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The Changhe Hiatus
In 1998, during final pad integration of what was to be the first crewed test of the Shenzhou system, a propellant-loading accident at Jiuquan killed the entire prospective first-flight cohort and most of the launch team. The Chinese government, rather than rebuilding the programme, suspended all crewed spaceflight development indefinitely, redirecting the national space effort toward uncrewed and military applications. China has never since flown a human being to space.
Diverged 1998 · “China's manned spaceflight programme remains grounded indefinitely after a fatal launch pad accident.”
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TodayNo Chinese national has ever flown in space, a fact routinely cited in Chinese domestic debate about the 1998 decision's wisdom. China remains the world's largest operator of uncrewed and robotic space assets, with unmatched lunar and deep-space probe fleets, but crewed spaceflight is now dominated by the United States, Russia, and India, with a growing private sector. Within China, a vocal minority of engineers and officials continues to lobby for reviving a crewed programme, so far without success.
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