40 years on

On Jan 10, 2001, Shenzhou 2, the country’s second experimental unmanned spacecraft, was launched from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in Gansu province.

The Shenzhou series has carried out 11 flights.

In 2016, the Shenzhou XI manned spacecraft carried two astronauts into space to dock with the Tiangong II space lab. The astronauts worked in the lab for 30 days before returning to Earth.

Since November 1999, when Shenzhou 1 was launched, China has made major breakthroughs in its ambitious space program which envisions a space station and sending a probe to Mars at the start of the next decade.

China launched its first space lab, Tiangong I, in September 2011. It ended the data service in 2016.

Tiangong II space lab blasted off in 2016, which bodes well for the final phase of the country’s threestep manned space program.

The first step, to send a man into space and return safely, was fulfilled by Yang Liwei in Shenzhou V in 2003.

The second step is to develop advanced space flight techniques and technologies including extravehicular activity and orbital docking.

The final step will be to assemble and operate a permanent manned space station.

Construction of the station is planned for completion by 2020. It will enter into service around 2022, with an initial designed life of at least 10 years.