British Space scientists have a long history of collaboration with China.  These have built on longstanding international co-operations including the CLUSTER mission (to investigate sun-earth interactions), DOUBLE STAR (a follow-on mission) and the provision of disaster monitoring spacecraft, most recently used to monitor the impacts and focus rescue efforts for the Sichuan Earthquake.

So far four official UK/China space science and technology have been held.  A fifth is scheduled to take place at Rutherford Appleton Laboratory in September 2009.

Key developments in recent years have been:

• The establishment of a joint virtual laboratory on space led by Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, Oxfordshire and Beijing’s University of Aerospace and Astronautics. 
• High-level discussions on collaboration opportunities in formation flying, analysis of space environment data and payloads and instruments for space exploration. 
• Senior visits, most recently by the UK’s Chief Scientific Advisor (John Beddington) to the National Remote Sensing Centre of China to see how China is using space applications to monitoring the climate, urban development and food production
  

For more information, please contact our Space contacts

See image details and captions below:

 

The Beijing-1 satellite, part of the Disaster Monitoring Constellation under construction at Surrey Satellites Ltd.

Images produced by the disaster monitoring constellation – some of them were in the hands of local officials just 7 hours after the disaster shook Sichuan.
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Rockslides around

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Leiguzhen Sichuan – analysis helps predict mudflow and target rescue and relief efforts on the ground