Yang Liwei

Yang Liwei
杨利伟
Yang in September 2011
Born	(1965-06-21) 21 June 1965 (age 59) Suizhong, Huludao, Liaoning, China
Status	Retired
Alma mater	Air Force Aviation University (BEng) Tsinghua University (PhD)
Space career
PLAAC astronaut
Current occupation	Vice Chief Designer, China Manned Space Engineering
Previous occupation	PLAAF fighter pilot
Rank	Major general
Time in space	21 hours, 22 minutes, 45 seconds
Selection	Chinese Group 1
Missions	Shenzhou 5

Yang Liwei (Chinese: 杨利伟; born 21 June 1965) is a Chinese major general, former military pilot, and former taikonaut of the People's Liberation Army.

In October 2003, Yang became the first person sent into space by the Chinese space program. This mission, Shenzhou 5, made China the third country to independently send humans into space. He is currently a vice chief designer of China Manned Space Engineering.