Chen Fangyun (Chinese:陈芳允; 3 April 1916 – 29 April 2000) was a Chineseelectrical engineer. Considered the founder ofradio electronics in China,[1] he was pivotal in the development oftelemetry, tracking and command (TT&C) systems that control China's satellites and missiles, and in the early development of theBeiDou satellite navigation system. He was an academician of theChinese Academy of Sciences and theInternational Academy of Astronautics, and was awarded theTwo Bombs, One Satellite Meritorious Medal in 1999. Theasteroid10929 Chenfangyun is named after him.
Chen was born on 3 April 1916 inHuangyan,Taizhou,Zhejiang, Republic of China.[2][3] He graduated from Huangyan County Middle School in 1931 and Shanghai Pudong High School in 1934.[3]
He enteredTsinghua University in 1934 and graduated with a bachelor's degree in physics in 1938. While a student at Tsinghua, he participated in theDecember 9th Movement of 1935 againstJapanese aggression in North China.[3]
During theSecond Sino-Japanese War, Chen taught and conducted research at Tsinghua University's Radio Research Institute and later worked at the Chengdu Radio Factory.[2][3] After the end of the war, he went to Britain in 1945 and worked for three years as a researcher at theA.C. Cossor radio factory.[2][3][4]
Chen returned to China in 1948. He was one of the scientists who established the Institute of Electronics of theChinese Academy of Sciences.[2] At the institute, he developed the world's first measuring device forultrashort pulse, used to ascertain the level of radiation in nuclear explosions.[2] In 1964, he developed China's firstanti-jammingradar for aircraft.[2]
In the early 1970s, Chen began researching and developingtelemetry, tracking and command (TT&C) systems that control satellites tens of thousands of kilometers away from earth. The TT&C system he proposed was crucial in the successful launch of China's firstgeosynchronouscommunications satellite in April 1984, and he was conferred the Special Prize of theState Science and Technology Progress Award the next year.[2] Based on Chen's pioneering work, a network of TT&C systems has since been deployed to control China's satellites and missiles.[1]: 155 He also put forward theories and proposals leading to the creation and early development ofBeiDou, the Chinesesatellite navigation system built as an alternative to the AmericanGlobal Positioning System, and is considered a founder of BeiDou.[2]
In March 1986, Chen and three other prominent scientists—Wang Daheng,Wang Ganchang, andYang Jiachi—wrote a letter toDeng Xiaoping advocating the development of strategic technologies.[1] Deng accepted their proposal, which gave birth to the influential863 Program, named after the date of their letter.[1]
Chen died on 29 April 2000, at the age of 84.[2][5]
Chen was elected an academician of theChinese Academy of Sciences in 1980.[5] He was also an academician of theInternational Academy of Astronautics and served as Vice President of theInternational Astronautical Federation.[2]
Chen was awarded theTwo Bombs, One Satellite Meritorious Medal in 1999.[5] Theasteroid10929 Chenfangyun, discovered by theBeijing Schmidt CCD Asteroid Program in 1998, is named after him.[6]
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