Timeline: Major milestones in Chinese space exploration
China took its first official step into space on July 19, 1964.
BEIJING (Reuters) - China plans to launch an unmanned probe to the moon early this week to bring back lunar rocks in the first attempt by any nation to retrieve samples from Earth’s natural satellite since the 1970s.
If successful, the mission will make China only the third country to have retrieved lunar samples, following the United States and the Soviet Union decades ago.
Here is a timeline of key moments in Chinese space exploration:
July 19, 1964: China took its first official step into space, launching and recovering an experimental biological rocket carrying white mice.
April 24, 1970: The first Chinese artificial satellite, Dong Fang Hong 1, was launched at the Jiuquan launch centre in the northwestern province of Gansu. That made China the fifth country to send satellites into orbit following the Soviet Union, the United States, France and Japan.
Nov. 26, 1975: China’s first recoverable satellite was successfully launched and returned to Earth.
Nov. 20, 1999: China successfully launched its first unmanned spacecraft, the Shenzhou 1, at the Jiuquan launch centre. The country launched another three unmanned spaceships in 2001 and 2002 in preparation for a manned spacecraft.
Oct. 15, 2003: China became the third country after the United States and Russia to send a man into space with its own rocket. Astronaut Yang Liwei spent about 21 hours in space aboard the Shenzhou-5 spacecraft.
Oct. 12, 2005: The country sent two men on a five-day flight on its Shenzhou VI craft.
Nov. 5, 2007: China’s first lunar orbiter, Chang’e 1, entered the moon’s orbit 12 days after takeoff.
Sept. 25, 2008: China’s third manned rocket, Shenzhou VII, was launched into space where an astronaut clambered out of the spacecraft and walked in space.
Oct. 1, 2010: China’s second lunar exploration probe blasted off from a remote corner of the southwestern province of Sichuan.
Sept. 29, 2011: The Tiangong-1, or "Heavenly Palace 1"
