Editing Chinese space program (section)

===Project 714===
{{Main|Shuguang (spacecraft)}}

As the [[Space Race]] between the two superpowers reached its climax with humans landing on the Moon, Mao Zedong and Zhou Enlai decided on July 14, 1967, that the PRC should not be left behind, and therefore initiated China's own crewed space program. The top-secret Project 714 aimed to put two people into space by 1973 with the [[Shuguang spacecraft]]. Nineteen [[PLAAF]] pilots were selected for this goal in March 1971. The Shuguang-1 spacecraft to be launched with the [[CZ-2A]] rocket was designed to carry a crew of two. The program was officially cancelled on May 13, 1972, for economic reasons, though the internal politics of the [[Cultural Revolution]] likely motivated the closure.{{cn|date=November 2024}}

The short-lived second crewed program was based on the successful implementation of landing technology (third in the World after [[USSR]] and United States) by [[Fanhui Shi Weixing|FSW satellite]]s. It was announced a few times in 1978 with the open publishing of some details including photos, but then was abruptly canceled in 1980. It has been argued that the second crewed program was created solely for propaganda purposes, and was never intended to produce results.<ref name=Astronautix>{{cite encyclopedia|url=http://www.astronautix.com/craft/chie1978.htm|title=Chinese Crewed Capsule 1978|encyclopedia=Encyclopedia Astronautica|access-date=2009-05-13|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://www.webcitation.org/6AG9KTvIj?url=http://www.astronautix.com/craft/chie1978.htm|archive-date=2012-08-28}} {{cite web |url=http://www.astronautix.com/articles/chidoors.htm |title=Encyclopedia Astronautica Index: 1 |access-date=2009-05-13 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://www.webcitation.org/6AG9L3TY1?url=http://www.astronautix.com/articles/chidoors.htm |archive-date=2012-08-28 }}</ref>