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The space program of the People's Republic of China is directed by the China National Space Administration (CNSA). Its technological roots can be traced back to the late 1950s, when the People's Republic began a rudimentary ballistic missile program in response to perceived American (and, later, Soviet) threats. However, the first Chinese crewed space program only began in earnest several decades later, when an accelerated program of technological development culminated in Yang Liwei's successful 2003 flight aboard Shenzhou 5. This achievement made China the third country to independently send humans into space. Plans currently include a permanent Chinese space station in 2020 and crewed expeditions to the Moon and Mars.

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There are many ways to classify the sizes of launch vehicles. 

The Augustine Commission that was created to review plans for replacing the Space Shuttle, used the following classification scheme: 

A sounding rocket cannot reach orbit and is only capable of sub-orbital spaceflight 

A small lift launch vehicle is capable of lofting up to 2,000 kg (4,400 lb) of payload into low earth orbit (LEO)

A medium lift launch vehicle is capable of lofting between 2,000 to 20,000 kg (4,400 to 44,000 lb) of payload into LEO

A heavy lift launch vehicle is capable of lofting between 20,000 to 50,000 kg (44,000 to 110,000 lb) of payload into LEO

A super-heavy lift vehicle is capable of lofting more than 50,000 kg of payload into LEO

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Sounding rockets are normally used for brief, inexpensive space and microgravity experiments. 

Current human-rated suborbital launch vehicles include SpaceShipOne and the upcoming SpaceShipTwo, among others (see space tourism). 

The delta-v needed for orbital launch using a rocket vehicle launching from the Earth's surface is at least 9,300 m/s (31,000 ft/s). 

This delta-v is determined by a combination of air-drag, which is determined by ballistic coefficient as well as gravity losses, altitude gain and the horizontal speed necessary to give a suitable perigee. 

The delta-v required for altitude gain varies, but is around 2 km/s (1.2 mi/s) for 200 km (120 mi) altitude.

Minimising air-drag entails having a reasonably high ballistic coefficient, which generally means having a launch vehicle that is at least 20 m (66 ft) long, or a ratio of length to diameter greater than ten. Leaving the atmosphere as early on in the flight as possible provides an air drag of around 300 m/s (980 ft/s). 

The horizontal speed necessary to achieve low earth orbit is around 7,800 m/s (26,000 ft/s). 

The calculation of the total delta-v for launch is complicated, and in nearly all cases numerical integration is used; adding multiple delta-v values provides a pessimistic result, since the rocket can thrust while at an angle in order to reach orbit, thereby saving fuel as it can gain altitude and horizontal speed simultaneously