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CHINA LAUNCHES UNMANNED SPACECRAFT

CBS MORNING NEWS November 22, 1999, Monday (6:30 AM ET)

JULIE CHEN, anchor:

China took a great leap forward into the space age with its first successful test of a spacecraft designed to eventually carry astronauts. The mission brings China closer to catching up with US and Russian space programs. Eric Engberg reports.

ERIC ENGBERG reporting:

Bathed in floodlights against the predawn sky, the unmanned Shenzhou spacecraft awaited the final countdown at the Chinese launchpad.

Unidentified Man: (Foreign language spoken)

ENGBERG: Lift off, atop a long march rocket, was smooth. Built with Russian technical assistance, the vehicle resembles the Russian Soyuz. Its name, Shenzhou, means the godship.

Mr. JOHN PIKE (Federation of American Scientists): This is precisely the sort of unmanned test of a manned vehicle that you do a few months before you risk a crew in space.

ENGBERG: While the Chinese, as usual, cloaked details of the flight in secrecy, their people were treated to computerized maps of the 14 orbits, stretching across almost a whole day. Analysts say a manned flight, making China only the third nation to put humans in orbit, would have great prestige value.

Mr. PAUL BEAVER (Analyst): Politically I think it's very important for them to demonstrate their independence as well by creating a program which is almost entirely of their own making.

ENGBERG: Given that the Chinese already had nuclear-tipped missiles, analysts don't view their space progress as a threat.

Mr. PIKE: The Chinese-piloted space program today is basically where we were in the early 1960s. They have nothing resembling our space shuttle, and they're obviously very far away from being able to do Apollo.

ENGBERG: But for the country that ancient history says invented rocketry, the flight puts the Chinese right at the edge of joining the world's most exclusive club: nations which have sent men and women into space. Eric Engberg, CBS News, Washington.

CHEN: I'm Julie Chen, and this is the CBS MORNING NEWS.