Sun Laiyan

Chinese scientist

Sun Laiyan
Born	1957 (age 66–67) Beijing, China
Nationality	Chinese
Alma mater	Xi'an Jiaotong University Pierre and Marie Curie University

Sun Laiyan (simplified Chinese: 孙来燕; traditional Chinese: 孫來燕; pinyin: Sūn Láiyàn; born October 1957) is a Chinese scientist who served as the Administrator of the China National Space Administration (CNSA) from 2004 to 2010, when he was succeeded by Chen Qiufa.

Early life

Sun was born in Beijing in October 1957.

Education

Sun attended Xi'an Jiaotong University majoring in cryogenic engineering.

Career

After graduating in 1982, Sun joined the Beijing Institute of Satellite Environment Engineering as an Engineering Team Leader. From 1987 to 1993 he attended Paris No. 6 University and received a Ph.D. Moving back to China, he became first the deputy director and the director of the Institute of Satellite Environment Engineering. In 1999, he was made the Vice-Administrator of the CNSA and in 2001 the Secretary General of the Commission of Science, Technology and Industry for National Defense (COSTIND). In 2004, he was appointed Vice-Minister for COSTIND and Administrator for CNSA.

Personal life

Sun is married with one daughter.

References

"Administrators" from CNSA website. Accessed 24 July 2005.

Chinese space program

Spaceports and landing sites	Jiuquan Taiyuan Wenchang Xichang Siziwang Banner (landing site)
Launch vehicles	Long March 1 Long March 2 Long March 3 Long March 3A Long March 3B Long March 3C Long March 4 Long March 4A Long March 4B Long March 4C Long March 5 Long March 6 Long March 7 Long March 8 Long March 9 (In development) Long March 10 (In development) Long March 11 Long March 12 Kuaizhou Kaituozhe
Exploration programs	Shuguang (cancelled) CMS (human spaceflight) Chang'e (lunar exploration) Tiangong (space station) Tianwen (interplanetary exploration)

Projects and missions

Science

Planetary science	Chang'e 1 (2007–09) Chang'e 2 (2010–present) Yinghuo 1† (2011) Chang'e 3 (2013–present) Chang'e 5-T1 (2014–present) Yutu rover (2013–2016) Chang'e 4 (2018–present) Yutu-2 rover (2018–present) Tianwen-1 (2020–present) Chang'e 5 (2020–present) Zhurong rover (2021–present) Interstellar Express (2024) Chang'e 6 (2025) Tianwen-2 (2025) Chang'e 7 (2026) Tianwen-3 (2028) Tianwen-4 (2029)
Astronomy and cosmology	DAMPE (2015–present) HXMT (2017–present) GECAM (2020–present) CHASE (2021–present) ASO-S (2022–present) Einstein Probe (2023) SVOM (2024) Xuntian (2024) Space Solar Telescope
Earth observation	CSES (2018–present) Double Star (2003–07) Gaofen Series (2013–present) Haiyang Series (2002–present) TanSat (2016–present) Yaogan Series (2006–present) Ziyuan Series (CBERS) (1999–present) SMILE (2025)

Human
spaceflight

Uncrewed expeditions	Shenzhou 1 Shenzhou 2 Shenzhou 3 Shenzhou 4 Shenzhou 8
Crewed expeditions	Shenzhou 5 Shenzhou 6 Shenzhou 7 Shenzhou 9 Shenzhou 10 Shenzhou 11 Shenzhou 12 Shenzhou 13 Shenzhou 14 Shenzhou 15 Shenzhou 16 (List of Chinese astronauts)
Space laboratories and cargos	Tiangong 1 (2011–2018) Tiangong 2 (2016–2019) Tianzhou 1 (2017) Tianzhou 2 (2021) Tianzhou 3 (2021) Tianzhou 4 (2022) Tianzhou 5 (2022) Tianzhou 6 (2023)
Tiangong space station modules	Tianhe (2021–present) Wentian (2022–present) Mengtian (2022–present)