Long March 2F/G | Shenzhou-9 & Shenzhou-9-GC
This is the fourth crewed mission for China’s Shenzhou program which lasted 12 days. Being the first crewed spacecraft to visit the Tiangong-1 space station, it brought up the astronauts Jing Haipeng, Liu Wang and the first Chinese female astronaut Lie Yang. They docked automatically to the station on 18 June. During their stay in the station, astronauts conducted various scientific and technological experiments, and performed manual re-docking on 24 June. Shenzhou 9 undocked on 29 June and landed safely back on Earth the same day.
Shenzhou 9 was the second spacecraft and first crewed spacecraft to dock with the Tiangong 1 space station, which took place on 18 June.
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-9 & Shenzhou-9-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 June 16, 2012. 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.