Wang Xiji, a Chinese aerospace engineer and academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, died in Beijing on Aug. 12, 2026, at age 105, The Paper reported. He helped establish China’s independent space capability.
In November 1958, Wang was transferred to the Shanghai Institute of Mechanical and Electrical Design and put in charge of technical work on sounding rockets, research rockets used for short, suborbital flights. On Feb. 19, 1960, he and his team successfully launched T-7M, China’s first sounding rocket. From 1965 to 1970, Wang formulated the technical plan for the Long March 1 rocket and led its preliminary development. After the work was transferred to another team, the rocket carried Dong Fang Hong-1, China’s first satellite, into orbit on April 24, 1970.
In 1975, Wang led development of China’s first recoverable satellite, a satellite designed to return its payload to Earth. It launched on Nov. 26 and returned three days later with film used to survey and map land. The mission made China the third country, after the United States and the Soviet Union, to master technology for recovering satellite payloads.
During debates over human spaceflight in the 1980s, Wang argued that an expensive reusable space shuttle, designed to fly repeatedly, did not fit China’s conditions. He supported starting with crewed spacecraft, vehicles designed to carry astronauts. His view helped move experts toward the approach used in the initial plan for China’s crewed-spacecraft program, later known as Shenzhou. In 1987, Wang became chief designer of China’s ninth recoverable satellite. In that role, he approved a gallium-arsenide crystal-growth experiment that grew crystals in near-weightless conditions. The satellite launched on schedule and returned safely after five days.
In 2006 and 2007, Wang, one of two group leaders, led a technical review and drafted an implementation plan for a system for high-resolution observation of Earth. The plan laid groundwork for national approval and development of the system.
Before China’s first spacewalk, Wang recommended a domestically developed spacesuit for astronauts. China adopted the recommendation, and Zhai Zhigang completed the 2008 spacewalk wearing the Feitian suit.
