Vice Administrator Zhigang Bian at the International Astronautical Congress
China's achievements, sustainability, governance, and collaboration in space.
As part of a series of one-to-ones with the head of global space agencies, the China National Space Administration’s Vice Administrator Zhigang Bian (卞志刚) spoke on the main stage at the 76th International Astronautical Congress in Sydney, Australia. While on stage, Bian spoke about China’s space achievements, efforts in space sustainability, space governance, and international efforts related to the three areas.
At the time of publication, the International Astronautical Federation is yet to release a transcript of the one-to-ones with space agency leaders. As such, I’ve prepared an unofficial transcript of Zhigang Bian’s conversation with Clay Mowry, President of the Federation. Their conversation began at about 5:35:01 in the live stream replay embedded above. If you are looking to reference any part of the conversation, please cite the Federation’s stream replay.
Zhigang Bian’s One-to-One at the 76th International Astronautical Congress
Clay Mowry: Welcome, Vice Administrator. China has been recognised for a number of the achievements—by the [International Astronautical Federation] for Chang’e 5 and 6. Can you talk a little bit about some of your recent accomplishments in space? And what are the plans for the future, for future missions?
Zhigang Bian: China’s space has consistent rapid development since the October of 2024, which is in the past twelve months. China has implemented seventy-two times launch missions, and Tianwen-2 mission has launched successfully in this year—May—, initiating the trip of China’s first asteroid sample returning. And currently, China and Italy electromagnetic monitoring satellite two satellite has been successfully [put] into the orbit, further increasing our global space monitoring capability.
And last year we have opened the Chang’e 5 lunar samples for batch [internationally]. In total we have received about twenty-four scientific institutions application for more than eleven countries, and come to a conclusion finally that [China National Space Administration] has approved seven scientific institutions from six different countries. And currently the institutions from UK, France, Germany, Pakistan, Japan has already completed the signing of the agreement, also has already collected the samples. The U.S. state university of New York at Stony Brook has already signed the agreement as well.
Mowry: In the news recently, China has agreed to some new climate goals, and I know the theme here is about resilient Earth and taking care of planet Earth. Can you talk a bit about [China National Space Administration’s] work on remote sensing, and these technologies that have contributed to combating global climate change?
Bian: China pays close attention to tackle climate change with space technologies and are willing to provide our best efforts to build a resilient Earth with our international partners. I’d like to share some perspectives. Firstly from the aspect of strategy, China has already include addressing climate change as the national strategy. Lowering carbon emissions has becoming the binding indicator of the social-economic development. [China National Space Administration] also using a set of means, such as publication of the white paper, and supporting relevant scientific research, and also technical innovations to play a very important role in using the space technology to tackle climate change and also to protect our valuable Earth as our home.
From the aspect of technology, China has built a very strong space-based Earth observation system, and currently will have launched more than about five hundred different satellites. These are all about remote sensing satellite. And we have four the monitoring ability to the global atmosphere, ocean, land to the feature of all-weather and full-time. Currently, we have also deployed the first in the world, which is the forest carbon sink monitoring satellite Goumang, and also carbon dioxide monitoring satellite [TanSat], and other new technology satellites. These have provided very important data support.
On the aspect about international collaboration and the benefit the world’s countries, China always upholds the principles of open and inclusiveness, and win-win cooperation. And deeply involved in the global climate governance, and also organize and hold international conference on using space technology to tackle climate change. We actively participate in the BRICS countries’ remote sensing satellite constellation, and also the mechanism of space weather monitoring platform. We also work very closely with [World Meteorological Organization] to together build a high-level international collaboration platforms. China also actively shares the satellite data resources to reach and engage and further improve the remote sensing uses and scenarios to make an example to our international partners to together promote the space technology, the deep integration with the global climate initiative and benefitting more countries.
Mowry: So, China has Tiangong Space Station in orbit, we have the [International Space Station], we talked a little bit about commercial [low Earth orbit] destinations coming online. So all this increase in human activity in space, but yet we have also on top of this more satellite constellations, mega-constellations, China has One Thousand Sails [(Qianfan)] as one of its projects. How do we think about the debris challenge and what it is pose for long-term sustainability in space?
Bian: Outer space is our common asset of all humankind, and it is very important that we focus on the long-term sustainability of the outer space activity and also the peace of the world. With the rapid development of the global space activities, we are now seeing a very serious challenge on the sustainable space development, especially with the mega-constellations. We can see there is more risks happening on the on-orbit collision and frequency of on-orbit resources. China has always held our position on the reasonable development and use of space resources, protect the space environment. Facing with great challenges about outer space sustainable development, China has the following positions:
First is to maintain the [United Nations] as the core as the international system and to implement the twenty-one guidelines for long-term sustainable of outer space activity with frame work of [United Nations]. We will promote the policy making of outer space, global governance.
Second is to enhance our to use new technology to tackle with the space new challenges, which include to together establish the system research on space awareness, to establish space collision avoidance emergency response, to improve the space traffic management ability. Now China is promoting the space debris mitigation top-level planning to promote the monitoring alerting, and also, most importantly is we are currently research on the active removal of space debris on orbit.
Mowry: Can I just ask, on some of these satellites, are there requirements by the Chinese government to have fuel to deorbit the spacecraft at the end [of operational life]?
Bian: Yes. It is.
Once again, if you are looking to reference any part of the conversation, please cite the Federation’s stream replay.