Jiuquan Space Launch Complex, China. Satellite image of the Jiuquan Space Launch site where China launched its first successful manned mission to space. On 15 October 2003, Yang Liwei, an army fighter pilot, spent 21 hours in Earth orbit in a Shenzhou capsule, before returning to Earth. Jiuquan is one of several space launch sites in China. Chinese astronauts are known as taikonauts. Future missions include a plan to land a taikonaut on the moon and to build a space station. Image taken by Ikonos satellite, the first commercial satellite to collect data at one-metre resolution. Image taken on 4 October 2003.