Growing up in Liangshan Yi Autonomous Prefecture, Sichuan Province, Chen Ruiqing regularly watched rockets taking off from a nearby launch site. Now 18, he is attending Chengdu Aeronautic Polytechnic University. Founded in 1965 and subsequently named the Long March Aeronautical Industrial School, the institute was upgraded in 2025, becoming China's first aeronautical vocational university. As such, it serves as a training ground for the talent needed by the country's booming commercial space industry.