BEIJING, July 10 — For all the noise surrounding China’s space ambitions, the salient point is often the quiet work of the engineers who design the hardware. Li Dong, a senior rocket scientist at the China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology (CALT), is one such figure, and his career arc now points directly toward the Moon. Li Dong is the chief designer of the Long March 10 rocket series, a family that includes the Long March 10B, which successfully flew on July 12, 2024.
That flight, now a year in the past, was a critical validation of the vehicle’s core design. It is this rocket series that forms the backbone of China’s stated goal of a crewed lunar landing by 2030.
Born in 1972 in Hubei province, Li Dong graduated from Beihang University — formerly the Beijing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics — with a degree in aerospace engineering. He joined CALT in 1995, spending his early career on the Long March 2F rocket, the vehicle that launched China’s Shenzhou crewed spacecraft. That experience with human-rated launch systems would prove foundational.
He was appointed chief designer of the Long March 10 in 2018. Under his leadership, the team developed two notable pieces of technology: the YF-100K engine and the grid fin landing system.
Li Dong is also a member of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, elected in 2021. He has published over 50 papers on rocket propulsion and guidance systems, a body of work that reflects both theoretical depth and practical engineering. His career at CALT now spans three decades.
The Long March 10 and the Lunar Objective
The Long March 10 is not a single rocket but a series. The Long March 10B, which flew successfully in July 2024, is a variant designed for high-capacity missions. The rocket is intended to carry astronauts and cargo beyond low Earth orbit, and it is the vehicle selected for China’s planned crewed lunar landing, currently targeted for 2030.
That timeline is ambitious. The Long March 10 has flown only once, and a crewed lunar mission requires multiple launches, orbital rendezvous, and a lunar surface stay.
Li Dong’s work on the YF-100K engine and the grid fin system addresses two of the most technically challenging aspects of such a mission: propulsion for trans-lunar injection and controlled landing on the Moon.
A Career in Propulsion
Li Dong’s early work on the Long March 2F rocket placed him at the centre of China’s human spaceflight program. The Long March 2F is a workhorse vehicle, having launched every Shenzhou mission since 1999. Its reliability record is strong, and the experience of designing for crew safety — redundant systems, abort modes, precise guidance — is directly transferable to the Long March 10.
His election to the Chinese Academy of Engineering in 2021 is a marker of his standing within the field. The Academy is one of China’s highest scientific honours, and membership is limited to engineers who have made significant contributions to national projects.
Li Dong’s publication record — over 50 papers on rocket propulsion and guidance systems — suggests a career spent not only building hardware but also advancing the underlying science. The grid fin landing system is another area of note. Li Dong’s team has developed a Chinese variant for the Long March 10, a clear signal that reusability is a design goal for China’s next-generation launch vehicles.
What Comes Next
The Long March 10 has flown once, but the road to a crewed lunar landing by 2030 involves many more milestones. The rocket will need to demonstrate crew-rated safety, multiple successful flights, and the ability to perform the complex orbital operations required for a lunar mission. Li Dong remains the chief designer, and his team at CALT is the one tasked with delivering that capability.
For all the political rhetoric surrounding China’s space program, the actual work happens in engineering rooms and test stands. Li Dong, born in Hubei in 1972, a graduate of Beihang, a three-decade veteran of CALT, is the man who has to make the numbers add up.
The Long March 10B’s flight in July 2024 was a start. The next few years will show whether the rest of the architecture follows.
