Shenzhou 5 (神州五号) was the first crewed space mission launched by the People's Republic of China on October 15, 2003. The Shenzhou spacecraft was launched on a Long March 2F rocket booster.

It was launched at 09:00 (UTC +8) from Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, a launch base in the Gobi Desert in Gansu Province, entering orbit 343 km above Earth at 09:10 (UTC +8) with astronaut Yang Liwei (杨利伟), the 38 year-old Lieutenant Colonel in the People's Liberation Army and former fighter pilot. The launch made the PRC the third country to independently launch a person into space, after the Soviet Union and the United States. The launch of the Shenzhou is the result of a crewed space program which began in 1992.

Neither the launch nor the reentry was televised live, due to government fears that a disaster could create an embarrassment, but news appeared on Chinese Central Television (CCTV) shortly after both events. The level of secrecy associated with Shenzhou V lay between American and Soviet practices. In contrast to American practice, foreign journalists were not admitted and live television was not broadcast. However, in contrast to Soviet practice, the fact that a launch was about to occur was announced days in advance and photos and video from the mission were available within hours of launch and reentry.

It made 14 orbits and landed 21 hours after launch. The Chinese manned spacecraft re-entered Earth's atmosphere at 06:04 (UTC +8) on 16 October 2003 (22:04 UTC 15 Oct 2003), its parachute opening normally and the astronaut saying he was feeling fine. The landing happened at 06:28 (UTC +8), just 5 kilometers from the planned landing site in Inner Mongolia, according to the government. The orbital module of the spacecraft stayed in orbit, and is scheduled to continue with automated experiments for 6 months.

President Hu Jintao, who was on-site at the Jiuquan Launch Center, hailed China's success in hurling its first manned spacecraft into the orbit, describing it as "an honor for our great motherland, an indicator for the initial victory of the country's first manned space flight and for an historic step taken by the Chinese people in their endeavor to surmount the peak of the world's science and technology."

Premier Wen Jiabao congratulated the country's first man in space after his safe return to Earth. Yang emerged from the capsule about 15 minutes later and waved to members of the recovery team.

Some analysts have noted that Jiang Zemin has maintained a rather low profile during the flight.

The control center in Beijing later declared China's first manned spacecraft mission was successful after Yang Liwei emerged from his capsule.

There have been four previous flights of unmanned Shenzhou missions since 1999. Russia and the United States are the only other nations that have put a man in space.

• http://space.com/missionlaunches/shenzhou5_launch_031014.html
• http://www.taikonaut.com/
• http://www.astronautix.com/articles/couzhou5.htm