Inaugural Ceremony of National Space Science Center Held in Beijing
In the morning of 7 July, 2011, the inaugural ceremony of National Space Science Center (NSSC) was held in the SUN conference hall of Center for Space Science and Applied Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences.
The newly established center is fully build up on the current Center for Space Science and Applied Research (CSSAR), but has new duties. The most important duty is to carry out a so called Strategic Pioneer Project – Space Science. It is one of the four such projects which the Academy will lead in the next 5-10 years. The Space Science Project includes development of 5 space science satellites, select and support several new mission studies before the engineering phase, support a number of long term enabling technology studies for future missions and finally leading future strategic study for space science in China. Those studies have never been supported by other national programs, therefore it is a truly national program and the budget of it is directly from the central government.
Viewing the history of development of space science in developed countries, setting up an agency to do the overall planning for space science is the option every country would resort to. Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) and Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in NASA, Space Research Institute (IKI) in Russian Academy of Sciences, European Space Research and Technology Centre (ESTEC) in Europe Space Agency and Institute of Space and Astronautical Science (ISAS) in Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency are perfect examples.
Center for Space Science and Applied Research, CAS, has conducted a serial of projects on space science since 2000, such as “Double Star Project”, “Yinghuo-1 Project”, the first Chinese Mars exploration program, “Meridian Project” etc., which paved the way for conducting strategic pioneer project. As the System Level Management Center, National Space Science Center will lead the CAS Strategic Pioneer Project on Space Science.
National Space Science Center endeavors to further deepen international cooperation. Bai Chunli, the president of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, who delivered a speech on the inaugural ceremony, pointed out that the National Space Science Center should seize the great opportunity to further enhance international cooperation to make the center the show case for international cooperation.
Congratulation letters from international organizations include:
Committee on Space Research (COSPAR)
European Space Agency（ESA）
Centre National d’Etudes Spatiales (CNES), France
International Space Science Institute (ISSI)
National Center for Atmospheric Research（NCAR）, USA
Space Science Laboratory, University of California at Berkeley, USA
Institute of Earth magnetism, ionosphere and radiowaves propagation（IZMIRAN）, Russia
Institute of Solar-Terrestrial Physics（ISTP）, Russian Academy of Sciences, Russia
Institute of Cosmophysical Research and Aeronomy, Russian Academy of Sciences, Russia
