Recently, China's domestically developed AS700 manned airship reached an industrialization milestone. Following the issuance of the nation's first domestic manned airship Production Certificate (PC Certificate) on December 30, 2025, the project officially passed the final acceptance review by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology on January 20, 2026, marking the completion of the entire chain—from technological breakthroughs to results transformation and industrial deployment—for China's first manned airship developed according to airworthiness specifications. The high-performance envelope materials developed by the Changchun Institute of Applied Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences (CIAC, CAS) served as core components, supporting this "national pride" throughout its journey to the skies.

AS700 Manned Airship

The year 2025 was historically significant for the AS700 manned airship. Throughout the year, it completed 187 sorties across multiple scenarios, accumulating 602 hours of safe test flights, fully validating the reliability and environmental adaptability of the envelope materials. On January 22, 2026, the annual work conference and supplier大会 themed "Gathering Strength with Auspicious Clouds, Winning Together through Collaboration" was held in Wuhan, with CIAC invited to attend. Recognized for the core supporting role of its envelope materials, CIAC was awarded the title of "Strategic Supplier," a designation that not only highly recognizes the institute's technical strength and contract fulfillment capability but also solidifies the foundation for deep collaboration and joint industrial development.

Award Ceremony

Since the project's initiation in 2018, CIAC simultaneously launched dedicated R&D efforts, addressing the stringent requirements of lightweight, high-strength, and high-safety for manned airships, and successfully overcoming the core technical challenges of envelope materials. After multiple rounds of airworthiness verification, all indicators of the envelope materials provided by CIAC fully met technical requirements. Notably, the materials delivered during 2020–2021 successfully supported the airship's maiden flight, airworthiness certification, and full lifecycle (5-year) verification.

CIAC will continue to closely monitor the application needs of airships in various scenarios, ensure delivery quality, and continuously optimize and iterate for diverse applications including low-altitude cultural tourism, emergency rescue, and urban security, injecting strong momentum into the high-quality development of China's low-altitude economy.

(Contributed by: Multilayer Composite Materials Research Group)