A single astronaut, Lieutenant Colonel Yang Liwei, 38, was onboard the Shenzhou V capsule launched by a Long March II F rocket. The craft is expected to orbit the Earth 14 times before landing in the Inner Mongolia region of northern China on Thursday.

Watched by Chinese President Hu Jintao, the craft blasted off at 9:00 a.m. (0100 GMT) and entered a fixed orbit 10 minutes later, the official Xinhua news agency reported.

An AFP reporter said a long white trail of smoke could be seen against the clear blue sky from a position some 60 kilometers (37.2 miles) from the launch pad in the desert.

Five minutes after blast-off, the white trail of smoke with a rocket at the head was still visible.

Xinhua quoted Chinese space officials as saying the maiden manned flight had been "successful".

"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.

"The launch is a success."

Xinhua said Yang, a fighter pilot with more than 1,300 hours flight experience looked "composed and at ease" as he read a flight manual in the capsule.

The mission caps a highly secretive 11-year 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 Columbia 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.

SPACE.WIRE