Launch of Dongfanghong-1, China's First Satellite

From "581" to "651"

After the Soviet Union launched the first artificial satellite in October 1957, according to Sun Jiadong, scientists including Qian Xuesen and Zhao Jiuzhang proposed at a Chinese Academy of Sciences forum that China also begin satellite research; on 17 May 1958 Mao Zedong declared at the Second Session of the Eighth Party Congress, "We too shall make satellites." It was the Great Leap Forward: at a mobilisation meeting that June the Academy proposed launching a heavy satellite as a gift for the tenth National Day in 1959, and in the second half of the year it set up a body for satellite and rocket research, code-named "581", with Qian as head and Zhao as deputy. In autumn 1958 Zhao led a delegation to the Soviet Union to study space technology but was given the cold shoulder, saying afterwards that China had "only ourselves to rely on". Lacking basic theory and launch capability, and facing economic difficulties, satellite work was suspended in early 1959 in favour of sounding rockets; on 19 February 1960 a T-7M sounding rocket was launched from the outskirts of Shanghai.

In 1964 China test-fired a domestically designed ballistic missile and conducted its first nuclear test, and the satellite plan returned to the agenda. According to Sun, Zhao wrote to Zhou Enlai in December 1964 proposing a satellite programme, and Qian made a similar proposal; in 1965 the project was approved by the central leadership under the code name "Task 651". That autumn researchers spent 42 consecutive days discussing the overall design, with a launch planned for 1970. In January 1966 Zhao became director of the Academy's "651" Satellite Design Institute.

Development During the Cultural Revolution

The Cultural Revolution hit the satellite team hard. According to a 2016 Xinhua report, in early 1967 many scientists, including Long March 1 chief designer Wang Xiji, were denounced and sidelined, and Qian Ji, who drafted the launch plan, was labelled a "reactionary academic authority"; rocket expert Yao Tongbin was beaten to death at the door of his home; and Zhao Jiuzhang took his own life in 1968 rather than endure further persecution. Sun said the Academy's satellite team was "paralysed".

In 1967 Zhou Enlai and Nie Rongzhen assigned Qian Xuesen to rebuild the satellite team, and Sun was transferred to take charge of overall technical design. On 20 February 1968 the China Academy of Space Technology was founded, with Qian as its president, and took over development of Dongfanghong-1. Sun recalled that after political vetting "half of our team of over 100 were judged unqualified"; those told to "stand aside" sat idle by day but still slipped into the laboratory at night to work. Zhou personally intervened on manufacturing problems such as connector panels.

Technical Goals and Design

In 1967 the first satellite was named Dongfanghong-1 ("The East Is Red 1") and its launcher Long March 1. The satellite was a near-spherical 72-faced polyhedron one metre across; as the design evolved its mass rose from 150 kg to 173 kg. The state set four requirements: "get it up, keep track of it, hear it and see it." Long March 1 used an intermediate-range missile as its first and second stages and a third stage developed from sounding-rocket technology; ground tracking relied on Doppler measurement; an electronic tone generator played "The East Is Red", which Central People's Broadcasting Station received with high-power equipment and rebroadcast, while the frequency was announced so listeners abroad could tune in; and to make it visible to the naked eye a highly reflective "observation body" that unfolded in space was fitted to the rocket's third stage. Sun noted that the satellite outweighed the first satellites of the Soviet Union, the United States, France and Japan combined, but that this "did not mean our manufacturing standard was high": more than 80 of its 173 kg were batteries. A 2015 paper by researchers at the National University of Defense Technology argues that design features including the observable sphere, the orbit and the tone generator were shaped by the needs of political propaganda.

Launch

In February 1970 the satellite and rocket arrived at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center. At 21:35 on 24 April Long March 1 lifted off; about 15 minutes later the satellite separated and entered orbit. Xinhua's communiqué of 25 April gave its orbit as 439 km perigee, 2,384 km apogee, 68.5 degrees inclination and a 114-minute period, its mass as 173 kg, and its broadcast of "The East Is Red" on 20.009 MHz. The communiqué attributed the success to leadership by "the Party Central Committee with Chairman Mao as leader and Vice-Chairman Lin as deputy leader" (that is, Lin Biao), calling it "another rich fruit of the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution". China thus became the fifth country, after the Soviet Union, the United States, France and Japan, to build and launch a satellite independently. Designed to operate for 20 days, the satellite stopped transmitting on 14 May 1970 and remains in orbit.

Assessments and Commemoration

On 18 September 1999 the Party Central Committee, State Council and Central Military Commission awarded the "Two Bombs, One Satellite" Meritorious Medal to 23 scientists, including Qian Xuesen, Sun Jiadong, Wang Xiji and Ren Xinmin, and posthumously to Zhao Jiuzhang, Yao Tongbin and Qian Ji, among others. Since 2016, 24 April has been China's Space Day. On 23 April 2020 Xi Jinping replied to a letter from veteran scientists of the mission, recalling that he was "very excited" to hear of the launch in Liangjiahe, northern Shaanxi, and calling for the "Two Bombs, One Satellite" spirit to be carried forward.