Jiuquan, 4 Dec (ZXS) -- The Egypt-2 satellite was successfully launched at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center on 4 December. As an important achievement of China-Egypt space cooperation, what are the implications of the Egypt-2 satellite project for China's future international space cooperation?How will it better help China's aerospace "go global"?
It is understood that the Egypt-2 satellite launched this time is an optical remote sensing satellite, which can obtain remote sensing images with a resolution of 2 meters, which can provide decision-making support for crop monitoring, Nile flood monitoring, and urban construction of "new desert cities" such as the Nile Delta in Egypt.
Gao Luhua, deputy director of the Earth Observation and Data Center of the China National Space Administration, said in an interview with reporters that the Egypt-2 satellite project has made new attempts in many aspects, including establishing a joint team to carry out joint design and development, promoting China's space standards to "go global", and adopting a new satellite project management model. "Egypt is a big country in Arabia and Africa, and the space cooperation between China and Egypt is a model of space cooperation between China and Africa and has important exemplary significance. ”
In the past, China's aerospace industry has also provided satellite research and development and launch services for other countries in the world, such as the "Laos-1" communication satellite, the Sino-French oceanographic satellite, and the Pakistan remote sensing satellite-1, which have played an active role in local communications, agriculture, culture, environmental protection, meteorology and other fields.
Some commentators have pointed out that China's aerospace industry is not only "turnkey", but also "takes apprentices" to cultivate local aerospace talents for Egypt, promote technology transfer, build local spacecraft development infrastructure, and further promote China's aerospace technology and aerospace standards to "go global".
The biggest feature of the Egypt-2 satellite project is that China and Egypt have formed a joint team, and Egyptian aerospace engineers are deeply involved in the whole process of satellite design, development and testing. Gao Luhua said that China pays more attention to helping partners improve their "soft power" in the aerospace field.
It is understood that the smooth implementation of the Egypt-2 satellite project has made Egypt the first country in Africa with complete satellite development and testing capabilities, and will drive the integrated development of the upstream and downstream of Egypt's aerospace industry, promote the independent development of local satellites in Egypt, independent integrated testing, ground measurement and operation control, data processing and sharing, and promote the development of industry applications.
Talking about why China attaches great importance to the transfer of space technology in cooperation, Gao Qinghua said that the peaceful exploration, development and use of outer space is an equal right enjoyed by all countries in the world, which is also the basic concept of China's international space cooperation. China has always been committed to deepening international exchanges and cooperation in space on the basis of equality, mutual benefit, peaceful use and inclusive development. "China's international cooperation in aerospace not only pays attention to 'teaching people to fish', but also pays more attention to 'teaching people to fish', and China aerospace is willing to continue to share China's development opportunities with other countries. ”
On the other hand, this is also the first time that China has shipped the first sample and the whole star product of the original sample to overseas, the first time that the whole whole star satellite test has been completed overseas, and the first time that the first sample star has been delivered abroad. In the meantime, in order to carry out joint research and development more smoothly, China and Egypt decided to use China's aerospace standards and carry out their work with a unified mode of thinking, data indicators, and management requirements.
In fact, "using China's space standards" was not Egypt's initial choice. This reporter has learned that when signing the contract, China and Egypt discussed which space standard to adopt in the process of satellite development. Most of Egypt's designers have studied in Europe and the United States, and they are more exposed to Western aerospace standards. During the discussion, the Chinese designers showed the Egyptian side the content and specification requirements of China's aerospace standards, as well as the achievements of China's rapid development of aerospace. Through many exchanges, the two sides finally unified the standards for joint development, that is, the use of Chinese aerospace standards.
Experts pointed out that this has not only laid a good foundation for Egypt's subsequent independent development of the aerospace system, but also played a good role in promoting China's aerospace product exports in the future.
After the satellite is put into orbit, it will be independently monitored and controlled by the Egyptian side. Gao said that in the future, the Earth Observation and Data Center of the China National Space Administration will continue to do a good job in the project management of the satellite in the in-orbit test and delivery stage, so as to provide management guarantee for the successful delivery of the project next year.
He also pointed out that in the future, China is willing to work with Egypt to explore cooperation in the sharing and exchange of satellite remote sensing data between the two countries, and continue to expand the breadth and depth of space cooperation between the two countries. (ENDS).
*: China News Network.