Two Bombs, One Satellite

Two Bombs, One Satellite () is a retronym for the early nuclear weapon, ballistic missile, and artificial satellite development of the People's Republic of China, coined by the Chinese government in 1999.

China's nuclear weapons program detonated its first fission and first thermonuclear weapons in 1964 and 1967 respectively, and combined a nuclear weapon with a surface-to-surface missile in 1966. China's space program successfully launched its first satellite in 1970.

History

Proposal

In the 1940s and 1950s, a group of notable scientists including Qian Weichang, Qian Xuesen, Deng Jiaxian, Peng Huanwu and Qian Sanqiang returned to mainland China.

United States President Dwight D. Eisenhower's threats during the First Taiwan Strait Crisis to use nuclear weapons against military targets in Fujian province prompted Mao to begin China's nuclear program. In January 1955, Mao Zedong expressed the intention of developing atomic bombs during a meeting of the Secretariat of the Chinese Communist Party.

In 1956, hundreds of experts were called by Zhou Enlai, Chen Yi, Li Fuchun and Nie Rongzhen to make plans for China's scientific development, eventually creating an outline of development for the period from 1956 to 1967 (1956-1967年科学技术发展远景规划纲要).

In 1958, Mao formally announced the plan to develop nuclear bombs, missiles and satellites.

Soviet aid, its termination, and uranium enrichment

At the same time, the Soviet Union had provided China with important assistance since 1955, even though on December 10, 1957, the Soviet Union proposed that the United States, the United Kingdom, and the USSR should halt nuclear weapons tests for the next two to three years, to which China supported.

In 1956, the Third Ministry of Machinery Building was established, and nuclear research was conducted at the Institute of Physics and Atomic Energy in Beijing. In 1957, China and the USSR signed an agreement on sharing defense technology that involved a prototype boosted fission weapon being supplied by Moscow to Beijing, technical data, and an exchange of hundreds of Russian and Chinese scientists."China | Nuclear". Nuclear Threat Initiative. April 2015. Retrieved June 2, 2017. A joint search for uranium in China was conducted between the two countries. A location near Lake Lop Nur in Xinjiang was selected to be the test site with its headquarters at Malan. Construction of the test site began on April 1, 1960, involving tens of thousands of laborers and prisoners under tough conditions. It took four years to complete. Being the sole site for nuclear testing in China for years to come, the Lop Nur test site underwent extensive expansion and is by far the world's largest nuclear weapons test site, covering around 100,000 square kilometers."Lop Nor Nuclear Weapons Test Base | Facilities". Nuclear Threat Initiative. Retrieved June 2, 2017. From 1958, the Lanzhou uranium enrichment plant was constructed with gaseous diffusion technology.

Sino-Soviet relations worsened in the late 1950s.""One Finger's Worth of Historical Events": New Russian and Chinese Evidence on the Sino-Soviet Alliance and Split, 1948–1959". Wilson Center. July 7, 2011. Retrieved 2017-06-02.Lewis, John Wilson and Xue Litai. China Builds the Bomb. (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1988), 63–66. The Soviet Union withdrew the delivery of a prototype bomb and over 1,400 Russian advisers and technicians involved in 200 scientific projects in China meant to foster cooperation between the two countries.

After Nikita Khrushchev decided to stop helping the Chinese with their nuclear program on June 20, 1959, Mao shifted toward an overall policy of self-reliance. Project 596, named after the month of June 1959, was initiated as an independent nuclear project. The Second Ministry of Machine Building Industry, which oversaw China's nuclear industry, continued with the development of an atomic bomb. By January 14, 1964, enough fissionable U-235 had been successfully enriched from the Lanzhou plant. On October 16, 1964, a uranium-235 fission implosion device, weighing 1550 kilograms was detonated on a 102-meter tower.

In 1961–62, there was a disagreement among senior officials of the Chinese Communist Party and the Chinese government on whether China should continue with the "Two Bombs, One Satellite" project. Eventually, in November 1962, a central committee led by Zhou Enlai, Nie Rongzhen and others was established, and the project was carried on.

Cultural Revolution

In 1966, Mao launched the Cultural Revolution. Academics and intellectuals were regarded as Stinking Old Ninth and were widely persecuted. In 1968, among the leading scientists who worked on the "Two Bombs, One Satellite" program, Yao Tongbin a member of the 916 "rebel" faction was beaten to death by "conservative" Red Guards, Zhao Jiuzhang committed suicide, and Guo Yonghuai died in a plane crash. By September 1971, more than 4,000 staff members of China's nuclear center in Qinghai were persecuted. More than 310 of them were permanently disabled, over 40 people committed suicide, and five were executed. Many researchers with overseas education background (especially from the United States and the United Kingdom) were regarded as "spies". Only a few scientists including Qian Xuesen were protected in the Revolution because of a special list made by Premier Zhou Enlai (approved by Mao) in August 1966.

Timeline of milestones On October 16, 1964, Project 596 detonated China's first atomic bomb in Lop Nur, making China the fifth country in the world to possess nuclear weapons. On October 27, 1966, China's first surface-to-surface missile (Dongfeng-2) carrying nuclear bomb was successfully launched and detonated. On June 17, 1967, Test No. 6 successfully detonated China's first hydrogen bomb in Lop Nur. On September 22, 1969, China's first underground nuclear test was successfully detonated in Lop Nur. On April 24, 1970, China's first satellite (Dong Fang Hong I) was successfully launched into space, making China the fifth nation to put a spacecraft into orbit using its own rocket.

