11-year-old Chinese boy Just Built His First Rocket with only 600 lines of Flight Code

Most people believe that the future of rocket science belongs to experts and professionals in the field. But this 11-year-old boy has proven that the young generations are truly the future of rocket engineering. Meet, Yan Hongsen, a young Chinese student who built his first rocket with 600 lines of code. In his latest released video, the 11-year-old revealed the step-by-step process he followed to build the fascinating rocket that amazed the world.

Hongsen was able to complete the construction of his rocket while studying physics and chemistry at home. Shortly after he released the video, it caught the attention of millions of people on the internet. As the video went viral quickly, his following grew to over 440,000 followers. So, how did Yan Hongsen come up with the idea? How long did it take him to complete the development of this rocket? Continue reading to find out.

How the 11-Year-Old Chinese Boy Successfully Build His First Rocket

Yan Hongsen noted that the inspiration for building his first rocket came from watching a series of aerospace engineering launches over a few years. After deriving his inspiration from the professionals in the field, he commenced the construction in August 2022. The young boy noted that it took him about ten months to complete his first rocket design.

After completing this first rocket, Hongsen named it Sen Xing (which means moving forward) and launched it in June 2023. Yan Hongsen felt disappointed with the outcome of that launch attempt as the rocket malfunctioned shortly after launch.

The parachute was unable to open after the booster successfully separated from the rocket. Despite encountering his first failure, Yan Hongsen never gave up. He was so determined to succeed by learning from his mistakes.

Hongsen began to learn how to improve his rocket design and started working on another rocket. In his recent video, the young boy revealed that he wrote 600 lines of code while teaching himself physics and chemistry. Hongsen is planning to launch his next space vehicle soon. He anticipates becoming an aerospace engineer in the future.

How interest in rocket engineering made Yan Hongsen Famous Across the World

Just like many young talented kids across the world, their inspirations always begin from somewhere. When Yan Hongsen was 4 years old, his father decided to see a rocket launch with his son. That rocket launch inspired a great interest in him to become an aerospace engineer in the future.

After the rocket launch, Yan Hongsen through the help of his father started learning different programming launches, aerospace theory, electronic circuitry online, and physical chemistry.

When he was 9 years old, Yan Hongsen started to gain attention online as he corrected errors made in an astronomy video shown by the South China Morning Post. Hongsen also tutored his classmates in aerospace engineering at such a young age.

As he gained the attention of thousands of followers, Yan Hongsen was inspired to build his own first rocket. His parents helped to transform his living room into a rocket research lab to encourage him to succeed in his ambition.

In August 2022, he commenced the construction of his first space vehicle and launched it in June 2023. Even though that launch malfunctioned, his father recorded it as a success. Yan Hongsen’s father noted that failures and setbacks are common among the best aerospace engineers in the world.

If his son could succeed in some part of the launch, he will someday build a more advanced launch vehicle that will launch without failure. South China Morning Post revealed that Yan Hongsen did the right thing by identifying the problem with his first launch attempt and hoped to solve the program during his next launch.

What’s Next For the Talented Boy?

During an interview, Yan Hongsen noted that the nitrocellulose of his launch vehicle did not explode as he anticipated. However, he revealed that the spring and lithium battery of his rocket damaged during the launch.

Hongsen said that there might still be an issue with the connections he made on the rocket’s body. He plans to fix all these problems including the parachute issue in his next launch. Although no date was announced as regards the next launch, Hongsen’s fans expect to see it soon.  

As of now, Hongsen spends most of their time at home studying, eating, sleeping, and swimming. He also works on his space vehicle project every day as he anticipates sending many rockets to space someday. His parents support the young boy to ensure he succeeds.

His father hopes that Hongsen enrolls in one of China’s best universities to advance his knowledge in rocket development and change the world of aerospace engineering in the future.