BEIJING: China on Tuesday released the country’s first space science scheme, elaborating on the basic principles, development goals and roadmap for its space science exploration through 2050.
The “National Medium- and Long-Term Development Plan for Space Science (2024-2050),” jointly released by the Chinese Academy of Sciences, China National Space Administration and China Manned Space Agency, identified five major scientific themes with 17 priority areas for future breakthroughs:
· “Extreme universe” – Exploring the origin and evolution of the universe and revealing the physical laws under extreme cosmic conditions. Key areas under this theme include dark matter and extreme universes, the origin and evolution of the universe, and the detection of baryonic matter in the universe.
“Space-time ripples” – Detecting low-frequency gravitational waves and primordial gravitational waves, and uncovering the nature of gravity and space-time. The priority is the detection of gravitational waves in space.
· “Panorama of the Earth and sun” – Studying the Earth, the sun and the heliosphere, and unveiling the complex sun-Earth system as well as the physical processes and laws of overall connection between the sun and the solar system. Priority directions include the Earth circulation system, comprehensive Earth-moon observation, space weather detection, solar stereoscopic exploration and outer heliosphere exploration. –The Daily Mail-CGTN news exchange item
