Project 921 (Phase I)
Last updated: 21 April 2008
The Project 921 is the working name given by the PRC for plans to carry out human spaceflight. The programme adopts a three-step strategy. The first phase of the programme aimed to launch two unmanned spaceflight missions, followed by a manned mission by 2002. The purpose of this phase was to test the spacecraft and its life support system. The second phase aimed to carry out extra-vehicular activities (EVA) and space docking operations in around 2007. This phase of the programme will eventually lead to a temporarily man-tended 8t-class “space laboratory”. During the third phase of the programme, a 20t-class permanent space station will be created.
The Project 921 was officially approved by the PRC leadership in September 1992. The first phase of the project (Project 921-I), which entered full-scale engineering development in 1993, was given four main goals: To grasp the manned spaceflight technology; to conduct space observation to the Earth other scientific research; to develop and test the space-Earth transportation system; to gain experience for the future space station. The first unmanned experimental spacecraft was scheduled to be launched in 1998, or no later than 1999.
The PLA established the Project 921 Office to oversee and coordinate the project. Ding Henggao (then director of COSTIND) was appointed as the Chief Director of the project. Shen Rongjun and Liu Jiyuan were the Deputy Directors, and Wang Yongzhi was the Chief Engineer responsible for overall project management. The China Academy of Space Technology (CAST) was responsible for the overall design of the Shenzhou spacecraft, with the Shanghai Academy of Spaceflight Technology (SAST) also involved in the spacecraft development. The China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology (CALT) was responsible for the development of the CZ-2F launch vehicle.
Project 921 was much more than the development of a manned spacecraft and a launch vehicle. More importantly, the PRC hoped to use the project as a vehicle to modernise its space infrastructure and train a new generation of talents in space science and technology.
The whole project was divided into seven main systems: Astronaut System (Project 921-1), Application System (Project 921-2), Shenzhou Manned Spacecraft System (Project 921-3), CZ-2F Launch Vehicle System (Project 921-4), Launch Site System (Project 921-5), Tracking, Telemetry & Command (TT&C) System (Project 921-6), and Landing Site System (Project 921-7).
Russia offered critical assistance to the Project 921, including providing examples of Soyuz re-entry capsule and the Sokol spacesuit as a reference for the Chinese designs, helping CALT to improve the reliability of the CZ-2F’s rocket engine, and training Chinese astronauts alongside with Russian cosmonauts. The valuable ‘know-how’ and experience by Russia enabled the Chinese engineers to significantly shorten the development period and save costs.
Under tight security and high secrecy, Project 921 went quietly without much attention from the outside world. However, by 1998, details of Project 921 began to merge. The construction of the south launch site at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre (JSLC) and the Beijing Aerospace Command & Control Centre were completed in 1997. The emergency escape system was tested in 1998. Two Chinese astronaut trainees, Wu Jie and Li Qinglong, finished their training at the Yuri Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Centre and returned to the PRC to join a team of twelve astronaut candidates selected from over 800 air force fighter pilots. A sixteen month overhaul of the three Yuanwang space tracking ships was completed in Shanghai in January 1999, with the fourth ship joining the fleet in July of the same year.
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| Shenzhou re-entry capsule in the simulate landing test (Source: Chinese Internet) |
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| The emergency escape system in testing (Source: Chinese Internet) |
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| Shenzhou re-entry capsule in landing test (Source: Chinese Internet) |
However, by then, delay in the spacecraft development had already caused the project missing its original target date for the first unmanned mission in 1998, and the short launch window in 1999 was also fast approaching. To avoid the launch being postponed again, the programme leaders decided to launch a ‘skeleton’ spacecraft without the life support and emergency escaping system to save time. The spacecraft and launch vehicle were delivered to JSLC in late 1998 for the launch preparation. In mid 1999, an Internet source photo revealed a CZ-2F launch vehicle carrying the experimental spacecraft in the JSLC.
On 20 November 1999, the first unmanned experimental spacecraft, named ShenZhou 1, was launched from Jiuquan. After orbiting the Earth 14 times in 21 hours and 11 minutes, the re-entry capsule of the spacecraft returned to the Earth and landed in the landing site as scheduled, marking the first milestone in the programme.
Project 921 originally planned two unmanned launches, followed by a manned launch in 2002. This estimation later proved over ambitious. It took another three unmanned flight missions for the engineers to fully test the spacecraft design. So the first manned flight mission did not take place until October 2003, a year behind the schedule.
