Shenzhou (spacecraft)

Shenzhou (Chinese: 神舟; pinyin: Shén Zhōu) is a spacecraft developed and operated by the People's Republic of China to support its manned spaceflight program. The name is variously translated as "Divine Craft," "Divine Vessel of God," "Magic Boat" or similar and is also homophonous with an ancient name for China (written 神州; meaning "Divine State").[citation needed] Its design resembles the Russian Soyuz spacecraft, but it is larger in size and all-new in construction. The first launch was on November 19, 1999 and the first manned launch was on October 15, 2003. In March 2005, an asteroid was named 8256 Shenzhou in honour of the spacecraft.