Photo: CAST

The asteroid with international designation 336877, discovered by the Nanjing-based Purple Mountain Observatory of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, has been officially named Qi Faren, the Chinese Academy of Engineering (CAE) academician, by the International Astronomical Union on Wednesday, according to the China Academy of Spacecraft Technology (CAST). 

It was a tribute to Qi, who participated in the development of Dongfanghong-1, later led the development of the Dongfanghong-2 and Dongfanghong-3 satellites, and became the chief designer for Shenzhou spaceships, according to the CAST release. 

The asteroid naming event was held on Wednesday morning at the academy. Li Daming, head of CAST, said at the event is not only a high commendation for Qi personally, but also a tremendous encouragement to all of Chinese scientist in the aerospace community.

Speaking at the event, Qi fondly recalled "three major events" from his career: The first was joining the mission of developing China's first artificial earth satellite - Dongfanghong-1. The second was his participation in the "331 Project" during the 1970s and 1980s, which led to the successful launch of China's first communications satellite - Dongfanghong-2 -- into orbit. The third was his contribution to the Shenzhou-5 spacecraft mission, which made the third country in the world to realize manned spaceflight.

He attributed to these three major achievements to the correct leadership and decisions of the Party, the strong support of the Chinese people, and the research teams.

Chinese Academy of Engineering (CAE) academician Qi Faren Photo: CAST

Qi was born in April 1933 in Wafangdian, a county-level city in Dalian, Northeast China's Liaoning Province, and is currently a technical advisor to CAST.

According to the release, Qi participated in the Dongfeng missile program, Long March launch vehicle and the country's "combination of atomic bomb and missile" project. As a technical leader, he took part in the development of the Dongfanghong-1 satellite and later served as chief designer for the Dongfanghong-2 and Dongfanghong-3 satellites.

As the first chief designer of the Shenzhou spacecraft, he led the team to successfully complete the unmanned flight missions of Shenzhou-1 through Shenzhou-4, as well as the manned flight mission of Shenzhou-5, laying a solid foundation for China's space laboratory and space station programs.

During his concurrent tenure as Dean and Honorary Dean of the School of Astronautics at Beihang University, he promoted the integration of industry, academia and research. 

Qi established China's first space plume laboratory and trained a group of engineering PhDs, including the chief designer of the China Space Station system, the chief designer of the Shenzhou spacecraft, the chief commander of the BeiDou-3 satellite, the chief designer of the Tianwen-2 probe and communications satellites, among others. 

Global Times