On 15 October 2003, ShenZhou 5 spacecraft carrying PRC’s first astronaut Yang Liwei was successfully launched into the space from JSLC. After travelling 21 hours and 23 minutes on the low-Earth orbit, the spaceship landed safely in Inner Mongolia, making PRC the first country in more than 30 years to join the United States and Russia in the exclusive club of manned mission launchers. This was followed by the ShenZhou 6 mission two year later in October 2005. The spacecraft carrying two astronauts Fei Junlong and Nie Haisheng circled around the Earth for 76 times in five days before they returned to the Earth safely.
The Shenzhou 6 mission also marked the successful completion of the first phase of the Project 921. The whole project lasted for 13 years, from 1992 to 2005. . The total cost of the project was estimated to be about 18 billion RMB (~US$2.2 billion). During the project, a total of six spacecraft and three astronaut were successfully sent into space.
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| The search & rescue team approaches the Shenzhou re-entry capsule after landing (Source: Chinese Internet) |
Systems
The Project 921-1 Astronaut System includes the development of the spacecraft’s life support system and spacesuit, as well as the selection and training of astronauts. The system creates and maintains a inhabitable environment inside the spacecraft for the crew, and monitors their physical conditions throughout the flight mission. The primary contractor of the system is the Beijing-based China Astronaut Research & Training Centre, a subsidiary of the CAST. Please see main article: Astronaut System.
The Project 921-2 Application System includes the mission equipments onboard the spacecraft for scientific research and Earth observation purposes. The main contractor is the China Academy of Sciences (CAS).
The Project 921-3 Manned Spacecraft System includes the development of a capsule-type three-module manned spacecraft. The spacecraft consists of a forward cylindrical orbital module, an aerodynamic re-entry capsule, and an aft cylindrical service module. The orbital module and the service module each has a pair of solar panels attached. The re-entry capsule protected by heat shield can accommodate up to three astronauts. The main contractors are Beijing-based CAST and Shanghai-based SAST. Please see main article: Shenzhou Manned Spacecraft.
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| Shenzhou 4 spacecraft being transported to the launch centre onboard a flatbed trailer with tight security around (Source: Chinese Internet) |
The Project 921-4 Launch Vehicle System included the development of the CZ-2F space launch vehicle based on the CZ-2E. The launch vehicle is 68.24m in length, with a 3.35m diameter two-stage core vehicle and four 2.25m diameter strap-on boosters, all employing UDMH/N2O4 storable liquid propellant. It has a launch weight of 480 tonnes and a LEO payload of 8,000kg. The main contractor is Beijng-based CALT. Please see main article: CZ-2F Space Launch Vehicle.
The Project 921-5 Launch Site System included the construction of a new launch site at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre (JSLC). Located in the southern part of the centre, the new launch site included a launch complex dedicated for the Shenzhou launch missions, and a technical centre for launch vehicle and spacecraft preparation. Additional facilities were built for astronaut’s stay before the launch. The launch site began construction in the early 1990s and was completed by late 1998.
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| The launch complex dedicated for the Shenzhou manned spaceflight mission in the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre (Source: Chinese Internet) |
The Project 921-6 Tracking, Telemetry & Command (TT&C) System included the modernisation upgrade of PRC’s existing TT&C facilities, and the construction of new facilities in overseas. In order to support the manned spaceflight mission, the original C-band TT&C network for satellite launch was upgraded to a unified S-band (USB) system, which combines tracking and ranging, command, audio and video links into a dingle antenna. The upgraded TT&C system for Project 921 comprises six five land tracking stations (Dongfeng/JSLC, Weinan, Qingdao, Karshi, Xiamen), two mobile tracking stations (Hetian, Landing Site), three overseas tracking stations (Karachi/Pakistan, Tarawa/Kirbati, Malindi/Kenya, Swakopmund/Namibia), and four Yuanwang space tracking ships. Additionally, a new command & control centre was built in Beijing. Please see main article: TT&C Network.
The Project 921-7 Landing Site System consists of a main landing site located in Siziwang Banner, Inner Mongolia, and a backup landing site in JSLC. The system includes a mobile tracking station for detecting the returning re-entry capsule and a rescue team equipped with transport vehicles and helicopters responsible for the search and rescue of the astronauts after the landing.
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