First China Microsatellite Symposium held in NPU, Xi’an

On November 19, the first China Microsatellite Symposium was held in Chang'an Campus of Northwestern Polytechnical University (NPU). Wang Jinsong, president of NPU, Gao Yang, deputy secretary-general of the Shaanxi Provincial People's Government, and Yu Qi, deputy director of the International Cooperation Department of the China National Space Administration attended the Symposium and delivered welcoming speeches.

The opening ceremony was hosted by Zhang Weihong, vice-president of NPU. Liu Jianlin, deputy director of the Education Department of Shaanxi Provincial Government, Wen Tong, head of the International Office of the Education Department of Shaanxi Provincial Government, and An Jun, head of the High-tech Department of the Shaanxi Provincial Development and Reform Commission attended the opening ceremony.

In the speech, Wang said that the Symposium was an important attempt to promote in-depth cooperation between universities and research institutions in the field of international aerospace. He hoped that through the collision of ideas between experts and scholars, some new ideas could be generated to provide constructive solutions to the key challenges of microsatellite technology. It was hoped that the teachers and students of NPU will take the initiative to learn from the attending experts, establish contacts and cooperate with each other, and strive to transform the results of the symposium into an important force for the development of universities, thus making new and greater contributions to the development of China's Aerospace industry and worldwide aerospace science and technology.

Gao Yang expressed his wishes that as a new direction of space development, microsatellites will cultivate and promote the comprehensive development of space science, technology and applications, become an important new force in the field of aerospace in Shaanxi Province, stimulate the exploration enthusiasm of aerospace technology in the whole province and in the whole country, promote the transformation of scientific and technological achievements in Shaanxi Province, and enhance civil-military integrated innovation.

Yu Qi said that the CubeSat Deep-space Exploration of International College Students Program was not only an international scientific constellation program, but also an international university space innovation community of university students and young scholars interested in exploring the universe. The China National Space Administration will fully support the implementation of the plan, and provide free launch opportunities, as well as policy support, communication frequency coordination, launch licensing and other resources for the plan.

During the meeting, Professor Zhou Jun of the School of Astronautics of NPU announced the results of the International CubeSat and Mission Contest. The Modular Docking Mechanism for the CubeSat Plug and Play Assembly project of NPU won the third prize.

After the opening ceremony, many experts including Professor Sir Martin Sweeting, academician of both the Royal Society (Academy of Sciences) and the Royal Academy of Engineering, Executive Chairman of Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd (SSTL) and Chairman & Distinguished Professor of Surrey Space Centre, University of Surrey, UK, made keynote reports.

Nearly 400 experts and scholars from more than 20 countries participated in the Symposium and conducted academic exchanges. The symposium was hosted by the Belt & Road Aerospace Innovation Alliance, undertaken by Northwestern Polytechnical University, supported by the China National Space Administration, the International Astronautical Federation, the Chinese Society of Astronautics, the Chinese Institute of Command and Control, IEEE Xi'an Section and California Polytechnic State University. The symposium lasted for three days, and was in three parts: the International CubeSat and Mission Contest, an academic forum and an exhibition. At this year's celebration of Space Day, Fang Guanghua, then Vice Mayor of Xi'an, launched the conference and declared Xi'an as the permanent site of China's Microsatellite Symposium.