Materials for the press conference of the Information Office of the State Council

The First 'Space Day of China' and

China Space Development

（22 April，2016）

China National Space Administration

1. Information about the establishment of 'Space Day of China'

China's first man-made satellite, Dongfanghong-1, was successfully launched on April 24, 1970. It was a groundbreaking and foundational event in the histroy of China space cause. In March of 2016, the Party Central Committee and the State Council approved that every year April 24 should be celebrated as "Space Day of China"from the year 2016 on. The fact that this memorable day was set up as 'Space Day of China' by the Chinese government, shows the great importance that was attached to the development of space cause by the Chinese government, its consistent commitment to peaceful uses of outer space peacefully, and our confidence in indigenous innovation and conquering great difficulties in space exploration. The Space Day of China will be an important carrier of the theme "To develop space cause and to be a great space faring country".We hope the Space Day of China can serve as a window for the world to know about the progress of China space industry, a bond to link the general public, and a platform to spread space knowledge and to cultivate an innovative culture.

To honor the great achievements and spirits of China space, to spread space knowledge, to cultivate enthusiasm of innovation, and to fulfill the Space Dream and Chinese Dream, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, State Administration of Science, Technology and Industry for National Defence, China National Space Administration, together with corresponding administrations, have planned to have a series of activities during 'Space Day of China' . These include Forum of 'Space Day of China', siminars, public open day of China Space, Space Science Classrooms, Campus Space, Space Exhibition and Demonstration, international Symposiums. This year we will have the first 'Space Day of China', the theme is 'SpaceDream, Chinese Dream". A series of activities will be organized all over the country, which include forum of academicians and experts, thematic activities of the first 'Space Day of China', 'Space Week about China's Lunar Exploration', Space Science Classrooms, public open day of China Space, etc.

The release of the news of the 'Space Day of China', has greatly encouraged China space community. The international societies also welcome the event. There has been nearly 40 Space Agencies and international organizations who have sent their congratulation letters. More than 10 countries have confirmed their attendance to this event.

2. The development of China Space

The scope of human activities has extended from the land to the oceans, and gradually expanded to the atmosphere and the outer space. The space technologies have created a new era of human exploration of outer space since 1950’s, and have exerted significant and far-reaching influence on the progress of human civilization.

This year marks the 60th anniversary of the foundation of China's space activity. Over the past six decades, generations of scientists and engineers have followed the path of indigenous innovation, established a complete system of scientific research and engineering management, and built an outstanding talent team with the accumulation of deep and vast space spirits and culture. This high-quality team has made great achievements, including the atomic bomb, ICBM and man-made satellite in the 1960s to 1970s, the manned spaceflight, and the lunar exploration. Considerable development has been obtained in space technology, space application and space science. The overall national strength has been improved thanks to them.

Currently, China has ranked the world's advanced level in terms of space technology, with the successful soft-landing on extraterrestrial object, the acquirement of manned spaceflight technologies, the towards-global coverage of Beidou Navigation Satellite System, and the opening of sub-metric high resolution era of remote sensing satellites. China has successfully developed more than 10 types of Long-March Launch Vehicles, which form a comprehensive series of rockets, with the launching capability of LEO, GTO, SSO satellite and manned spaceships. The Long-March Launch Vehicles have fulfilled 226 launchings with the successful rate of more than 96%. New generation Launch Vehicles, such as Long-March-5 and Long-March 7 are being developed very smoothly. Long-March-6 and Long-March-11 have accomplished their first experiments. Integrated satellite-rocket small solid-fuel launcher Kuaizhou has also been successfully launched. 120t-Liquid Oxygen-Kerosene Engine and 50t-Liquid Hydragen-Liquid Oxygen Engine has also been developed successfully, which will greatly enhance the launch capability. China has launched more than 200 satellites, including about 150 in orbit., with the complete series of communication, remote sensing, navigation and technology demonstration satellites.

Space application has widely utilized in various fields of economic construction and social development in China. Remote Sensing satellites, such as GaoFen, FengYun, HaiYang and ZiYuan, have been widely used in agriculture, forestry, territorial resources, surveying and mapping, water conservancy, city construction, environmental protection, disaster reduction, traffic, weather and oceans. Communication satellites have formed stable, efficient and commercialized operation mode. The navigation satellites have stepped into the developing track of industrialization. Satellite application has achieved remarkable commercial and society return. For example, multiple satellites have been launched for the high-resolution Earth observation project. Twenty-five provincial areas and more than 1,100 units in 18 industries have made use of data acquired from the satellites and shared their findings through a platform dedicated to the project. Another example is FengYun series satellites. It has monitored disasters such as typhoon, flood, forest fire and grasslands, drought, sand storm, cold-air outbreak and snowstorm. The monitoring capability on weather forecasting and climate change has been enhanced remarkable. The forecasting precision and real-time monitoring of disasters in the sea have been improved greatly through HaiYang series satellites. Ziyuan series satellites have great importance in resource and geological disasters surveying, as well as in monitoring, managing and city planning. Communication and broadcasting satellites have been widely used in broadcasting TV, distance education, telemedicine, and provide important support for disaster relief, handling of accidents. Beidou satellite navigation system is also widely used in transportation, oceanography and fishing, hydrology monitoring, communication and timing, electric power planning and disaster reduction.

