November 12 at about 06:38 UTC over 22°S 109° E over the Indian Ocean off western Australia. Launch The launch of Shenzhou 3 was attended by General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party and President Jiang Zemin. Along with him were Wu Bangguo, member of the Politburo of the Chinese Communist Party and Vice-Premier; Zeng Qinghong, alternate member of the Politburo and member of the Secretariat of the Chinese Communist Party; Yu Yongbo, member of the Central Military Commission and director of the People's Liberation Army's General Political Department; and Cao Gangchuan, member of the Central Military Commission and director of the People's Liberation Army's General Armament Department. Escape System Shenzhou 3 was the first Long March 2F launch to feature a working launch escape system. Also added were two manual system that would have allowed an astronaut to activate the system in case of emergency. It was tested during the launch phase though Chinese officials did not confirm if the test was successful. A day after launch China Central Television broadcast an artist impression of the spacecraft in orbit. Of interest was that the front of the orbital module appeared to have been equipped with three seven element log-periodic antennae. It is thought that it was designed for a frequency range of 300–1000 MHz. Also shown was an animation of the orbital module after it had separated from the rest of the spacecraft. Three booms were extended from the front package, one left, another right and the third forward. It is speculated that this could have been some sort of ELINT package. See also Chinese space program Tiangong program Shenzhou spacecraft Long March rocket Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center References Shenzhou 03 2002 in China Spacecraft launched in 2002