Shenzhou 5 was the first human spaceflight mission of the People's Republic of China (PRC), launched on October 15, 2003. The Shenzhou spacecraft was launched on a Long March 2F launch vehicle. There had been four previous flights of unmanned Shenzhou missions since 1999. China became the third country in the world to have independent human spaceflight capability after the Soviet Union (later, Russia) and the United States.
Yang reported abnormal vibrations that appeared 120 seconds after launch (pogo oscillation), which he described as "very uncomfortable."[5] As a consequence, corrective measures were taken to the design of the following CZ-2F carrier rocket for the Shenzhou 6 flight.
The launch was met with praise from around the world. Prime Minister of Japan Junichiro Koizumi called the launch "a great feat". United States President George W. Bush congratulated Chinese President Hu and wished China continued success. A U.S. State Department spokesman said that the United States wished to "applaud China's success in becoming only the third country to launch people into space". NASA Administrator Sean O'Keefe called Shenzhou 5 an "important achievement in human exploration" and wished China "a continued safe human space flight program."
