China recently took a major step towards becoming just the third nation in the world to launch a man into orbit. 

A spacecraft capable of carrying humans into space was launched aboard a Chinese Long March rocket at 6:30 a.m. on Nov. 20 from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in the northwest Gansu province. 

The capsule-like spacecraft, called Shenzhou or “Vessel of the Gods,” separated from the rocket about 10 minutes into the launch, orbited the earth 14 times and then descended by parachute to land in northern China around 3 a.m. the next day.  

While the craft was unmanned during this flight, China said a manned launch is not far off. According to the Associated Press, Western experts suspect China will probably launch a manned mission during the next year. 

When a manned mission is successfully launched, it will make China the third nation to put a man in space following the Soviet Union’s and the United States’ initial launches in the 1960s. 

People from other countries have traveled into space before, but they have done so aboard the U.S. space shuttle or Soviet rockets. Flight International, an aviation journal, said the Shenzhou craft is based on the Russian Soyuz craft. 

In addition, it has two pairs of solar panels and a cylindrical forward module, as opposed to the Soyuz’s cylindrical one. The Shenzhou is believed to be capable of carrying up to four taikonauts, the Chinese equivalent of U.S. astronauts or Russian cosmonauts. 

China’s first rocket was launched in 1959 under the leadership of Mao Zedong. 

The Long March rocket class has been in use since 1996. During those years, they have been used to put numerous satellites into orbit. 

Another important aspect of the launch is China’s display of low-momentum rocket propulsion.  The launch has many different implications to many different people. 

China’s scientific research and national pride will both be boosted by this success, but so will their military power. 

The rocket allows for Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles (ICBMs) to be fired on targets anywhere in the world, and the low-momentum rocket propulsion system will make the ICBMs harder to defend against. 

“We can use this technology to change trajectories in flight, making missiles do a little dance and evade opponents’ attacks,” wrote The China Business Times.  A manned mission could help Chinese scientists perfect the system.