Wang Yongzhi

Wang Yongzhi (17 November 1932 – 11 June 2024) was a Chinese aerospace scientist and academician at the Chinese Academy of Engineering and a commissioner of the 11th National People's Political Consultative Conference. He is notable for serving as the general architect and designer of China's Shenzhou program from 1992 to 2006 overseeing the first six Shenzhou missions. In 2003, he was awarded the nation's highest scientific and technological prize, State Preeminent Science and Technology Award, by President Hu Jintao. Wang Yongzhi graduated from Moscow Aviation Institute in 1961. Wang died on 11 June 2024, at the age of 91.