Ren Xinmin, a renowned expert in missile and rocket technologies, chief designer of China's first artificial satellite and one of the founders of China's space industry, has died on Feb. 12 at the age of 102, according to Chinese state media.
Ren, a native of Ningguo in east China's Anhui province, studied chemical engineering and graduated from a military university in Chongqing in 1940. He then when on to continue his studies at the University of Michigan, where he earned his master's degree in mechanical engineering and a doctorate for engineering mechanics in 1945.
He returned to China in 1949 despite an offer to teach at the University of Buffalo, citing his "high hopes" for the newly established People's Republic of China.
Starting from 1956, Ren held the position as a key technical engineer and helped develop China's first missile, the Dongfeng-1, in 1960, and the medium-range Dongfeng-2 rocket a year later.
He also was instrumental in the development of the Dongfanghong-1, the country's first man-made satellite, in 1970, and served as chief designer of six major space projects in China including an experimental communications satellite, practical satellite communications technology, and the meteorological satellite Fengyun-1.
Regarded as one of the "Four Elders of China's Aerospace," Ren was elected as a resident of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) in 1980. In 1999, he was awarded by the ruling Communist Party of China with the Two Bombs and One Satellite Merit Medal.
Despite his retirement, Ren was still actively involved in the development of China's space industry. In 2003, at the age of 88, Ren was present when China's first astronaut, Yang Liwei, was sent into space by a Shenzou-5 spacecraft at Jiuquan Satellite Center.
He also wrote a calligraphy book to celebrate the successful launch of China's carrier vehicle, the Changzheng-5, in Nov. 2016.