Two Bombs, One Satellite

[6]: 89–90  In January 1955, Mao Zedong expressed the intention of developing atomic bombs during a meeting of the Secretariat of the Chinese Communist Party.

[9][10][11] 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.

[16][17] The Soviet Union withdrew the delivery of a prototype bomb[11] and over 1,400 Russian advisers and technicians involved in 200 scientific projects in China meant to foster cooperation between the two countries.

[16] After Nikita Khrushchev decided to stop helping the Chinese with their nuclear program on 20 June 1959, Mao shifted toward an overall policy of self-reliance.

[14] In 1968, among the leading scientists who worked on the "Two Bombs, One Satellite" program, Yao Tongbin was beaten to death, Zhao Jiuzhang committed suicide,[19][20] and Guo Yonghuai was killed in a plane crash.

[23] 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.

[32] 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.

Nie Rongzhen (left) with Chinese officials in Moscow (1957).
The monument of the successful atomic detonation in Qinghai .x
Yao Tongbin was a leading missile expert of the "Two Bombs, One Satellite" program. He was beaten to death in 1968 during the Cultural Revolution , among many others who were persecuted.