Cheers in China As Astronaut Goes Into Orbit

President Hu Jintao hailed a great leap spacewards yesterday as China became only the third country to put an astronaut into orbit.

More than 40 years after the former Soviet Union and the US, China's first yuhangyuan (space navigator), Lieutenant-Colonel Yang Liwei, blasted off through the clear blue skies above the Gobi desert on a 21-hour mission that should see him return to a hero's welcome.

"I feel good," he told mission control in the first Chinese words spoken in space. "Vital signs normal."

Tight media restrictions meant that almost nobody on the Chinese mainland had heard of the pilot before the launch, but the extended coverage of the takeoff will make him an instant household name and a symbol of China's growing technological and economic ambitions.

President Hu declared the former fighter pilot a "warrior", who had taken a "historic step for the Chinese people in their climb to the top of the world of science and technology".

After weeks of anonymity, television stations have breathlessly reported Col Yang's first words, first meal - kungpao chicken and fried rice - and even his first nap, taken after a tiny shift from a sitting to a horizontal position during his second orbit.

The images will be familiar to a world used to seeing people in the weightless and cramped conditions of a spacecraft, but China's media were triumphant in celebrating their membership of the world's most exclusive club.

"October 15 will go down as a landmark date in world history," declared the national broadcaster, CCTV.

Col Yang's family have been interviewed - all confident that Chinese technology can guarantee his safe return, and a mini-biography has been broadcast, depicting how the 38-year-old rose from humble origins in Liaoning province, part of the rust belt of northeast China, to become an ace pilot in the People's Liberation Army. Through an arranged marriage with a soldier, he has the standard one child, an eight-year-old boy, and is said to earn less than a civil airline pilot.

Broadcasters dug up archive footage of him in training over the past five years, including shots of him spinning in a weightless environment, jogging in a heavy spacesuit and sliding down escape chutes.

This may suggest he has long been earmarked as a candidate for his latest role as one of an elite first generation of yuhangyuan - also known in the west as taikonauts.

Col Yang did not appear to lack confidence. Drawing laughter from the dignitaries at the launch site, his final words before stepping into the capsule were: "See you tomorrow."

Websites were among the first to break the news. Chatrooms were filled with praise for the country's new hero. On a Xinhua news agency forum, one visitor told him: "Your small step is a giant leap for China."

In Beijing, news of the successful launch filtered out slowly because the government blocked plans for a live broadcast. But as video clips of the Shenzhou (divine vessel) 5 were belatedly shown, people on the streets were unanimous in expressing pride in China's achievement.

At the Beijing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, huge red banners were draped across buildings and between lamp-posts, saying: "The Shenzhou 5 has launched China's astronomic dreams. We students must write the next chapter of the country's magnificent history in space."

During a video screening of the launch at a university, hundreds of students cheered when the rocket took off. Some said they were so excited they had not been able to sleep the previous night.

"This is a great moment in China's development," said Jiang Zaoming, a postgraduate studying space flight dynamics. "Our national perspective has changed. Before we were a nation on the ground looking up, but with this mission we have become a nation in space looking down. It will have a huge psychological impact and give people more confidence in our country."

Others, however, bemoaned the huge financial cost of the project in a country where millions live in abject poverty.

"It's stupid to get excited about the space programme," said one man. "The reality of China is that people don't have enough money to buy food and clothes."

Most people said they were pleased but too busy to pay much attention to the takeoff. "We might have a small celebration tonight, but nothing special," said Yan Qi, a construction site labourer. "Our country has come a long way. But we can't afford to relax. We have to keep working."