Shenzhou 1: The People's Republic of China launches its first Shenzhou spacecraft.

Shenzhou 1 was the first uncrewed launch of the Shenzhou spacecraft, launched on 19 November, 1999. The spacecraft used was not equipped with a life support system, but did come with an emergency escape system. After orbiting the Earth 14 times, the command for retrofire was sent by the Yuan Wang 3 tracking ship off the coast of Namibia at 18:49 UTC. After a successful reentry it landed about 415 kilometres (258 mi) east of its launch pad and 110 kilometres (68 mi) north-west of Wuhai, Inner Mongolia.

Shenzhou is a Chinese spacecraft developed for the nation's crewed space program. Its design was based on Russia's Soyuz, but larger and modernized. Like Soyuz, Shenzhou is a single-use vehicle composed of three modules; a descent module which houses the crew during launch and reentry, an orbital module which provides additional living space and storage during orbit, but is jettisoned before reentry, and a service module responsible for propulsion and power, also discarded before reentry. For added safety and aerodynamics, the spacecraft is encased within a fairing and fitted with a launch escape system during liftoff.