When the countdown began, the world seemed to fall silent, and everyone held their breath. The only sound that echoed through the air was Zhang Runhong’s steady voice: “Ten, nine, eight… three, two, one, ignition!”

Zhang is an “01” commander at the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in southwest China’s Sichuan Province. She is responsible for coordinating all stages and systems involved in a rocket launch mission and ultimately issuing the final countdown and ignition commands.

She is the first Chinese woman to hold this crucial position.

“The ’01’ commander is so cool!” These words resonated with Zhang when she first participated in a satellite launch as a junior staff member in 2006. From that moment on, she set her sights on becoming the one at the console — and she never hesitated to share her ambition to become an “01” commander.

Even in front of Chinese President Xi Jinping, she voiced her dream with confidence. In early 2018, when Xi, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, visited the military base where Zhang worked and met with staff members, she said to him: “Chairman, I have a goal — to become our country’s first female ’01’ commander.”

Xi responded with delight. “The ’01’ commander shoulders a vital scientific mission. If you succeed, it would be a milestone for women in our country,” he said. “I hope you will achieve your goal soon.”

But the path was far from easy. A commander must master technical knowledge across more than 20 subsystems and nearly 200 positions at the launch site, along with extensive hands-on experience. Every command must be issued with absolute precision in timing, as any delay could miss the narrow launch window.

Determined to prove herself, Zhang cut her hair short, carried 100-pound fueling hoses just like her male colleagues, climbed the nearly 90-meter-tall launch gantry, and inspected swing arms suspended high above the ground.

She systematically studied different systems and positions in her spare time, covering her room’s walls with pneumatic and electrical diagrams. Night after night, she stayed up late poring over technical manuals, protocols and contingency plans.

After participating in 80 launch missions, her opportunity finally came with the 81st. At midnight of Nov. 1, 2018, at the age of 36, Zhang made history as China’s first female “01” commander, directing the launch of a Long March-3B rocket that successfully carried the 41st BeiDou navigation satellite into orbit.

Zhang is not alone in her exploration of the universe. In June 2012, Liu Yang became China’s first female taikonaut, completing a 13-day space mission.

“You are truly a heroine, an example of how women hold up half the sky,” Xi praised Liu when he met her months later on the sidelines of the annual session of the national legislature, calling her an “ambassador” representing Chinese women.

In June 2022, Liu embarked on her second space mission aboard Shenzhou-14.

“As the Chinese people pursue a happy life, every Chinese woman has the opportunity to excel in life and make their dream come true,” President Xi said when he addressed the Global Leaders’ Meeting on Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment at the UN headquarters in New York a decade ago.

Under Xi’s leadership, the cause of women in China has flourished since 2012, achieving historic breakthroughs and comprehensive progress. Efforts to promote gender equality and women’s all-around development have been incorporated into key policy documents and national development plans.

In particular, China now has about 2.8 million women working in the research and development sector, more than double the number in 2012. Women account for 45.8 percent of the country’s science and technology workforce.

Wang Yaping, China’s second female taikonaut, noted that Chinese women are contributing significantly to sci-tech innovation, thanks to institutional and policy support from the country.

China will do more to enhance gender equality as its basic state policy, give play to women’s important role as “half the sky” and support them in realizing their own dreams and aspirations in both career and life, Xi said in the 2015 UN speech.

Xi has repeatedly cited the Chinese proverb “women hold up half the sky” to emphasize women’s equal participation in society and encourage them to break barriers in both their careers and mindsets.

Inspired by this call, women across China — Zhang, Liu, Wang and countless others, are taking bold strides toward their dreams, reaching for the stars.

[Xinhua]