Ren Xinmin

Ren Xinmin (; 5 December 1915 – 12 February 2017) was a Chinese aerospace engineer and a specialist in astronautics and liquid rocket engine technology. He was the technical director of the Long March 1 rocket, which launched the Dong Fang Hong I, China's first satellite, and the chief designer of Chinese storable propellant rocket engine. He was also the chief designer for the Long March 3 launch vehicle, Fengyun, and SJ (Shijian) series satellites.

Together with Huang Weilu, Tu Shou'e, and Liang Shoupan, Ren was considered one of the "Four Elders of China's Aerospace", only surpassed by Qian Xuesen, the founder of China's aerospace industry. He was awarded the Two Bombs, One Satellite Merit Medal in 1999. Ren was elected a member of the Chinese Academy of Sciences in 1980.

Career

After the Second World War, Ren read a book authored by Qian that roused his interest in rocket science. When he returned to China in 1949, he arrived in Nanjing and was offered a research fellowship until 1952, when he left for Harbin. In those three years, Ren and his colleagues attempted to launch a tiny rocket, though experimentation was never completed.

Ren served as Vice Minister of the Seventh Ministry of Machine Building from 1975 until 1982, when he was moved to the Ministry of Aerospace Industry. There, the 331 Project, to build and launch a communication satellite, was successfully implemented. Ren was in charge of its five sections as chief engineer and was nicknamed the "Chief Chief Engineer (总总师)".

Personal life Ren married Yu Shuangqin , the daughter of a Nationalist government official, in 1944.

Ren died on 12 February 2017, in Beijing, aged 101 (102 in East Asian age reckoning). His wife and children survived him.