“Beidou” Navigation Satellite System (BDS)
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China white paper sets out five-year space plan
China has released a white paper setting out its space plans for the next five years. China ''will push forward human spaceflight projects and make new technological breakthroughs'', the report said. It plans to develop next-generation rockets, new types of satellites and carry out deep-space exploration. In the long term, China is working towards building a space station and putting a person on the moon. The white paper also summarised China's space activities since 2006 and spelt out policies for international co-operation, in a move that appeared aimed at allaying concern over its space ambitions. ''China will work together with the international community to maintain a peaceful and clean outer space and endeavour to make new contributions to the lofty cause of promoting world peace and development,'' said the report. It lists collaborations with countries such as Russia, Brazil, France and Britain. China will also ''continue to make dialogue regarding the space field'' with the US, following a NASA delegation visit in October. China views its space programme as a key part of its national development and international growth. China's space activities in 2011 Tiangong-1 was launched in September on a Long March 2F rocket The unmanned laboratory unit was first put in a 350km-high orbit Shenzhou-8 was sent up to rendezvous and dock with Tiangong-1 The project tested key technologies such as life-support systems According to the white paper, the Shenzhou-9 and Shenzhou-10 spaceships will be launched to dock with the Tiangong-1 space lab module. Tiangong-1, which means ''heavenly palace'', was launched aboard a Long March 2F rocket in September. It is a prototype module for China's future space station. Last month the Shenzhou-8 spent just under 17 days in orbit - the longest Shenzhou mission to date - and rendezvoused with the space lab. Officials have indicated that at least one of the two next Shenzhou missions would be manned and that 2012 might even see the country's first female astronaut. The white paper also said China would improve its Long March launch vehicles, building next-generation rockets that used ''non-toxic and pollutant-free propellant''. It plans to upgrade launch sites and finish a new launch base in Hainan. It will also continue building its Beidou satellite navigation system, with aims to cover the Asia-Pacific region by the end of 2012 and complete global coverage by 2020. China will also launch orbiters to survey the moon, land on it and obtain samples that can be studied. Ultimately, it wants to put a person on the moon. In the next five years, the report said, China will ''conduct studies on the preliminary plan for a human lunar landing''.
Mars is Within Reach, Says German Tapped for Space Command
FILE - European Space Agency's astronaut Alexander Gerst, crew member of the mission to the International Space Station, waves during inspection of his space suit prior to the launch of the Soyuz-FG rocket at the Russian-leased Baikonur cosmodrome, Kazakhstan, May 28, 2014. Share COLOGNE, GERMANY — Humans could set foot on Mars within decades if they wanted to, according to the German astronaut who has been tapped to become his country's first commander of the International Space Station. Alexander Gerst said the space station offers a unique opportunity to test the technology needed to explore other planets, especially if its lifetime is extended beyond 2020. “It is very clear to me that those manned missions to the moon and Mars, human missions, will happen,'' he told The Associated Press in an interview at the European Space Agency's astronaut training center in Cologne, Germany. “But we need the decision as a society. And once we do that we are ready to go, basically.'' Gerst said the recent Hollywood movie The Martian — starring Matt Damon as an astronaut fending for himself on the red planet — offers a realistic glimpse of the not-too-distant future. FILE - NASA astronaut Reid Wiseman (pictured here) and European Space Agency astronaut Alexander Gerst completed the first of three spacewalks for the Expedition 41 crew aboard the International Space Station, Oct. 7, 2014. (NASA/ESA/Alexander Gerst) FILE - NASA astronaut Reid Wiseman (pictured here) and European Space Agency astronaut Alexander Gerst completed the first of three spacewalks for the Expedition 41 crew aboard the International Space Station, Oct. 7, 2014. (NASA/ESA/Alexander Gerst) “It shows us what we can possibly reach in a few years' time,'' he said. “I'm actually quite excited by the fact that us humans, we could fly to Mars, and maybe you and I will live to see it.'' Europe’s role The 40-year-old volcanologist — an expert on volcanos — is scheduled to take command of the space station in May 2018, four years after his first mission, it was announced Wednesday. Astronauts have been living continuously aboard the 250-mile (402-kilometer) high complex since 2000. This month, the space station hit the milestone of 100,000 orbits around Earth — the equivalent to 10 round trips to Mars, or almost one way to Neptune. Gerst will be the second European Space Agency astronaut in charge of the orbital outpost, after Belgian pilot Frank De Winne, reflecting Europe's growing interest in space. German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who was present for the announcement and who is a scientist by training, said recently it was “right and important'' that space exploration should play a key role in her country's high-tech strategy. The European Space Agency saw its budget increase almost 20 percent this year to 5.25 billion euros ($5.96 billion) and the agency is on course to activate Europe's satellite navigation system Galileo — a rival to the American GPS, Russia's Glonass and China's Beidou systems — this decade. Space station’s future Earlier this year, ESA chief Jan Woerner suggested establishing a village on the moon once the International Space Station reaches the end of its lifetime. There are no concrete plans for this yet, though, and experts say the space station hasn't outlived its usefulness — over 100 experiments are conducted during each mission to the space station. Gerst said the flying laboratory can help test whether humans are physically and psychologically capable of spending long periods of time in deep space and also how to conserve precious resources on Earth. “In this year, we decide whether to continue the International Space Station until 2024, whether Europe is part of that and whether we will use that investment that we made in the past,'' he said. “So it is important not to stop investing in this field.''
