Yang was elected an academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences in 1980, and of the International Academy of Astronautics in 1985. He was conferred the Special Prize of the State Science and Technology Progress Award (1985), the Tan Kah Kee Prize in Information Science (1995), the Ho Leung Ho Lee Prize for Technological Sciences (1999), and the Two Bombs, One Satellite Meritorious Medal (1999).[1][2][7]