Qi Faren (; born 1933) is a Chinese aerospace engineer and the chief designer for Chinese spacecraft since the launch of the prototype Shenzhou manned spacecraft in 1999. Qi was born in 1933 in

Wafangdian Wafangdian (), formerly Fuhsien (Fuxian) or Fu County (), is one of the two "northern county-level cities", the other being Zhuanghe, under the administration of Dalian, located in the south of Liaoning province, China. The city is famous for i ...

Liaoning Liaoning () is a coastal province in Northeast China that is the smallest, southernmost, and most populous province in the region. With its capital at Shenyang, it is located on the northern shore of the Yellow Sea, and is the northernmo ...

, China, and graduated from the

Beijing Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics Beihang University, previously known as Beijing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics (), abbreviated as BUAA or Beihang ( zh, c=北航, p=), is a national public research university located in Beijing, China, specializing in engineering, ...

in 1957. Qi took part in the research and design of the

People's Republic of China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, most populous country, with a Population of China, population exceeding 1.4 billion, slig ...

's first satellite - the Dong Fang Hong I, which was successfully launched, and stayed in orbit, in 1970. He was then appointed the general designer of China's spacecraft in 1992, following the retirement of

Qian Xuesen Qian Xuesen, or Hsue-Shen Tsien (; 11 December 1911 – 31 October 2009), was a Chinese mathematician, cyberneticist, aerospace engineer, and physicist who made significant contributions to the field of aerodynamics and established engineering ...

. Qi is an academician of the

Chinese Academy of Engineering The Chinese Academy of Engineering (CAE, ) is the national academy of the People's Republic of China for engineering. It was established in 1994 and is an institution of the State Council of China. The CAE and the Chinese Academy of Sciences ...

and the

International Academy of Astronautics The International Academy of Astronautics (IAA) is an independent non-governmental organization established in Stockholm (Sweden) on August 16, 1960, by Dr. Theodore von Kármán, and recognized by the United Nations in 1996. The IAA has electe ...

. He was inducted into the

International Astronautical Federation The International Astronautical Federation (IAF) is an international space advocacy organization based in Paris, and founded in 1951 as a non-governmental organization to establish a dialogue between scientists around the world and to lay ...

Hall of Fame in 2019, the third Chinese inductee after

Wang Xiji Wang Xiji (; born 26 July 1921) is a Chinese aerospace engineer. The chief designer of China's first sounding rocket ( T-7), first space launch vehicle ( Long March 1) and first recoverable satellites, he was awarded the Two Bombs, One Satellite ...

and Long Lehao.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Qi, Faren 1933 births Living people Shenzhou program Beihang University alumni Chinese aerospace engineers People from Wafangdian Engineers from Liaoning Members of the Chinese Academy of Engineering