October 8th marks the 60th anniversary of China's development and exploration of space. China's first man-made satellite, Dongfanghong I, was launched in 1970, starting China's space exploration voyage. The country's first unmanned spacecraft Shenzhou One was approved in 1992 and lifted off from Jiuqian satellite launching center in 1999.

After three more successful launches, the Shenzhou Five spaceship entered the pre-determined orbit on October fifteenth, 2003, carrying China's first astronaut, Yang Liwei. The craft landed after 21 hours of space flight, a milestone for China's space industry.

The Shenzhou series went on to accomplish the second and third manned spacecraft missions in 2005 and 2008. Shenzhou Eleven, the latest Shenzhou spacecraft, will complete a docking procedure with the Tiangong 2 space lab this October.

Meanwhile, the Long March carrier rocket series, having now completed over 200 missions, will continue to serve as the launch vehicles.

China's aerospace schedule also includes ongoing lunar explorations. This involves lunar orbiters, landers, rovers and sample return space craft. Mars exploration is also on the schedule.