Space has the answers to several of Hong Kong’s problems. Just look up

Even as Chinese space exploration takes off, the recent policy address is strangely silent on how the space sector can contribute to Hong Kong

This is disappointing because ground-to-sky sensing technologies, for instance, would serve the city, including the Northern Metropolis, well

3-MIN READ3-MIN

The return capsule, carrying three astronauts from China’s Shenzhou-16 spacecraft, is about to touch down at the Dongfeng site in Inner Mongolia on October 31. China has opened up the recruitment of taikonauts to Hong Kong, and the city’s emerging space sector has much to offer. Photo: EPA-EFE/Xinhua

Quentin Parker

Quentin Parker is professor emeritus at the University of Hong Kong and CEO and co-founder of the NGO S3+1.

Published: 6:15pm, 8 Nov 2023Updated: 8:11pm, 8 Nov 2023

In Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor’s last policy address as chief executive in 2021, there was at last a specific reference to Hong Kong’s role in the nation’s space exploration projects.

This was music to the ears of our universities and emerging companies that are either engaged in the mainland’s space exploration endeavours or seizing other opportunities arising from the burgeoning global space economy – an industry which could be worth US$1 trillion by the end of the decade, according to Morgan Stanley.

Indeed, following Lam’s address, the mainland opened up the recruitment of taikonauts to Hong Kong and Macau, the China Manned Space Engineering Office invited Hong Kong universities to submit proposals, precious samples of moon rocks collected by the Chang’e 5 lunar mission were obtained for study by the University of Hong Kong (HKU), and various NewSpace start-ups emerged in Hong Kong.