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CHINA
China, as one of the major space-faring
countries in the ESCAP region, is pursuing a large and wide-ranging
national space programme covering both the space and ground
segments. Under the State Council, there are two principal
bodies, the State Science and Technology Commission of China
and the Commission of Science, Technology and Industry for
National Defence. Under each of these two bodies, various
departments and organizations dealing with specific fields
are functioning, including the Chinese Academy of Sciences,
the China National Space Administration, the National Remote
Sensing Centre and the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications.
China has developed its own launchers, the Long March expendable
vehicles. It launched its first experimental satellite in
1967. Since then it has designed and launched over 30 satellites,
both experimental and operational, for a wide range of applications
in meteorology, disaster monitoring, remote sensing for
resource and environmental management, communications, distance
education, research and scientific data collection.
Other key areas in the next 20 years include (a) establishing
an operational integrated Earth-space applications system
consisting of communication, Earth observation and meteorological
satellites, (b) enlarging the scope of space technology
to contribute to China's social and economic sustainable
development, (c) improving satellite technology and performance-price
ratio and endeavouring to export satellites and (d) making
a breakthrough in manned space technology. |
