After orbiting the Earth 14 times, the command for retrofire was sent by the Yuan Wang 3 tracking ship off the coast of Namibia at 18:49 UTC.

Shenzhou 1 was designed primarily to test the Long March 2F rocket.

The only systems and capabilities tested on the spacecraft were the separation of the modules, attitude control, lifting body reentry, the heat shield, and ground recovery.

The spacecraft is thought to have carried 100 kilograms (220 lb) of seeds to investigate the effects on them of the space environment.

At about the same time images were released on a Chinese military internet forum of the Long March 2F launcher and the Vehicle Assembly Building that would be used.