Article Posted on : - Nov 18, 2011

The re-entry capsule of Shenzhou-8 spacecraft landed in north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region on Thursday evening. A Xinuha photo

BEIJING (BNS): China on Thursday achieved a landmark feat when its Shenzhou-8 unmanned spacecraft safely landed back on Earth after completing the country's maiden space docking mission.

With the successful landing of the Shenzhou-8 re-entry capsule in northern China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region on Thursday evening, China declared the mission a "complete success."

Top Central authorities congratulated the nation on the successful completion of the mission.

"The successful rendezvous and docking between the target orbiter Tiangong-1 and the Shenzhou-8 spacecraft marks a significant breakthrough in China's space docking technology, and it is also a great leap in China's aerospace technology," read the note from the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC), the State Council and the Central Military Commission.

"It is an important milestone in the history of China's manned space programme, and a landmark achievement in China's pursuit in building a country of innovation," the official Xinuha agency said quoting the congratulatory message.

The Shenzhou-8 was launched on November 1 to rendezvous with the Tiangong-1 space module which was orbited on September 29.

The spacecraft completed two space docking missions with Tiangong-1 at a height of over 343 km above the Earth's surface on November 3 and November 14.

The feat has established China only the third country after the US and Russia to develop and successfully test space docking technology and taken the Asian country a step further in its ambitious plan to build a manned space station by 2020.