Long March 2F/G | Shenzhou-8 & Shenzhou-8-GC
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.
The Shenzhou 8 spacecraft was automatically docked with the Tiangong-1 space module (launched on 29 September 2011) on November 3 and again on November 14, 2011. This unmanned dockingu2014China's firstu2014was…
The Long March 2F is a Chinese orbital carrier rocket, part of the Long March 2 rocket family. Designed to launch the crewed Shenzhou spacecraft, the Long March 2F is a human-rated two-stage version of the Long March 2E rocket, which in turn was based on the Long March 2C launch vehicle. It is launched from complex SLS at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center. The Long March 2F/G version includes longer boosters for increased lift capability, among other improvements.
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Mission Profile
Shenzhou-8 & Shenzhou-8-GC was a Long March 2F/G mission operated by China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation that lifted off from Launch Area 91 (SLS-1 / 921), Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, People's Republic of China on October 31, 2011. The flight carried its payload on a human exploration mission to Low Earth Orbit. It was flown as part of the Shenzhou program. The launch was a success.