Long March 2F/G | Shenzhou-8 & Shenzhou-8-GC
Launch Successful
L - -- : -- : -- : --
Instantaneous launch window.
Launch Window
Oct. 31, 2011, 9:58 p.m. - Oct. 31, 2011, 9:58 p.m.
Instantaneous launch window.
Oct. 31, 2011, 9:58 p.m. - Oct. 31, 2011, 9:58 p.m.
This is the first docking mission for China's Shenzhou program. Being the first spacecraft to visit the Tiangong-1 space station, it was launched without crew to demonstrate spacecraft rendezvous and docking techniques. The spacecraft docked automatically to the station on 2 November 2011. A second undocking and re-docking to test accuracy and reliability of equipment and sensors in a bright environment was performed on 14 November 2011. Shenzhou 8 undocked on 17 November 2011 and landed safely back on Earth the same day.
The Long March 2F is a Chinese orbital carrier rocket, part of the Long March 2 rocket family. Designed to launch the crewed Shenzhou spacecraft, the Long March 2F is a human-rated two-stage version of the Long March 2E rocket, which in turn was based on the Long March 2C launch vehicle. It is launched from complex SLS at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center.
The Shenzhou 8 spacecraft was automatically docked with the Tiangong-1 space module (launched on 29 September 2011) on November 3 and again on November 14, 2011. This unmanned docking—China's first—was followed in 2012 with the manned Shenzhou 9 mission, which performed a manned docking (also China's first) with the Tiangong-1 module.
Shenzhou DetailsThe China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC) is the main contractor for the Chinese space program. It is state-owned and has a number of subordinate entities which design, develop and manufacture a range of spacecraft, launch vehicles, strategic and tactical missile systems, and ground equipment. It was officially established in July 1999 as part of a Chinese government reform drive, having previously been one part of the former China Aerospace Corporation. Various incarnations of the program date back to 1956.
INFO WIKIProgress resupply mission to the International Space Station.
Satellite officially named for "space environment detection" purposes, exact details unknown.
A batch of 27 satellites for the Starlink mega-constellation - SpaceX's project for space-based Internet communication system.
Second of EUMETSAT's third generation of weather satellite.
NS-33 is the 13th crewed flight for the New Shepard program and the 33rd in its history.
A batch of 26 satellites for the Starlink mega-constellation - SpaceX's project for space-based Internet communication system.
GOSAT-GW (Greenhouse Gases Observing Satellite Greenhouse gases and Water cycle), also known as Ibuki GW and formerly known as GOSAT 3, is JAXA's nex…
'Symphony In The Stars' is the first of two dedicated missions on Electron to deploy a single spacecraft to a 650km circular Earth orbit for a confid…
A batch of 27 satellites for the Starlink mega-constellation - SpaceX's project for space-based Internet communication system.
HawkEye 360 is a a space-based civil global intelligence satellite network using radio frequency (RF) technology to help monitor transportation acros…