2. Launching vehicles. Over the past five years, Long March rockets independently developed by China have made 24 consecutive successful flights, and their major technological functions and reliability have been notably upgraded. From October 1996 to the end of 2005, Long March rockets made 46 consecutive successful flights. Important breakthroughs have been made in key technologies of the new-generation launching vehicles. Research and development of the 120-ton thrust liquid-oxygen/kerosene engine and the 50-ton thrust hydrogen-oxygen engine are proceeding smoothly.

3. Launching sites. The construction of three launching sites at Jiuquan, Xichang and Taiyuan, has made new progress, and their comprehensive test and launch capabilities have been enhanced. Various launching vehicles, man-made satellites, unmanned experimental spacecraft and manned spacecraft have been successfully launched from the three launching sites many times.

4. Telemetry, tracking and command (TT&C). The overall performance of the country's TT&C network has been improved and expanded. It has provided TT&C support to man-made satellites traveling in different orbits, and to unmanned experimental spacecraft and manned spacecraft during launch, operation in orbit, return and landing.

5. Manned spaceflight. On November 20 and 21, 1999, China launched and retrieved the first Shenzhou unmanned experimental spacecraft. It then launched three more Shenzhou unmanned experimental spacecrafts not long afterwards. On October 15 and 16, 2003, it launched and retrieved the Shenzhou 5 manned spacecraft, China's first of its kind. Having mastered the basic technologies for manned spacecraft, China became the third country in the world to develop manned spaceflight independently. From October 12 to 17, 2005, the Shenzhou 6 manned spacecraft completed a five-day flight with two astronauts on board. This was the first time for China to have men engage in experiments in space, another major achievement in the sphere of manned spaceflight.

6. Deep-space exploration. Advance studies and engineering work of the lunar-orbiting project has been conducted, making important progress.

Space Application

1. Satellite remote-sensing. The fields and scale where satellite remote-sensing is used have been constantly expanded. Breakthroughs have been made in a large number of key application technologies; infrastructure facilities have been strengthened; the technological level and operational capabilities of the application system have been notably improved; and a national satellite remote-sensing application system has taken shape. China has built and improved the National Remote-Sensing Center, National Satellite Meteorology Center, China Resources Satellite Application Center, National Satellite Oceanic Application Center and China Remote-Sensing Satellite Ground Station, as well as satellite remote-sensing application and certification institutes of relevant state departments, provinces and cities. An optical remote-sensing satellite radiation caliberation station has also been completed and put into operation. Many remote-sensing products and services are provided by using data resources obtained from observation of the Earth by both Chinese and foreign satellites of multiple wavelengths of wide scope and long duration. Satellite remote-sensing application systems have been put into regular operation in many important fields, particularly in meteorology, mining, surveying, agriculture, forestry, land mapping, water conservancy, oceanography, environmental protection, disaster mitigation, transportation, and regional and urban planning. They are playing an important role in the nationwide land resources survey, ecological construction and environmental protection, as well as in major state projects, such as the South-North Water Diversion Project, the Three Gorges Project and the Project to Transmit Natural Gas from West to East.