The authorities are promoting the use of satellites for remote
sensing, navigation and communications to provide better public
services and meet the requirements of economic development.
Proposals for the civilian use of satellite technology, jointly
issued by the Commission of Science, Technology and Industry for
National Defense and the National Development and Reform
Commission, were unveiled Sunday.
The proposals outline the development guidelines, major goals
and policy and regulatory guarantees necessary for expanding the
use of satellite technology.
Vice-Premier Zeng Peiyan said the country's use of satellite
technology had shifted to the commercial stage after more than 50
years of development.
"The need for satellites has been boosted by the economy, social
progress and the necessity of safeguarding public security," Sun
Laiyan, vice-minister of the Commission of Science, Technology and
Industry for National Defense, said.
The blueprint issued Sunday aims to have 10 satellite-based
service systems in place by 2020. They will cover communications,
navigation, the oceans, meteorology, the environment, disaster
relief, water conservancy, national land resources, agriculture,
forestry and distance education.
The country's satellite-based remote sensing and navigation
systems have passed a key turning point, while the development of
satellite communications are on track to becoming commercially
viable, Sun said.
Zhang Xiaoqiang, vice-minister of the National Development and
Reform Commission, said the aerospace and satellite sectors are
considered strategic high-tech industries.
"They will make the nation more innovative and improve the
industrial structure," Zhang said.
The new materials industry is one area that has benefited from
advances in the aerospace industry.
"A tiny step in the aerospace arena means a big stride back on
earth," Long Lehao, an expert on the Long March series rockets,
said in a recent interview.
He said the country's independent research and development of
the Long March carrier rockets had brought the heavens closer and
unlocked new technologies that could improve life on earth.
Some 80 percent of the 1,000 varieties of new materials
developed in recent years benefited from the space industry.
(China Daily November 19, 2007)