Intellectual property awards recognize inventors, designers
The State Intellectual Property Office announced the annual winners of China's top patent awards in Beijing on Monday. In cooperation with the World Intellectual Property Organization, "we present the WIPO-SIPO Awards for Outstanding Chinese Patented Inventions and Industrial Designs to rights owners, inventors and designers who have made marked contributions to patent creation, use, protection and management", SIPO Commissioner Shen Changyu said at the ceremony. Selected from more than 1,150 candidates from around the country, more than any previous year in the event's history, five received gold awards for their industrial designs and 20 inventions and utility models, a type of patent featuring a shorter valid term and less stringent requirements. They cover a wide range of sectors, including energy, chemicals, metallurgy, autos, rail transportation, telecommunications, robotics, aircraft and spacecraft, biopharmaceuticals, medical equipment and electronics. The award-winning projects together generated 30.4 billion yuan ($4.38 billion) in profits. Among them is technology developed by the Beijing Institute of Spacecraft System Engineering, part of China Aerospace Science and Technology Corp. Intellectual property awards recognize inventors, designers The patented technology from the BeiDou Navigation Satellite System research program was created to prevent spacecraft collisions in the case of intensive launch, said Yang Hui, a BeiDou chief designer. "It has expanded China's proprietary BeiDou navigational network to a higher level," she said. As one of the industry's core researchers, the institute has developed more than 100 spacecraft and undertaken R&D tasks concerning the Bei-Dou system, manned space flight and lunar exploration. It was granted more than 770 patents this year alone. Another gold winner, a new type of coke dry quenching technology - also known as CDQ technology - developed by ACRE Coking and Refractory Engineering Consulting Corp has been implemented in more than 100 coking facilities in China and abroad. A pillar of the chemical and metallurgical industries, the coking sector was traditionally known for its heavy pollution and resource consumption. The technology has helped to reduce emissions by 13 million tons of carbon dioxide and 130,000 tons of sulfur dioxide, said Yu Zhendong, chairman of the company. By 2015, the water it saved amounted to 62 million tons and the saved electricity could accommodate the yearly domestic power consumption of a city of 5 million people, Yu said. "Technological and industrial revolutions are one of the hardest to control, yet we have to face them," he said. "That is the motivation driving us into proprietary IP research and technological innovation." WIPO data shows that China ranked top of the world in patent, trademark and industrial design applications last year. Industrial designs worldwide increased by 21.3 percent in 2015 from a year earlier, mainly driven by the robust growth in China, which contributed roughly half of the globe's total, said Wang Binying, deputy director-general of WIPO. Commissioner Shen said China has become the first country whose annual invention patent filings exceeded 1 million. Its valid invention patent inventory has also surpassed the 1-million benchmark, making China the third country after the United States and Japan to do so, he added. "The high-quality core patent output does not only lie in the height of innovation, but is also related to multifaceted factors including protections' effects, uses' benefits and management capabilities." wangxin@chinadaily.com.cn Intellectual property awards recognize inventors, designers A drone produced by DJI, a gold award winner of the 2016 WIPO-SIPO Awards for Outstanding Chinese Patented Inventions and Industrial Designs, attracts visitors to the Photokina trade fair in Cologne on Sept 20. Patrik Stollarz / For China Daily
Knowledge Graph
Examples
1 It said that the Beidou Navigation Satellite System (Beidou-2) has been completed, with the networking of 14 Beidou navigation satellites, officially offering positioning, velocity measurement, timing, wide area difference and short-message communication service to customers in the Asia-Pacific region.
2 The BeiDou Navigation Satellite System (BDS) has helped 317 cities improve services in multiple industries, according to the GNSS and LBS Association of China (GLAC).
3 As the first company to use BDS technology, Beijing Gas has improved its abilities in pipeline examination, gas leakage and emergency response, said Wu Bo, deputy manager of the production and operation division of the company.