1964, October 16

China's first nuclear test is undertaken with an Uranium 235 pure-fission device named "596". The device weighs 1550 kg. The test is carried out at "Lop Nur Test Ground" at 7:00 GMT. The bomb's yield is 22 Kt. This test is a huge gain in prestige for China. Now China is a nuclear superpower, despite strong American opposition and hostile Sino-Soviet relations.
The image on the left is the low-resolution version of a declassified CORONA reconnaissance image of the Chinese nuclear test site at Lop Nor.

Literature:

McDonald, Robert A. (1995): CORONA: Success for space reconnaissance, a look into the Cold War, and a revolution for intelligence. In: Photogrammetric Engineering & Remote Sensing, Vol 61, No. 6

External Web Links:

http://www.nro.gov/corona/imagery.html

http://www.fas.org/irp/imint/4_lopnur.htm