Fissile material production +Plutonium production reactorsReactor locationNameBegan operationShut downDesign powerUpgraded powerTotal energyTotal weapons-grade plutonium producedDesignJiuquan, GansuPlant 404October 19661984250 MWth300 MWth1050 GWth-days0.9 tonsGraphite-moderated, water-cooledGuangyuan, SichuanPlant 821December 19731989?250 MWth325 MWth1300 GWth-days1.1 tonsGraphite-moderated, water-cooled +Highly enriched uranium production plantsPlant locationNameBegan operationEnded HEU productionInitial outputUpgraded outputTotal SWUTotal HEU producedDesignLanzhou, GansuPlant 5041964197920,000 SWU/yr180,000 SWU/yr1.1 million SWU6 tonsGaseous diffusionHeping, Jinkouhe, SichuanPlant 81419751987100,000 SWU/yr230,000 SWU/yr2.7 million SWU14 tonsGaseous diffusion

Aftermath and memorial Ultimately, China developed the atomic and hydrogen bombs in record time.

After the Cultural Revolution, Deng Xiaoping became the new paramount leader of China and started the Boluan Fanzheng program. Scientists and intellectuals were rehabilitated and, in particular, Yao Tongbin was honored as a martyr. Deng emphasized that knowledge and talented people must be respected, and the wrong thought of disrespecting intellectuals must be opposed.

In 1986, four leading scientists who had worked on the Two Bombs, One Satellite program proposed to Deng that China must stimulate the development of advanced technologies. Upon Deng's approval, the 863 Program was launched. Inspecting the Beijing Electron–Positron Collider in 1988, Deng remarked "If it were not for the atomic bomb, the hydrogen bomb and the satellites we have launched since the 1960s, China would not have its present international standing as a great, influential country."

In 1999, twenty-three scientists who had made significant contributions in the "Two Bombs, One Satellite" program were awarded the Two Bombs and One Satellite Merit Award (). In 2015, the "Two Bombs, One Satellite Memorial Museum" was opened on the Huairou campus of the University of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. +List of Two Bombs, One Satellite Meritorious Medal recipients Awardee Field ContributionAlma materChen Fangyun (1916–2000) Radio electronics SatelliteNational Southwestern Associated UniversityChen Nengkuan (1923–2016) Metal physics Detonation physics Atomic bomb and hydrogen bombNational Tangshan Engineering CollegeYale UniversityCheng Kaijia (1918–2018) Nuclear physics Atomic bomb and hydrogen bombZhejiang UniversityUniversity of EdinburghDeng Jiaxian (1924–1986) Nuclear physics Atomic bomb and hydrogen bombNational Southwestern Associated UniversityPurdue UniversityGuo Yonghuai (1909–1968) Aerodynamics Atomic bomb, hydrogen bomb and missilePeking UniversityUniversity of TorontoCalifornia Institute of TechnologyHuang Weilu (1916–2011) Engineering cybernetics MissileNational Central UniversityImperial College LondonPeng Huanwu (1915–2007) Theoretical physics Atomic bomb and hydrogen bombTsinghua UniversityUniversity of EdinburghQian Ji (1917–1983) Space physics SatelliteNational Central UniversityQian Sanqiang (1913–1992) Nuclear physics Atomic bomb and hydrogen bombTsinghua UniversityUniversity of ParisCollège de FranceQian Xuesen (1911–2009) AeronauticsEngineering cybernetics Rocket, missile and satelliteNational Chiao Tung UniversityMassachusetts Institute of TechnologyCalifornia Institute of TechnologyRen Xinmin (1915–2017) Aeronautics Rocket, missile and satelliteNational Central UniversityChongqing Ordnance School affiliated to Military MinistryUniversity of MichiganSun Jiadong (1929–) Aeronautics Missile and satelliteHarbin Institute of TechnologyZhukovsky Air Force AcademyTu Shou'e (1917–2012) Aeronautics Missile and rocketNational Southwestern Associated UniversityMassachusetts Institute of TechnologyWang Daheng (1915–2011) Optics Atomic bomb and satelliteTsinghua UniversityImperial College LondonUniversity of SheffieldWang Ganchang (1907–1998) Nuclear physics Atomic bomb and hydrogen bombTsinghua UniversityUniversity of BerlinWang Xiji (1921–2026) Space technology Rocket and satelliteNational Southwestern Associated UniversityVirginia Polytechnic Institute and State UniversityWu Ziliang (1917–2008) Chemical metallurgy Atomic bombNational Northwestern Engineering InstituteCarnegie Institute of TechnologyYang Jiachi (1919–2006) Automation SatelliteNational Chiao Tung UniversityHarvard UniversityYao Tongbin (1922–1968) Aerospace materials and technology Missile and rocketNational Tangshan Engineering CollegeUniversity of BirminghamYu Min (1926–2019) Nuclear physics Hydrogen bombPeking UniversityZhao Jiuzhang (1907–1968) MeteorologyGeophysics SatelliteTsinghua UniversityUniversity of BerlinZhou Guangzhao (1929–2024) Theoretical physics Atomic bomb and hydrogen bombTsinghua UniversityPeking UniversityZhu Guangya (1924–2011) Nuclear physics Atomic bomb and hydrogen bombNational Southwestern Associated UniversityUniversity of Michigan

Two Bombs, One Satellite

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