A committee of academics from the two Chinese academies of sciences and engineering selected the launch of the first satellite, Dongfanghong-1 (DFH-1), as the most important event in the 30 years of the Chinese space program.

Back in 1958 amid the development of China's own launch vehicle, the Chinese Academy of Sciences formed a small task group, code named 581, to come up with a proposal to develop an artificial satellite. The leaders of the group were rocket specialists Qian Xuesen, who is generally regarded as China's "father of rocketry", and Zhao Jiuzhang.

Seven years later in 1965 the proposal, "A Plan for the Development of China's Artificial Satellites", received full evaluation. In the State Council meeting code named 651, participants discussed the objective and operational tasks of DFH-1.

The State Council approved the plan and decided that DFH-1 would be a science exploration test satellite which would include transmission of radio signals.

Research and development of DFH-1 and its launch rocket Changzheng-1 began in November 1966.

Meanwhile the nationwide upheaval during the Cultural Revolution severely interfered with the growth of the infant space program.

In early 1967 a decision was made that the test satellite would broadcast the melody of "Dongfanghong" (The East is Red), which was a chant for the late Chinese leader Chairman Mao Zedong, so that people worldwide could hear the radio transmission from China's first satellite.

By the end of the year final parameters of the historic mission were determined: DFH-1 would weigh not less than 150kg and be launched on a three-stage CZ-1 rocket.

The last stage of the launcher would enter orbit as well. In order to make the rocket stage visible to naked eye observations on Earth, it would have an "observation skirt" added to increase its reflectivity.

Less than a month to launch
On April 1, 1970, two DFH-1 satellites and the CZ-1 rocket arrived by train at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre (JSLC) in northwestern Gansu Province. Among the project personnel who accompanied the satellites and launcher transport was Qi Faren, leader of the DFH-1 experiment team.

In the afternoon of the following day, the late Premier Zhou Enlai called a special meeting in the Great Hall of the People in Beijing to receive the latest status reports on the satellite and the launch vehicle.

Qi, who was also the chief designer of the Shenzhou manned capsule which made its maiden voyage last year, returned to Beijing for the meeting. He recalled in an interview with the Hong Kong-based weekly news magazine Yazhou Zhoukan last December that Zhou had asked whether DFH-1 would broadcast the tune from space.

"I could only say 'We had done all that we could and should do'. At that time I dared not say with a hundred percent confidence", said Qi.

Final countdown
On the morning of the launch, April 24, 1970, the first and second stages of CZ-1 were loaded with UDMH (unsymmetrical dimethylhydrazine) and nitric acid liquid propellant, and stacked together. The satellite, which was mated to the spin-stabilized solid-propellant third stage, and the launcher entered the final eight hours of launch preparation.

The day was beautiful. Wind was calm and the sun was shining. Weather forecast for the target launch time at about 9:30 p.m. called for clouds at above 7,000 meters and a wind speed of less than 4 to 5 meters per second (14.4 to 18 km/h).

The historic launch came at 9:35 p.m. local time (13:35 UTC). Upon hearing the command "ignition", a launch controller press the button to start the rocket engines. The three-stage CZ-1, which was 29.46 meters tall and had a maximum diameter of 2.25 meters, lifted off the launch pad with a thrust of 104 tonnes. Liftoff weight of CZ-1 was 81.5 tonnes.

Reaching orbit
Thirteen minutes later at 9:48 p.m., mission control announced the great news "satellite and rocket stage separation, satellite enters orbit". China became the fifth nation after the former Soviet Union, the United States, France and Japan to achieve its own launching capability.

The 173kg spin-stabilized DFH-1, a multi sided satellite with a diameter of about 1 meter, started its first orbit around the Earth. DFH-1 came closest to the surface, or perigee, at 439km and furthest, or apogee, at 2384km. The orbit made an inclined angle of 68.5 degrees with the Equator. DFH-1 circled the Earth once every 114 minutes.

Reminiscing his experience of the launch, rocket expert Shen Jianan, who participated in the CZ-1 development, said in this past Monday's (24th) edition of People's Daily: "As soon as I saw the liftoff on the TV screen inside the bunker, I ran outside. I could only see the beautiful rocket lighting up the night sky and streaking towards the southeast. I ran back inside to listen to the transmission [of mission status].

"Broadcasting on the speaker were status reports like "capturing target", "nominal tracking", "nominal flight", "nominal second and third stage separation", and "satellite reaches orbit". The bunker was filled with cheers".

Once reaching orbit, the satellite drew power from on-board batteries and began broadcasting the Dongfanghong melody at 20.009 MHz. DFH-1 had a design life of 15 days.

Other systems functioned nominally and recorded some physics measurements.

In another two minutes, at 9:50 p.m., the National Broadcasting Bureau announced the acquisition of the tune loud and clear.

The third stage of CZ-1 was also in orbit. The addition of the "observation skirt" increased its reflectivity to magnitude 2 to 3, comparable to brightness of the stars in the Little Dipper in northern sky.

But the brightness of DFH-1 was much fainter, ranging from magnitude 5 to 8. At its brightest, DFH-1 was barely visible to the naked eye from a very dark location. At its faintest, the satellite was beyond the threshold of naked eye visibility.

In the following days, the People's Central Broadcasting radio and newspapers in Beijing announced and printed worldwide times of DFH-1 and CZ-1 third stage passages, and directions of travel in the sky.

Senior officials in Beijing dispatched a chartered plane to JSLC to bring back Qi and other scientists. In the International Labour Day celebration on May 1, Chairman Mao and Premier Zhou warmly welcomed them at the Tiananmen Square.

The launch of DFH-1 demonstrated to the world China's ability to develop and build its own launcher and satellite with no external assistance.

DFH-1 today
Both the DFH-1 satellite and the CZ-1 third stage remain in orbit, and are tracked as objects with the U.S. Space Command (USSPACECOM) catalogue numbers 4382 and 4392 respectively. Under a favourable viewing geometry, the CZ-1 third stage can reach a maximum brightness of about magnitude 3.3, which is as bright as the stars in the Little Dipper.

The batteries on DFH-1, however, had long been depleted and the satellite had been silenced since.

Reflecting on his involvement in the DFH-1 project at the young age of 37, Qi Faren said earlier this week, "The day April 24, 1970, was the happiest day of my life. The sound of 'lifting off, entering orbit, receiving the melody' still rings in my ear".

DRAGON SPACE
China Spacecraft Technologies Maturing Fast
by Wei Long
Beijing - April 25, 2000 - On the eve of the 30th anniversary of the first Chinese space launch, the official Xinhua news agency reports that China has established a stable and standardized spacecraft research and manufacturing system. The system will improve Chinese spacecraft technologies and accelerate the pace towards full maturity.