China's keystone space scientist Qian Xuesen, widely known as the country's father of space technology, died here Saturday morning at the age of 98.

Qian, born in Hangzhou, capital of east China's Zhejiang Province, was a major figure in the missile and space programs of China.

Qian, a member of both the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Chinese Academy of Engineering, graduated from Shanghai Jiao Tong University in 1934.

In 1935, he went to study in the aviation department of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and later studied aviation engineering at the California Institute of Technology. In 1939, he received a doctorate in aviation and mathematics. He returned to China in 1955.

(Xinhua News Agency October 31, 2009)