Qian Ji

Qian Ji (; 27 December 1917 – 28 August 1983) was a Chinese physicist and aerospace engineer who was instrumental in the development of China's first satellite, the Dong Fang Hong I, and its first successful 3-in-1 satellite launch, the Shijian 2. In 1999, he was posthumously awarded the Two Bombs, One Satellite Meritorious Medal.

Early life and career Qian was born on 27 December 1917 in Jintan, Jiangsu, Republic of China. He studied at Wuxi Normal School from 1935 until October 1937, when the school was destroyed by Japanese aerial bombing after the outbreak of the Second Sino-Japanese War. As Jiangsu fell to Japanese occupation, Qian fled to Sichuan province, the centre of Kuomintang resistance during the war.

Qian graduated from National Sichuan High School in Beibei in 1938, and tested into National Central University, then exiled in Chongqing. Upon graduation in 1943, he was hired by the university as an assistant professor.

After more than five years of work, Zhao Jiuzhang and Qian Ji felt that the necessary preparations had been in place, and Qian wrote a detailed proposal for China's satellite project in 1965. The proposal was adopted by the Chinese government, and the Dongfanghong program started in September 1965.

Death and honours On 28 August 1983, Qian died of cancer at the age of 65. In 1986, he was posthumously awarded the Special Prize of the State Science and Technology Progress Award. In 1999, he was awarded the Two Bombs, One Satellite Meritorious Medal.