Students and staff at the Macau University of Science and Technology’s (MUST) State Key Laboratory of Lunar and Planetary Sciences watched the live broadcast of the launch of the cargo spacecraft Tianzhou-5 with pride last Saturday, as it carried the Macao Student Science Satellite 1.
The Macao Student Science Satellite 1 project was created with the support of the Liaison Office of the Central People’s Government in Macao and the China National Space Administration.
The DFH Satellite Company inaugurated the Macao Student Science Satellite development project in December 2021. The MUST lab, along with the Chinese Educators’ Association of Macau and the Macao Catholic Schools Association held the Ceremony of Competition Award, Naming and Launching of Macao’s First Science Satellite last March. The China Manned Space Engineering Office approved the satellite’s launch via the Tianzhou-5 cargo spacecraft in August 2022, the statement underlined.
The spacecraft was launched from the Wenchang Spacecraft Launch Site in Hainan. The on-campus live broadcast was attended by over 100 people including Macao’s First Science Satellite’s student winners, teachers and students.
The live event was also attended by Xu Ting, director of the Education and Youth Department of the Liaison Office, and Xu Zhiping, deputy director of the Education and Youth Department of the Liaison Office.
MUST Associate Vice President, Laboratory Director and Chair Professor Zhang Keke commented that the lab’s facilities, equipment, and human resources will be used to support the satellite’s educational activities aimed at young people in the Greater Bay Area and on both sides of the Taiwan Strait.
Zhang said that these are in line with the responsibilities assigned by the China National Space Administration, the Liaison Office and the local government. The lab’s Assistant Professor Ou Jiaming also introduced functions and details of the students’ satellite, The Macau Post Daily reported.
