Wang Xiji: key obituary facts
Is Wang Xiji dead? Yes. Wang Xiji died on August 12, 2026, at age 105.
Cause of death: Wang Xiji's cause of death has not been publicly confirmed.
What was Wang Xiji known for?
He was a Chinese aerospace engineer.
More about Wang Xiji
Born: 26 July 1921.
Place of birth: Kunming.
Place of death: Beijing.
Gender: male.
Occupation: physicist, military flight engineer.
Nationality: People's Republic of China.
Education: Virginia Tech, National Southwestern Associated University.
Employer: Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai University, Dalian University of Technology.
Wang Xiji, a Chinese aerospace engineer who played a leading role in the development of China’s early rocket and satellite programs, died on August 12, 2026, aged 105.
Born in Kunming on July 26, 1921, he studied at National Southwestern Associated University and later at Virginia Tech, earning a master’s degree in 1949 after going to the United States in 1948. He became chief designer of China’s first sounding rocket, the T-7, as well as the Long March 1 launch vehicle and the country’s first recoverable satellites.
Wang was elected an academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the International Academy of Astronautics, received the Two Bombs, One Satellite Meritorious Medal in 1999, and was inducted into the International Astronautical Federation Hall of Fame in 2016.