Qian Xuesen, a U.S.-trained rocket scientist who became the father of the Chinese space program, died on Oct. 31, aged 98.

Qian, whose name is sometimes spelled as Tsien Hsue-shen, was born in Hangzhou, China, moved to the United States in 1935 and became an early researcher in rocketry.

During and immediately after World War Two, the sudden importance of jet propulsion and rocketry in catapulted him to the highest levels of the U.S. military scientific establishment, even though he was a foreigner.

According to the physicist Theodore von Karman, Qian was "an undisputed genius whose work was providing an enormous impetus to advances in high-speed aerodynamics and jet propulsion." But the U.S. government suspected him of communism and arrested him in 1950 -- though the suspicion seems unfounded in light of his subsequent attempt to stay in the United States rather than go home and help China.

He was finally deported in 1955, happy to go home and happily received by China. There he became the central figure in the creation and administration of a scientific and industrial complex which, with Soviet help in its early stages, grew from virtually nothing in 1956 to launching a satellite in 1970.

"Under the guidance of Qian & China finished the blueprint on developing jet and rocket technology," says the Xinhua news agency, summarizing his work. "He also played a significant role in developing the country's first artificial satellite."

For his role in establishing China's increasingly influential space sector, Aviation Week named Qian as its person of the year for 2007.

Aviation Week & Space Technology portrait of Qian Xuesen by Scott Marshall