Mission record
Long March 2F/G | Shenzhou-8 & Shenzhou-8-GC
Trajectory & orbital insertion
Ascent path is a representation — true ascent telemetry isn’t public.
Provider
China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation
Provider type
Government
Orbit
LEO
Mission type
Human Exploration
Launch site
China
Date
Mon, 31 Oct 2011 21:58:10 GMT
Orbital launch #
#5172 ever
Mission
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.