From Chief Engineer to Top Executive
Zhang, born in Shanghai in 1968, earned a PhD in aerospace engineering from Tsinghua University in 1995 and joined CASC the following year. For much of his early career, he served as chief engineer on the Long March 5 rocket program, a heavy-lift launcher that became the workhorse for China’s most ambitious missions. That work culminated in the successful launch of the Tianhe core module in 2021, the central component of China’s Tiangong space station. In 2022, Zhang was appointed president of CASC, putting him in charge of all rocket development at the state-owned giant. His portfolio now includes the Long March 10 series—of which the Long March 10B is a variant—and ongoing work on reusable rocket technology. Zhang was also elected to the Chinese Academy of Engineering in 2019, a recognition of his technical leadership in aerospace.
Reusable Rockets, Lunar Plans, and International Limits
The Long March 10B recovery is the latest milestone in a broader effort to field a fully reusable launch system. Lowering launch costs is essential for sustaining frequent missions to low Earth orbit and beyond. Zhang also chairs the CASC committee for the Chinese Lunar Exploration Program, which has a stated goal of landing Chinese astronauts on the Moon by 2030. The Long March 10 series is expected to play a critical role in that program, serving as the crew launch vehicle for lunar missions. Despite the high national stakes, Zhang is known for advocating international cooperation in space. However, the practical limits of such collaboration are sharp. US-China space collaboration remains restricted by the Wolf Amendment, a legal barrier that prohibits direct NASA–CASC cooperation without specific congressional authorization. That barrier has not stopped Zhang from publicly signalling a desire to work with other nations, though any such partnerships would likely involve non-U.S. partners.
CASC’s Deep Roots and the Road Ahead
CASC is the state-owned backbone of China’s space program, responsible for designing, building, and launching the country’s rockets, satellites, and space stations. Its roots stretch back to China’s earliest aerospace efforts in the mid-1950s, though CASC itself was formally created in 1999 during a government reorganization that split the former China Aerospace Corporation into separate entities. Today, CASC serves as the primary contractor for both civilian and military space activities—from launch vehicles to strategic missile systems. Over time, it has expanded beyond rockets and spacecraft into industries including communications, transportation, and environmental technology, while also offering commercial launch services to foreign customers. Its significance today lies in China’s accelerating ambitions in space, from crewed lunar missions to reusable rocket programs. CASC’s work underpins the country’s push to establish a permanent presence in Earth orbit and beyond, shaping both its scientific and strategic posture on the world stage.
The next big milestones for Zhang and CASC are the remaining test flights of the Long March 10 series, followed by an uncrewed lunar landing mission. If those succeed, the crewed landing attempt by 2030 becomes a realistic target. For a man who started his career on the Long March 5 team and now runs the entire enterprise, the Moon is the obvious prize.
Sources
- China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation
- CASC China: Rockets, Satellites and the State Space System – ChoZan
