Sun Jiadong (; born 8 April 1929) is a Chinese aerospace engineer who is an expert in carrier rocket and satellite technology. He has long served as a leader of Chinese satellite projects, and is currently the chief designer for the Chinese Lunar Exploration Program. Sun is a member of the

Chinese Academy of Sciences The Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS); ), known by Academia Sinica in English until the 1980s, is the national academy of the People's Republic of China for natural sciences. It has historical origins in the Academia Sinica during the Republi ...

and of the International Academy of Astronautics.

Early life

Sun was born in Fu County,

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 ...

on 8 April 1929. He enrolled in the

Harbin Institute of Technology Harbin Institute of Technology (; abbreviation: HIT or ) is a public research university and a member of China's elite C9 League and a member of the University Alliance of the Silk Road. HIT is a Chinese Ministry of Education Class A Dou ...

to begin preparatory courses in Russian when he was 18. Later he transferred to the automotive department. Around the time of the Chinese air force formation, he was chosen to join the army as a Russian translator. In 1951, Sun and 29 other soldiers were sent to study aircraft engines at the Zhukovsky Air Force Academy in the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nationa ...

. In 1958, Sun graduated "with highest honor" and returned to China.

Career

After returning to China, Sun served in the Fifth Research Institute of the Ministry of National Defense, conducting missile research. In 1967, he was appointed by

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 ...

to restructure the staff for satellite research. In addition to being in charge of the general design project for China's first satellite, he also worked as the technical superintendent and general designer for both China's first remote sensing satellite and recoverable satellite. He was also the chief designer of a second generation of special application satellites, such as communication, meteorological, and earth resource detecting satellites, as well as the Beidou-2 navigation system. During the

Cultural Revolution The Cultural Revolution, formally known as the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, was a sociopolitical movement in the People's Republic of China (PRC) launched by Mao Zedong in 1966, and lasting until his death in 1976. Its stated goa ...

, Sun was appointed as the chief scientist of the Chinese satellite project. On April 24, 1970, the first Chinese space satellite, Dong Fang Hong I, was successfully launched. On March 3, 1971 the satellite "Shi Jian I" was launched. In 1975, China's first returning satellite was successfully launched. In 1984, China's first synchronized experimental communication satellite, Dong Fang Hong II was launched. Sun was the chief designer of all of them. He was elected Member of the Chinese Academy of Sciences in 1991. Since 2003, he has been the chief designer for the Chinese Lunar Exploration Program (CLEP).

Awards and honours

*1980 the honorary title of a working model in No 7 Engineering Industry Department *1984 the First-Class Merit Citation by the Ministry Of Aeronautics And Astronautics *1985 two special awards, among them the National Prize for Progress in Science and Technology *1999 " Two Bombs, One Satellite" Meritorious Award *2009 National Science and Technology Award * 2019 Order of the Republic

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sun, Jiadong 1929 births Living people Chinese aerospace engineers Chinese expatriates in the Soviet Union Engineers from Liaoning Harbin Institute of Technology alumni Members of the Chinese Academy of Sciences Space program of the People's Republic of China Recipients of the Order of the Republic (China) People from Wafangdian