NEXT SPACEFLIGHT

Status

Success

Shenzhou 3

Launch Time
Mon Mar 25, 2002 14:15 UTC

First Long March 2F launch with an active launch escape system.

Rocket

Long March 2F
Image Credit: CASC
CASC
Status: Retired
Liftoff Thrust: 5,985 kN
Payload to LEO: 8,400 kg
Payload to GTO: 0 kg
Stages: 2
Strap-ons: 4
Rocket Height: 58.34 m
Fairing Diameter: 3.6 m
Fairing Height: 19.11 m

Mission Details

Shenzhou 3

Shenzhou 3 (Chinese: 神舟三号) launched on March 25, 2002, was the third uncrewed launch of China's Shenzhou spacecraft. This was the first Shenzhou spacecraft launched that could have actually carried a human and as such the main objective of the mission was to test the systems required to support a human in space. On board, it carried a dummy to simulate the physiological signals of a human.

The launch had been delayed several months due to design changes. It had been planned that Shenzhou 3 would use a new interior design but implementation problems meant reverting to the previous version. The rocket and spacecraft were eventually rolled out on the pad during the Fifth Session of the Ninth National People's Congress and the Ninth National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference in early March 2002.

On board were carried 44 different experiments. These included an imaging spectrograph, cloud sensor, radiation sensor, solar ultraviolet monitor, solar constant monitor, atmospheric composition detector, atmospheric density detector, multi-chamber space crystallization furnace, space protein crystal equipment, a cell bioreactor, a solid matter tracking detector, and a microgravity gauge. Also on board was a video camera that broadcast images of the Earth as seen through one of the windows on the spacecraft.

Payloads: 1
Total Mass: 7,400.0 kg
Low Earth Orbit

Location

Site 901 (SLS-1), Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, China

Stats

2002

14th orbital launch attempt

Long March 2F

3rd mission
1st mission of 2002
3rd successful mission