2024-05-13
In addition to the French payload on the Chang'e-6 lunar probe, China's space collaboration with France will reach new heights with the launch of the Space Variable Objects Monitor, the first astronomical satellite jointly developed by the two countries. After assembly and review in Shanghai, it is now ready to be delivered to the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in Sichuan Province. Wu Lei reports.
Engineers at the Innovation Academy for Microsatellites at the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Shanghai are busy packaging the SVOM, readying it for delivery to the Xichang Satellite Launch Center, a major outcome of scientific cooperation between China and France.
CORDIER BERTRAND, SVOM French Chief Scientist "We can say that this SVOM satellite will take the hand in order to study the gamma ray burst. And I think that we can say that it will be one of the most advanced missions for the scientists."
The China National Space Administration and the French Space Agency approved the SVOM mission in 2006. In 2014, Chinese President Xi Jinping and then French President Francois Hollande oversaw the renewal of the Memorandum of Understanding for the project.
ZHANG YONGHE, SVOM Chinese Project Manager "Our cooperation is filled at all levels, from the satellite system design to development, from the ground system to the operation of the satellite. We are a big team that closely cooperates."
Equipped with two French and two Chinese scientific payloads, the satellite is designed to assist research into the origins of the universe. Space technology is an area of close cooperation between China and France. The first jointly-developed oceanographic satellite was launched in 2018. The SVOM satellite represents a new chapter.
FRANCOIS GONZALEZ, SVOM French Project Manager "We have been through many difficulties, but what's interesting is that with the team we are building, we overcome all these difficulties, and what we can say that the team is unique, it's a French and Chinese team."
The Innovation Academy for Microsatellites at the Chinese Academy of Sciences is responsible for coordinating and assembling the whole SVOM system.
HU HAIYING, President, Innovation Academy for Microsatellites, Chinese Academy of Sciences "We've cultivated a large number of engineers in space science, satellite platforms and system design. I think this is very significant for Sino-French cooperation."
2024 marks sixty years since China established formal diplomatic relations with France. Scientists working on the mission expect more collaboration in the space sector between the two countries.
WU LEI, Shanghai "The SVOM satellite will be delivered to the Xichang Satellite Launch Center for further assembly and tests. Chinese and French scientists are expecting a successful launch around the middle of the year. WL, CGTN, SH."