The Long March II F rocket carrying the capsule blasted into clear skies from the remote Gobi desert in north China's Inner Mongolia at 9:00 a.m.for a 21-hour flight that will see the craft orbit the Earth 14 times.

Shenzou V went into preset orbit 10 minutes after take-off as China became just the third country after the United States and the former Soviet Union to put a man in space 42 years after Cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin's epic first flight.

Russian Gagarin was the first human in space on April 12, 1961 in a flight lasting 108 minutes. Days later on May 5 American Alan Shepard spent just 15 minutes on a suborbital flight.

People's Liberation Army Lieutenant Colonel Yang Liwei, 38, was at the controls Wednesday and reported 34 minutes into the flight that he "feels good" and that the craft was operating normally.

"I feel good, see you tomorrow," Yang, a fighter pilot with more than 1,300 hours flight time, was quoted as saying.

Chinese President Hu Jintao watched the blast-off at the Jiuquan Launch Center and hailed the successful launch as "the glory of our great motherland".

He said the culmination of the 11-year space program was a "historic step of the Chinese people in the advance of climbing over the peak of the world's science and technology".

The Xinhua news agency quoted Chinese space officials as saying the maiden manned flight was a "success".

"The spacecraft and the carrier rocket seperated at around 9:10 a.m. and the spacecraft entered its present orbit," said an official in charge of the manned space program.

Hu Shixiang, vice director-general of China's manned space program, said: "Today, our long-held manned space flight dream has finally come true."

State media said Shenzhou V is expected to land near Siziwang, some 100 kilometres (62 miles) north of the Inner Mongolian capital Hohhot, early Thursday.

The mission caps a highly secretive decade-long manned space program codenamed Project 921 that has cost billions of dollars and comes as the United States agonises over its own manned space flights following the loss its second shuttle Columbia in February this year.

The secrecy continued up to the launch with the government pulling the plug without explanation on a live broadcast.

Analysts said fear of public disappointment and criticism if the mission failed was likely behind the decision.

The Communist Party has much riding on a successful mission, hoping it will promote patriotism, national cohesion and legitimacy for its rule, and with millions potentially watching, failure could have meant a publicity disaster.

The Shenzhou, or "Divine Vessel," is based on the three-seat Russian Soyuz capsule, which the Soviets first launched some 36 years ago, albeit updated in key areas such as the life-support and computer systems.

Beijing however insists everything sent into space is developed and made in China.

While prestige is a key component of China's desire to compete in space with other world powers, Chinese officials have said there are military connotations. However Beijing has played this down in recent days and the United States has indicated it is willing to accept this version of events.

Several US experts have speculated that China is aiming to catch up with the United States and Russia, which already have numerous military spy satellites in orbit.

China's successful quest to join the exclusive club also comes as the United States struggles with its own space program following the Columbia disaster.

NASA has yet to give a date for the resumption of its shuttle flights.

The Chinese launch is also seen as significant because the country has now achieved something other leading satellite launchers, such as the European Union, Japan and India, have not.

SPACE.WIRE