China National Space Administration

This article is about the administrative office for China's civil space activities and international space cooperation. For the operator of China's state space programs, see China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation. For the operator of China's human spaceflight program, see China Manned Space Agency. For the space administrative office in territories controlled by the Republic of China, see Taiwan Space Agency.

The China National Space Administration (CNSA; Chinese: 中国国家航天局; pinyin: Zhōngguó Guójiā Hángtiān Jú) is a government agency of the People's Republic of China headquartered in Haidian, Beijing, responsible for civil space administration and international space cooperation. These responsibilities include organizing or leading foreign exchanges and cooperation in the aerospace field.^[2] The CNSA is an administrative agency under the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.^{[3][need quotation to verify]}

China National Space Administration

中国国家航天局 Zhōngguó Guójiā Hángtiān Jú
Logo
Government agency overview
Formed	22 April 1993; 30 years ago (1993-04-22)
Preceding Government agency	Ministry of Aerospace Industry (partial)
Jurisdiction	China
Headquarters	Haidian, Beijing
Annual budget	US$8.9 billion (2020)^[1]^[Note 1]
Government agency executive	Zhang Kejian, Director
Parent department	Ministry of Industry and Information Technology
Website	www.cnsa.gov.cn

China National Space Administration
Simplified Chinese	国家航天局
Traditional Chinese	國家航天局
Literal meaning	National Astronautics Administration
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Guójiā Hángtiān Jú Wade–Giles Kuo-chia Hang-t'ien Chü IPA [kwǒtɕjá xǎŋtʰjɛ́n tɕy̌] Yue: Cantonese Yale Romanization Gwok-gāa Hòhng-tin Guhk Jyutping Gwok^3gaa^1 Hong^4tin^1 Guk^6 IPA [kʷɔ̄ːk.káːhɔ̏ːŋtʰīnkùːk]

Founded in 1993, CNSA has pioneered a number of achievements in space for China despite its relatively short history, including becoming the first space agency to land on the far side of the Moon with Chang'e 4, bringing material back from the Moon with Chang'e 5, and being the second agency who successfully landed a rover on Mars with Tianwen-1.

As the governing body of civil space activities, China National Space Administration does not execute any space program. The China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation executes China's state space programs instead.^{[4][need quotation to verify]} The China Manned Space Program is operated by China Manned Space Agency, instead of the CNSA.^{[5][need quotation to verify]}

History

CNSA is an agency created in 1993 when the Ministry of Aerospace Industry was split into CNSA and the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC). The former was to be responsible for policy, while the latter was to be responsible for execution. This arrangement proved somewhat unsatisfactory, as these two agencies were, in effect, one large agency, sharing both personnel and management.^[6]

As part of a massive restructuring in 1998, CASC was split into a number of smaller state-owned companies. The intention appeared to have been to create a system similar to that characteristic of Western defense procurement in which entities which are government agencies, setting operational policy, would then contract out their operational requirements to entities which were government-owned, but not government-managed.^[6]

Since the passage of the Wolf Amendment in 2011, NASA has been forced by Congress to implement a long-standing exclusion policy with CNSA ever since, though this has been periodically overcome.

Function

CNSA was established as a government institution to develop and fulfill China's due international obligations, with the approval by the 8th National People's Congress of China (NPC). The 9th NPC assigned CNSA as an internal structure of the Commission of Science, Technology and Industry for National Defense (COSTIND). CNSA assumes the following main responsibilities: signing governmental agreements in the space area on behalf of organizations, inter-governmental scientific and technical exchanges; and also being in charge of the enforcement of national space policies and managing the national space science, technology and industry.

China has signed governmental space cooperation agreements with Argentina, Brazil, Chile, France, Germany, India, Italy, Pakistan, Russia, Ukraine, the United Kingdom, the United States, and some other countries. Significant achievements have been scored in the bilateral and multilateral and technology exchanges and cooperation.^[6]

Administrators of CNSA are appointed by the State Council with consultations from the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).

Administrators

The most recent administrator is Zhang Kejian. Wu Yanhua is vice-administrator and Tian Yulong is secretary general.^[7]

• April 1993: Liu Jiyuan
• April 1998: Luan Enjie
• 2004: Sun Laiyan
• July 2010: Chen Qiufa^[8]
• March 2013: Ma Xingrui^[9]
• December 2013: Xu Dazhe^[7]
• May 2017: Tang Dengjie
• May 2018: Zhang Kejian

Departments

There are four departments under the CNSA:

• Department of General Planning
• Department of System Engineering
• Department of Science, Technology and Quality Control
• Department of Foreign Affairs

CNSA's logo is a similar design to that of China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation.^[10] The arrow in the middle is similar to the Chinese character 人 which means 'human' or 'people', to state that humans are the center of all space exploration. The three concentric ellipses stand for three types of escape velocity (minimum speed needed to reach sustainable orbits, to escape the Earth system, and to escape the Solar System) which are milestones of space exploration. The second ring is drawn with a bold line, to state that China has passed the first stage of exploration (Earth system) and is undergoing the second stage exploration (within the Solar System). The 人 character stands above the three rings to emphasize humanity's capability to escape and explore. Olive branches were added to state that China's space exploration is peaceful in nature.^{[citation needed]}

Launch facilities

• Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center
• Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center
• Xichang Satellite Launch Center
• Wenchang Spacecraft Launch Site

 

 

Jiuquan

 

Taiyuan

 

Wenchang

 

Xichang

class=notpageimage|

Location of China's spaceports

See also

•  China portal

• Chinese Lunar Exploration Program
• Tiangong space station

Notes

1. Includes both civilian and military space spending.

References

1. "What's Driving China's Race to Build a Space Station?". ChinaPower Project. Retrieved 19 December 2021.
2. "机构简介". www.cnsa.gov.cn. Retrieved 28 January 2022.
3. "国务院组织机构_中国政府网". www.gov.cn. Retrieved 28 January 2022.
4. "集团简介_中国航天科技集团有限公司". www.spacechina.com. Retrieved 28 January 2022.
5. "中国载人航天工程". www.cmse.gov.cn. Retrieved 28 January 2022.
6. . China National Space Administration. Archived from the original on 28 February 2008. Retrieved 9 March 2008.
7. . China National Space Administration. Archived from the original on 19 January 2014. Retrieved 20 April 2014.
8. "Chénqiúfā Rèn Liáoníng Shěng Dài Shěng Zhǎng" 陈求发任辽宁省代省长 [Chen Qiufa Appointed Acting Governor of Liaoning]. People's Daily (in Chinese). 8 May 2015.
9. . China National Space Administration. 19 April 2013. Archived from the original on 23 September 2015.
10. [Visual Identification System]. spacechina.com. Archived from the original on 27 June 2009. Retrieved 14 May 2009.

External links

 

Wikimedia Commons has media related to China National Space Administration.

• Official website