Yang Jiachi

Yang Jiachi was a Chinese aerospace engineer regarded as a founding figure of China's satellite control systems, best known for developing three-axis stabilization technology for the attitude control systems of China's early recoverable reconnaissance satellites after joining the China Academy of Space Technology's satellite program in 1968. Trained in electrical engineering in China before earning a doctorate at Harvard University, he spent several years researching in the United States before returning to China in 1956, where his early work included control systems for rockets and for China's nuclear weapons testing program alongside his later satellite work. In March 1986, together with three other senior Chinese scientists, Yang co-authored a letter to Deng Xiaoping arguing for sustained state investment in strategic high technology, a proposal that led directly to the creation of the 863 Program, a major national research initiative that shaped Chinese technology policy for decades afterward. He was elected to the Chinese Academy of Sciences in 1980 and the International Academy of Astronautics in 1985, received the Two Bombs, One Satellite Meritorious Medal in 1999, and has an asteroid, 11637 Yangjiachi, named in his honor.