan (朱增泉, * 1940), Deputy Political Commissar of the People's Liberation Army’s Main Office responsible for manned space travel , on October 17, 2003, two days after Yang Liweis’s first flight :

The successes of manned space travel will inevitably and to a great extent strengthen national pride and cohesion among the population. It thus has an important political meaning and a great social benefit - it also gives all other state endeavors a new dynamic.

On that occasion, Wang Yongzhi, the technical director of the manned space program, added that the Shenzhou spacecraft also carried out scientific experiments. He and his colleagues had designed the orbital module of the spaceship in such a way that after the return of the space travelers to Earth, it could remain in orbit for at least six months (in practice much longer) and remote-controlled payloads could work there.

The costs for the manned space program have not decreased since then - also taking inflation into account. For example, the development and construction of the modular space station will cost around 40 billion yuan, as much as the new Shandong aircraft carrier . This project also has a strong political component, but no longer only internally - today under the catchphrase " Quadruple Self-Confidence " - but primarily as a means of Chinese foreign policy within the framework of the New Silk Road . Yang Liwei had already waved the United Nations flag together with the Chinese in the Shenzhou 5 spacecraft in 2003 , and the payloads for the planned space station have now been selected in collaboration with the United Nations Office for Space Affairs, with developing countries already in the rules of the tender special consideration was given to:

This opportunity is open to all Member States of the United Nations, with particular attention to developing countries. Public and private organizations with a scientific orientation and fundamental capabilities are eligible to apply. Two or more organizations from developed and developing countries are encouraged to submit a joint application.

What is remarkable here is that the payload operators hardly incur any costs. Start, recovery of returning payloads, as well as telemetry and support by the crew on the space station will be borne solely by China. Only the development and construction of the payloads have to be paid for by the operators themselves, with China offering technical assistance.

International cooperation

Since the Shenzhou-9 mission in 2012, Pakistan has been supporting the manned space program of the People's Republic of China with its Karachi ground station - the return capsule train always leads via Pakistan and western Tibet to the landing site in Inner Mongolia. On the sidelines of the 2nd “One Belt, One Road” summit in Beijing (April 25-27, 2019), Hao Chun, the director of the manned spaceflight bureau, met with Major General Amer Nadeem (عامر ندیم), the director the Space and Upper Atmosphere Research Commission (SUPARCO, Pakistan's national space agency) and signed an "Agreement on Cooperation in Human Space Activities" (关于 载人 航天 飞行 活动 的 合作 协定) with him on April 27, 2019. Through mutual consultations and an exchange of notes, the mechanisms for concrete cooperation were agreed in the following months. The "Joint Commission for Sino-Pakistani Cooperation in Manned Spaceflight" (中巴 载人 航天 合作 联 委会), which is jointly managed by the respective directors of the CMSA and SUPARCO, was founded as the formal supporting organization of the cooperation. Below the management level, the Joint Commission has three working groups:

  • Space technology experiments
  • Space science experiments and scientific training
  • Selection and training of space travelers as well as joint space flights

From December 17-19, 2019, a Pakistani delegation led by Amer Nadeem visited the People's Republic of China, where the first meeting of the Joint Commission took place in Beijing. Then they went to Tianjin . There, the Pakistani visitors were shown the center for final assembly, integration and testing of the Chinese Academy for Space Technology, where the core module of the new space station was just about to be completed. In addition, they showed the visitors in Tianjin, the workshop for final assembly and testing of the heavy launch vehicle Changzheng 5 and Changzheng 7 , the China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology manufactures there, plus the Chinese astronauts training center and the center for projects and technologies for the use of the universe of Chinese Academy of Sciences in Beijing.

Important missions of the CMSA

Surname Starting year Brief description Result
Shenzhou 1 1999 Unmanned test flight success
Shenzhou 5 2003 First manned spaceship success
Shenzhou 7 2008 First expedition success
Tiangong 1 2011 First space station success
Shenzhou 9 2012 First Chinese woman in space success
Shenzhou 10 2012 First Manchu in space success
Tiangong 2 2016 Second space station success
Tianzhou 1 2017 First supply spaceship success
New generation manned spaceship 2020 Unmanned test flight success
Tianhe 2021 Core module of the new space station planned

New generation manned rocket

In 2017, the China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology, with the support and guidance of the commander and the technical director of the manned space program, began preliminary planning for a new launch vehicle for manned spacecraft. The missile is to be used in place of the CZ-2F in the manned missions planned for the more distant future . Analogous to the name "Project 921" for the manned space program, it is also called "Type 921 rocket".

A first model of the rocket was shown at the Zhuhai aerospace exhibition in early November 2018. On October 9, 2019, the final report of the preliminary planning project - "Summary of the technologies and technical applications in a manned modular rocket with a diameter of 5 m of the new generation" - was approved and accepted by an expert commission put together by the Office for Manned Spaceflight. Now the commander and the technical director, in cooperation with the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation, draw up a plan for the concrete development work. The following specifications are currently being considered for the rocket:

  • Takeoff weight: 2200 tons
  • Starting thrust with two boosters: 27,000 kN (more than twice as much as with the Changzheng 5 )
  • Diameter: 5 m
  • Length: 87 m
  • Payload for a transfer orbit to the moon: at least 25 tons
  • New, simplified rescue system
  • Lightweight construction for the rocket structure
  • Lightweight construction for controlling the thrust vector
  • New technology for damping vertical feedback oscillations
  • New technology for pre-launch checks
  • Redundancy in the drive system and control
  • Helium pressurized gas powered engines
  • Booster with pump-supported engines of the type YF-100K with liquid oxygen / rocket kerosene as fuel and swiveling behind the turbo pump , similar to the boosters of the Changzheng 5
  • Separation of the payload with low impulse and high reliability

The first flight of the rocket is planned for 2025 as of January 2020, Template: future / in 5 yearsand a manned moon mission for 2030 Template: future / in 5 years.Template: future / in 5 years

Web links

Individual evidence

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