The Peoples Republic of China launched its first satellite -- known as China 1 or Mao 1 -- to Earth orbit on its own "Long March" space rocket on April 24, 1970. The 390-lb. electronic ball floated around the Earth blaring the patriotic song The East Is Red. The launch made China the fifth nation with a space rocket. Before that first successful launch, the Chinese may have sustained a launch failure in 1969. They may have suffered three failures in 1974 and another in 1979. China has made scores of successful satellite launches since 1970. By the end of 2001, China had launched nearly 50 satellites with a 90 percent success rate. The spacecraft have included remote sensing, communications and weather satellites for both civilian and military use. China started selling commercial space launches to foreign satellite owners in 1986 during a time when U.S. shuttles and European rockets were grounded. Numerous satellites have been launched for paying foreign owners. China's commercial space launch firm is the Great Wall Industrial Corp. Pakistan's Badr-A. China launched Pakistan's first satellite to a 375-mi.-high circular orbit on July 16, 1990. The satellite, Badr-A, was launched aboard the maiden flight of the Long March 2E rocket from Xichang Launch Center in China. After 146 days in space, Badr-A fell into the atmosphere and burned. China and AsiaSat. Western Union's Westar 6 satellite and the Indonesian satellite Palapa B2 were carried to orbit in 1984 by shuttle Challenger. Palapa and Westar were dropped off in orbits lower than planned so both satellites failed. Later that year, the pair were recaptured by astronauts spacewalking from shuttle Discovery. They were returned to Earth and refurbished on the ground. The retrieved Westar 6 was renamed AsiaSat and launched by China using a Long March rocket, the first American satellite sent to orbit by a non-Western country. Homing satellite. In November 1975, the first Long March 2 rocket carried China's first "homing satellite" to orbit. That made China the third nation capable of retrieving a satellite. Since then, the PRC has sent numerous satellites to orbit with packages to be retrieved from space. Multiple Launches. The pace of China's space industry picked up in the 1980s and 1990s. In September 1981, the PRC successfully launched three satellites to orbit with one rocket. Manned Capsules. In 1999, China launched and recovered an unmanned capsule designed to carry men and women into orbit in the 21st century. The successful launch was Nov. 20 and the controlled landing was Nov. 21. The flight was part of preparations to send the PRC's first persons into orbit in the 21st century. China wants to become the third nation on Earth to put a human in space. Only the United States and Russia have done so using their own rockets. The dome-shaped capsule was named "Shenzhou," meaning "Divine Vessel" or "Vessel of the Gods." Shenzhou is similar to Russia's Soyuz capsule, which carries cosmonauts to and from Russia's Mir space station. The unmanned craft was launched atop a new model of China's Long March rocket from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China. About 10 minutes after liftoff, Shenzhou separated from its launch vehicle and went into orbit, circling Earth 14 times over 21 hours before controllers brought it down safely in Inner Mongolia.
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