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Latest AP: Entered Orbit...

(10-14) 18:28 PDT GOBI DESERT, China (AP) --

China launched its first manned space mission on Wednesday, sending an astronaut hurtling into orbit and becoming the third country in history to do so -- four decades after the Soviet Union and the United States.

With a column of smoke, the Shenzhou 5 craft cut across a bright, azure northwest China sky at exactly 9 a.m. (9 p.m. EDT). The official Xinhua News Agency immediately confirmed the launch and said the astronaut was Yang Liwei, 38.

"China's first manned spacecraft, the Shenzhou 5, blasted off," Xinhua said. State television cut into its programming to announce the launch, though no footage was shown.

Minutes later, a CCTV announcer said that Shenzhou 5 and Yang had "entered orbit at 9:10." (9:10 p.m. EDT).

It was the culmination of a decade of efforts by China's military-linked manned space program -- and a patriotism-drenched moment for a communist government more concerned than ever about its profile on the world stage.

Security was tight around the remote Gobi Desert base, some 175 miles northeast of Jiuquan.

On Wednesday morning, the only road to the launch site was crowded with traffic, including military vehicles and civilian tour buses. But private cars were turned back and phone calls to the base were blocked.

China kept details of the event secret, saying in advance only that the launch would take place between Wednesday and Friday and that the astronaut would orbit the Earth 14 times. Yang was identified as a lieutenant colonel.

The Shenzhou 5 launch came after four test launches of unmanned capsules that orbited the Earth for nearly a week before parachuting back to China's northern grasslands. State media say the manned flight is expected to last about 20 hours.

"The launch of Shenzhou 5 is long-awaited by the Chinese people," Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Zhang Qiyue said earlier. She said the flight was a key step in the "peaceful development of space" -- a reflection of China's effort to reassure the world that its military-linked program is benign.

The Shenzhou, or "Divine Vessel," is based on the three-seat Russian Soyuz capsule, though with extensive modifications. China also paid Moscow to train at least two astronauts.

But Beijing insists everything sent into space will be developed and made in China. State media, trying to dispel suggestions that its triumph depends on foreign know-how, refer to Shenzhou as "China's self-designed manned spaceship."

Chinese media reported earlier that Yang Liwei has been a pilot since 1983.

"I will not disappoint the motherland. I will complete each movement with total concentration. And I will gain honor for the People's Liberation Army and for the Chinese nation," the popular Web site Sina.com quoted Yang as saying.

Phoenix Television, a Hong Kong broadcaster with close ties to China's military, said Yang had entered the capsule at 8 a.m. (8 p.m. EDT) Wednesday.

Yang reportedly was born in 1965 in Youzhong County in Liaoning province, an industrial area in China's northeast. He is 5 feet, 6 inches tall and earns about $1,200 a month, Sina said.

Sina quoted his older sister as saying he was an athletic child who enjoyed swimming and ice skating.

He works for the Aviation Military Unit of China's People's Liberation Army, Chinese media said.

People's Daily said the Shenzhou 5 capsule had completed its own final tests and, on Tuesday, was "sitting on the launch pad with more fuel being injected." It said top Chinese leaders, including President Hu Jintao, were to attend the launch.

However, state television scrapped plans for a live broadcast of the launch. A Hong Kong newspaper said the cancellation was prompted by fears of the "political risks" of something going wrong.

Xinhua quoted space officials Tuesday assuring the public that the astronauts' space suits were safe and the Long March CZ-2 F booster was China's "best rocket."

After months of official silence, the government showed growing confidence over the past week, announcing that the flight would blast off some time between Wednesday and Friday and splashing pictures of the once-secret launch base across newspapers.

But the decision to cancel a live broadcast suggested leaders might be unnerved by the thought of the propaganda disaster that an accident could produce. The People's Daily Web site gave no explanation for the decision to cancel.

China used to broadcast satellite launches live, but stopped in 1995 after a rocket blew up moments after liftoff, reportedly killing six people on the ground.

State television planned to broadcast taped scenes of the launch only if it succeeds, the Hong Kong newspaper South China Morning Post said, citing "media sources."

State-run China Central Television would not confirm the report.

"There might be a live broadcast, or there might not," a CCTV spokeswoman, who refused to give her name, told The Associated Press. "CCTV employees aren't allowed to answer that question."

Dozens of messages left on Chinese Web sites taunted officials for their decision and demanded that the government show its people the historic launch as it happens.

Such sites are monitored by censors who enforce official rules on content and sometimes erase postings, which suggested the negative postings were genuine.

"The decision is very idiotic and reflects our nation's lack of confidence," said a note on the popular Sina.com Web site, signed Flyying111.

The Gansu Daily, published in the provincial capital, Lanzhou, welcomed the imminent launch.

"Finally," it said, "the time has come to realize the 1,000-year dream of flying dreamed by the sons and daughters of China."

Russia gave them a lot of technical help