There are also significant improvements in China's capability of space science exploration and research. China is very active in studies on the origin and evolution of the Solar System, the Solar-Terrestrial Space, Lunar science. We have seen leap-frog development in the research of manned space flight and lunar exploration. A number of science and technology experiment satellites have been launched, including the country's first dark-matter particle detection satellite and the Shijian recoverable series. They helped scientists make breakthroughs in the sectors of space physics, space chemistry, space life science and microgravity studies. They also made it possible for major progress in the observation, mitigation and prevention of space debris. China space science research has established substantial foundation for follow-on deep space exploration missions and provided an important study and exploration platform for scientists. An event to collect ideas about what payloads to be sent to the moon has encouraged the young generation's enthusiasm about space exploration.

China also has great achievements on space international cooperation. It has performed international space exchange and collaboration in different styles. China has signed more than 100 cooperation agreement with over 30 countries, space agencies and international organizations. It is very active in construction of space information channel of 'One Belt One Road'. China National Space Administration and other BRICS countries are working toward building a constellation of remote sensing satellites. China also supports Asia-Pacific Space Cooperation Organization and its members to build a Small Multi-Mission Satellite constellation. It attends the activities of Committee On Peaceful Uses of Outer Space of UN. China also signed MOU with UN on Earth Observation Data and Technical support. Under the International Charter on Space and Major Disasters, China cooperates with space entities from many countries to support satellite data for disaster reduction and rescuing. FengYun satellites have been recognized as one of international operational weather satellite series by World Meteorological Organization(WMO). Beidou navigation system has become one of the four providers of critical systems by the international committee of global satellite navigation system. The exportation of space products has expanded greatly and continually. Until now we have accomplished 44 commercial launches, 10 piggy back services and exported 9 satellites. This has become an important mark of China's high-tech product export.

Besides the enhancement of the industrial foundation of China Space, it also optimizes the system and architecture of scientific research and manufacturing. It has formed complete bases for research, design, test, experiments and production. It has constructed 4 launch sites with comprehensive facilities, with reasonable composition, which can launch all kinds of spacecrafts. The integrated experimental capability and intensive launching capability have been improved remarkably. China has established its TT&C network with domestic ground stations and space tracking ships. It has set up ground application system for satellite communication, navigation and remote sensing. This has made a concrete foundation for the satellite application and industrialization.

To develop space cause and to be a great space faring country, is our everlasting Space Dream. The year 2016 marks the beginning of China's Thirteenth Five-Year Strategy. This year, the Mars exploration program has been officially approved, the national civil space infrastructure project has been fully initiated, the Chang'e-4 lunar exploration project has been started, the Chang'e-5 lunar exploration project has entered a critical period, and the Beidou Navigation Satellite System will speed up its global constellation depolyment. We will also see the maiden flights of Long March 5 and 7 launch vehicles, as well as the launches and the rendezvous and docking of Tiangong-2 and Shenzhou-11 this year. A number of new satellites will also be launched this year, including Gaofen-3 satellite, Fengyun-4 meteorological satellite, Hand-X-Ray modulation Telescope and quantum science experimental satellite.

The Thirteenth Five-Year is a strategic opportunity period for China space cause. This year, we will compile the Thirteenth Five-Year Plan of Space Development and the Thirteenth Five-Year Plan of Space Science, and issue the fourth edition of White Paper on China Space Activities. During the thirteenth five-year period and beyond, China space will thoroughly carry out the development concepts of 'innovation, coordination, green, open and sharing'. China space will grasp the strategic opportunities tightly, and stick to the development directions of strategy-leading, innovation-driving, integration and opening, industry upgrading. China will undertake feasibility studies and implement new major space projects according to the 'One Body Two Wings' space development idea that takes space technology as the main frame, while space application and space science as the two wings. It will greatly promote space application and space science. It will enhance strategic new industry and cultivate a new development style with 'Internet + Space application'. It is planned to have a series of creative results in space science. It will also promote legislation of space laws and the betterment of space legal system. China will complete major projects such as manned spaceflight, lunar exploration, Beidou navigation, High Resolution Earth Observation System etc. around 2020. Around 2025, China will fully accomplish the construction of national civil space infrastructure., which will promote the large-scale development, operationalization, and industrialization of space information application. By 2030, the China space cause will have been greatly promoted and China will be among the great space faring countries in the world, and thus Space Dream will be helpful in fulfilling the Chinese Dream.

China always sticks to the principle of peaceful uses of outer space It is now extending the international space exchange and cooperation. Standing on a new starting point, China would like to adopt a more active and open attitude, join hands with all countries to write a new chapter of peaceful uses of outer space, and make a bigger contribution for the benefits of the humankind.