China's space stars honored at gala marking 70-year journey

Under the launch towers of China's first commercial spaceport, the nation celebrated its 11th Space Day on April 24 with a televised gala titled "Upward to the Future."

The highlight came when astronaut Yang Liwei delivered a moving tribute to Qian Xuesen, considered as the father of Chinese rocketry, standing beside an empty chair symbolizing the late pioneer. "Your dream has not only come true but soared farther than we imagined," Yang said.

China's top space teams walked the "Space Blue Carpet" for the first time, including the Shenzhou crew, and teams for China's BeiDou Navigation Satellite System and lunar exploration projects.

Behind the scenes, the gala revealed how a tiny crack on Shenzhou-20's window in November 2025 triggered an emergency response – the crew safely returned to Earth aboard the Shenzhou-21 spaceship thanks to the backup system.

The program also highlighted BeiDou's life-saving texts during a January 2025 earthquake in Xizang, where victims without cell signal sent SOS messages with precise coordinates.

"As China's space program approaches its 70th anniversary, the spirit of exploration will only go deeper and farther," the gala concluded.