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China's President Lauds Successful Shenzhou Launch
By Ted Anthony
Associated Press Writer
posted: 11:00 am ET
31 December 2002
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BEIJING (AP) -- President Jiang Zemin lauded the successful launch of China's unmanned spacecraft Shenzhou 4, calling it a "great victory'' that demonstrates the country's increasing technological capabilities. In a statement carried by the government's Xinhua News Agency late Monday, Jiang congratulated everyone involved in the project. He encouraged harder work to push China's space program forward toward the government's goal of sending up a Chinese space traveler as soon as possible. "The successful launch of the Shenzhou 4 on Monday is an historic achievement in China's space industry and a great victory in its reform, opening-up and modernization drive,'' Jiang said, paraphrased by Xinhua, as is the agency's custom. The Shenzhou 4 capsule, which blasted off before dawn Monday from a rocket base in the Gobi desert, carried all the equipment for manned flight, the government said. It said the mission will test life-support and other systems with an eye toward manned missions. Jiang's message was directed to the General Armament Department of the People's Liberation Army and the Aerospace Command and Control Center. Jiang heads the Communist Party's powerful Central Military Commission, which runs the military. The space program is linked to the military, though exactly how is unclear. Jiang encouraged all involved to "redouble their efforts and work in a pioneering spirit to make more contributions to the peaceful development of the outer space,'' Xinhua said. His comments reflected the government's enthusiasm about its space program, which it has cast as a symbol of national pride much as the United States did with NASA's Apollo launches during the "space race'' of the 1960s against the Soviet Union. China hasn't announced a date for a manned launch, but extensive coverage in state-controlled media this week have highlighted it. Zhang Qingwei, president of the state-run China Aerospace Science and Technology Corp., which manufactured the capsule, said a manned flight was "just around the corner'' if no problems were reported during this week's flight. The Shenzhou 4 is expected to remain in orbit for seven days, state media said. Its flight was the fourth for a Shenzhou capsule -- whose name means "Sacred Vessel'' -- and the second in less than 10 months. Astronauts picked from the ranks of fighter pilots in China's air force have been training for several years to make the first flights into space.
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