Shenzhou 4 was launched December 29 from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in the Gobi desert.
Numbers of experiments are underway using Shenzhou 4, including remote sensing of Earth.
The flight marks an "all up" test of spacecraft hardware, as well as honing ground and ocean-based control handling skills. This full mission shakeout is believed to mimic the flight plan of a piloted Shenzhou 5 later this year.
Piloted Shenzhou
The People's Daily reports that Shenzhou 4's life support system is working normally. That test, among others, is clearing the way for China to launch its first space crew.
China News Service reported earlier this week that a piloted Shenzhou is slated for liftoff in the second half of this year, citing comments from Yuan Jie, director of the Shanghai Aerospace Bureau. Upwards of a dozen Chinese astronauts have been in intensive training, chosen from China's corps of top-notch fighter pilots.
Assembly and testing of the Shenzhou spacecraft designated to be piloted is now underway, Yuan said.
China is slated to become the third country capable of independent launch of humans into Earth orbit following the former Soviet Union in 1961 and the United States in 1962.
Outfitted with experiments
Shenzhou 4 carries an assortment of biology, biomedicine and physics experiments. In addition, the vehicle is outfitted with a multi-mode microwave experiment for remote-sensing survey of the Earth and the space environment.
In addition, a New Year's greeting was broadcast from the spacecraft to the people of China.
A command and control network to operate the spacecraft includes four survey ships, anchored in the Indian Ocean, western Pacific Ocean, southern Pacific Ocean, and the Atlantic Ocean.
Three earlier Shenzhou spaceships were flown between November 1999 and March 2002.
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