China’s space programme: how Beijing is banking on youth to drive its celestial ambitions

It may be a relative newcomer to space exploration, but China is hoping its young engineers and commanders can lead it to infinity and beyond

A space station is planned for 2022, and more lunar and Mars missions are all on the cards

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Zhou Chengyu, 24, is China’s youngest and first woman space commander. Photo: Twitter

Published: 10:00am, 30 May 2021Updated: 9:23am, 31 May 2021

China sent its first astronaut into space in 2003, 10 years after the launch of its space programme and four decades after the former Soviet Union and the United States had done the same.

In the years since, the China National Space Administration (CNSA) has gone from being a late mover to a serious contender in the global space race.

In 2019, China became the first country to land a spacecraft on the far side of the moon. In February this year, Tianwen 1 became the first Chinese satellite to go into orbit around Mars. And just last month China became only the second country, after the US, to land a rover on and send back images from the red planet.

According to state media, the average age of the people involved in China’s space programme is falling. Broadcaster CGTN reported last year that the average age of many of the teams involved on space projects was about 30.

Between 1992 and 2003, the average age of rocket designers fell by 18 years, Communist Party mouthpiece People’s Daily reported in 2007. The same year, the average age of project managers at the Beijing Aerospace Control Centre was 30, it said.

China’s youngest and first woman space commander is 24-year-old Zhou Chengyu, who became a viral sensation last year for being in charge of the rocket connector system in the Chang’e 5 mission to bring moon rocks back to Earth.

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