China launched four unmanned spaceships (Shenzhou 1 to Shenzhou 4), laying solid foundations for future manned spacecraft.

The launch of its first manned aircraft -- Shenzhou 5 -- sent one astronaut into space. The 21-hour flight allowed China to become the third country to independently conduct manned space flights, following the Soviet Union and the United States.

Shenzhou 6 manned aircraft was launched, sending two astronauts into space.

The Shenzhou VII spacecraft carrying three crew members was launched by a Long March 2F (CZ-2F) rocket. On 27 September, Zhai Zhigang, wearing a Chinese-developed Feitian space suit, conducted a 22-minute space walk, the first ever for a Chinese astronaut.

China held its first-ever space docking mission upon return of the unmanned spacecraft Shenzhou-8, leaping towards the nation's ambition of building a permanent manned space station in around 2020.

The Shenzhou-9 spacecraft sent Liu Yang, 33, and two male astronauts, Jing Haipeng and Liu Wang, into an orbit where they will manually dock Shenzhou-9 with awaiting Tiangong-1 space experimental module.

Shenzhou-10 is China's first application-oriented space flight. The objectives of the mission include further assessing the performance of the docking system, the combination's capabilities in supporting life and work, and the abilities of astronauts on the job.