Microchips powering China's space program made in Wuxi

Designing the chips was a particularly challenging process, according to Cai. He created four versions of the chips over two years, with only the final one being taken forward to the next stage.

The chip R&D team based in Wuxi manufactured two core microchips used in the electronic control system of China’s first cargo spacecraft, Tianzhou 1. [Photo/wxrb.com]

"Among the chip R&D team, four people are engaged in chip design, while two are in charge of testing and the other three work on verification and application," said Liu Shiquan, the team leader.

"The team is really young, with the youngest member being only 27," Liu pointed out.

Though hardly having any spare time during the project cycle, Liu said the team felt their hard work had paid off when they witnessed Tianzhou 1 blast off into the sky.