Published : 25/09/2025
On 25th September 2008, the Long March-2F rocket, carrying the Shenzhou-7 (神舟七號) manned spacecraft, was successfully launched from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre in China.
Shenzhou-7 carried three astronauts, commander Zhai Zhigang (翟志剛), Liu Boming (劉伯明) and Jing Haipeng (景海鵬); after entering the space, Zhai Zhigang, with the assistance of Liu Boming, completed the extravehicular activities, achieving the first spacewalk in Chinese history.
Shenzhou-7 was China's third manned spacecraft, belonging to China's "Shenzhou" series of spacecraft. The Shenzhou-7 spacecraft was comprised of an orbital module, a re-entry module and a propulsion module, flew in space for a total of 2 days, 20 hours and 27 minutes.
During the time in the space, four major scientific experiments were conducted, and four firsts for China's manned spaceflight were achieved: an astronaut's extravehicular activity, the release of a small companion satellite, the conducting of extravehicular space materials science research, and the first application of Tianlian-1 (天鏈一號); of these, the astronaut's extravehicular activity to perform a spacewalk was the most-watched pioneering feat.
Recalling the moment of the exit, Zhai Zhigang opened the hatch with the assistance of Liu Boming and Jing Haipeng and began the extravehicular activities. Zhai first poked his head out and waved to the fixed external closed-circuit camera, after which his entire body emerged from the cabin.
Afterwards, Liu also put his head out of the cabin and handed a small five-star red flag to Zhai. After taking the red flag, Zhai Zhigang waved it at the camera for a moment, which became a historic moment in China's spaceflight history.
At 4:58 p.m. on 27th September 2008, the astronauts completed a series of extravehicular activities and successfully returned to the orbital module.
At 5:37 p.m. on 28th September 2008, Shenzhou-7 returned to Earth, successfully landing at the main landing site in Siziwang Banner, Inner Mongolia, China.
The successful realisation of China's first spacewalk by Shenzhou-7 is another major, landmark victory for China in the development of manned spaceflight technology, and it plays a hugely significant role in further advancing the cause of manned spaceflight to a higher level.
The complete success of the "Shenzhou" series of spaceflights has demonstrated to the world China's outstanding capability for independent innovation in high-end scientific research.