| 1968 |
China established the first astronaut training
centre, Space Medical Engineering Research Institute. |
| Summer, 1970 |
19 candidates had been singled out
from China's air force to be the first generation of astronauts.
The programme was aborted later due to budget limitation. |
| 26 November, 1975 |
The first Chinese retrievable satellite was
launched |
| January, 1992 |
The manned space programme
"Project 921" was publicly announced. Chinese Academy
of Space Technology was committed to design the manned
spacecraft. |
| October, 1996 |
Two astronauts were sent to Russia
Gagarin Cosmonauts Training Centre for a one-year training
programme. After that, they returned to China and became
instructors of Chinese astronauts training projects. |
| 19 November, 1999 |
Shenzhou (Divine Vessel) 1 spacecraft was launched |
| 22 November 2000 |
The State Council Information
Office of the People's Republic of China released the white
paper, China's Civil Aviation and Aerospace in 21st Century. The
paper targeted to send astronauts into outer space in 10 years. |
