Chinese space program in the context of "Shenzhou 5"

Space Exploration Technologies Corp., commonly known as SpaceX, is a private American aerospace company and space transportation company headquartered at the Starbase development site in Starbase, Texas. Since its founding in 2002, the company has made numerous advances in rocket propulsion, reusable launch vehicles, human spaceflight and satellite constellation technology. As of 2025, SpaceX is the world's dominant space launch provider, its launch cadence eclipsing all others, including private competitors and national programs like the Chinese space program. SpaceX, NASA, and the United States Armed Forces work closely together by means of governmental contracts.

SpaceX was founded by Elon Musk in 2002 with a vision of decreasing the costs of space launches, paving the way to a self-sustaining colony on Mars. In 2008, Falcon 1 successfully launched into orbit after three failed launch attempts. The company then moved towards the development of the larger Falcon 9 rocket and the Dragon 1 capsule to satisfy NASA's COTS contracts for deliveries to the International Space Station. By 2012, SpaceX finished all COTS test flights and began delivering Commercial Resupply Services missions to the International Space Station. Also around that time, SpaceX started developing hardware to make the Falcon 9 first stage reusable. The company demonstrated the first successful first-stage landing in 2015 and re-launch of the first stage in 2017. Falcon Heavy, built from three Falcon 9 boosters, first flew in 2018 after a more than decade-long development process. As of May 2025, the company's Falcon 9 rockets have landed and flown again more than 450 times, reaching 1–3 launches a week.

Yang Liwei (simplified Chinese: 杨利伟; traditional Chinese: 楊利偉; born 21 June 1965) is a Chinese major general, former military pilot, and former taikonaut of the People's Liberation Army.

In October 2003, Yang became the first person sent into space by the Chinese space program. This mission, Shenzhou 5, made China the third country to independently send humans into space. He is currently a vice chief designer of China Manned Space Engineering.

The Equipment Development Department of the Central Military Commission (Chinese: 中央军委装备发展部) is a first-level unit of deputy theater grade under the Central Military Commission of the People's Republic of China. It was founded on January 11, 2016, under Xi Jinping's military reforms. The department mission is to coordinate, oversee, and foster the development and acquisition of military equipment. General Zhang Youxia served as the first director. The current director is Xu Xueqiang. It also registers the patents related to military technology. The China Manned Space Agency is also hosted there and the department plays a critical role in the Chinese space program.

The Ministry of Aerospace Industry of the People's Republic of China (simplified Chinese: 中华人民共和国航天工业部; traditional Chinese: 中華人民共和國航天工業部; pinyin: Zhōnghuá Rénmín Gònghéguó Hángtiān Gōngyèbù) was a government ministry of China from 1956 to 1988. The ministry was responsible for managing the Chinese space program. In 1988, the ministry was succeeded by the Ministry of Astronautics Industry, which was split into the China National Space Administration and China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation in July 1993 as a part of government reform and modernization efforts.

This is a list of Chinese astronauts. Although they are sometimes referred to as taikonauts in the media, this term is not officially used in China. The official designation in English is simply astronauts (Chinese: 航天员 hángtiānyuán). The list includes individuals trained by the China National Space Administration (CNSA) to command, pilot, or serve as crew members aboard spacecraft.

As the Chinese space program developed during the sixties, various proposals for crewed spacecraft were made. The first crewed spacecraft proposed by the People's Republic of China during the late 1960s and early 1970s was the Shuguang One which was expected to bring the first Chinese astronaut in 1973 into space. For this programme 19 astronauts were selected in 1971. However, shortly after these plans were made, several leading scientists attached to the project were denounced, bringing progress to a standstill. Instead, NASA astronaut Taylor Wang, a naturalized U.S. citizen born in China, became the first ethnically Chinese person in space in 1985.

Shenzhou 7 (simplified Chinese: 神舟七号; traditional Chinese: 神舟七號; pinyin: Shénzhōu Qī Hào) was the third human spaceflight mission of the Chinese space program. The mission, which included the first Chinese extra-vehicular activity (EVA) carried out by crew members Zhai Zhigang and Liu Boming, marked the commencement of the second phase of the Chinese government's Project 921.

The Shenzhou spacecraft carrying the three crew members was launched 25 September 2008, by a Long March 2F (CZ-2F) rocket which lifted off from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center at 21:10 CST. The mission lasted three days, after which the craft landed safely in Siziwang Banner in central Inner Mongolia on 28 September 2008, at 17:37 CST. The Shenzhou 7 EVA made the Chinese space program the third to have conducted an EVA. EVAs had previously been conducted by the space programs of the Soviet Union (later Russia) and the United States.