Zhang Rongqiao (; born March 1966) is a Chinese physicist and aerospace engineer who is the chief designer of

Tianwen-1 -1 (TW-1; zh, t=, s=, l='Heavenly Questions') is an interplanetary mission by the China National Space Administration (CNSA) which sent a robotic spacecraft to Mars, consisting of 6 spacecraft: an orbiter, two deployable cameras, lander, rem ...

, China's first mission to

Mars Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun and the second-smallest planet in the Solar System, only being larger than Mercury (planet), Mercury. In the English language, Mars is named for the Mars (mythology), Roman god of war. Mars is a terr ...

Biography

Zhang was born in the town of ,

Qimen County Qimen County (; alternately romanized as Keemun) is a county in the southeast of Anhui Province, People's Republic of China, bordering Jiangxi Province to the southwest. It is the westernmost county-level division of the prefecture-level city of ...

Anhui Anhui , (; formerly romanized as Anhwei) is a landlocked province of the People's Republic of China, part of the East China region. Its provincial capital and largest city is Hefei. The province is located across the basins of the Yangtze River ...

, in March 1966. He secondary studied at Qimen No.1 High School. In 1982, he was accepted to

Xidian University Xidian University () is a public research university in Xi'an, Shaanxi, China, that is administered by the Ministry of Education of China. Xidian focuses on electronics and information education and research, and has programs covering enginee ...

. In 1991, he graduated from

China Academy of Space Technology The China Academy of Space Technology (CAST) () is a Chinese space agency and subordinate of China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC). The agency was founded on 20 February 1968, and is the main spacecraft development and prod ...

. He received his EMBA degree from

Tsinghua University School of Economics and Management Tsinghua University School of Economics and Management (abbreviation: Tsinghua SEM; Chinese: 清华大学经济管理学院, ''qīng huá dà xué jīng jì guǎn lǐ xué yuàn ''), is the business school of Tsinghua University in Beijing, China. ...

in 2002. Zhang joined the Beijing Institute of Satellite Information Engineering. In 2004, he was transferred to the Lunar Exploration Center of the

Commission for Science, Technology and Industry for National Defense The Commission for Science, Technology and Industry for National Defense (COSTIND; Chinese character, Chinese: 国防科学技术工业委员会) was a civilian ministry within the State Council of China, State Council of the People's Republic of ...

, where he serves as the chief designer of

, China's first

probe. On May 30, 2021, he was elected as a member of the Standing Committee of the

China Association for Science and Technology The China Association for Science and Technology (CAST; ) is a mass organization of Chinese scientists and engineers, which is composed of multiple national professional societies and hundreds of branches at various local and international level ...

. Zhang was included in a list of ten scientists who had had important roles in scientific developments in 2021 compiled by the scientific journal ''Nature.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Zhang, Rongqiao 1966 births Living people People from Huangshan People from Qimen County Scientists from Anhui Xidian University alumni Tsinghua University alumni Xidian University faculty