China National Space Administration

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China National Space Administration
国家航天局

CNSA logo
Owner	People's Republic of China
Established	22 April 1993
Headquarters	Beijing
Primary spaceport	Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center
Administrator	Sun Laiyan
Budget	US$500 million (official); US$1.3 billion (Euroconsult)[1]
Website	www.cnsa.gov.cn

The China National Space Administration (CNSA) is the national space agency of the People's Republic of China responsible for the national space program.^[2] It is responsible for planning and development of space activities. CNSA and China Aerospace Corporation (CASC) assumed the authority over space development efforts previously held by the Ministry of Aerospace Industry.

History

Although China's space program has existed since 1956, CNSA is a relatively new agency created in 1993 when the Ministry of Aerospace Industry was split into CNSA and the China Aerospace Corporation (CASC). The former was to be responsible for policy, while the latter was to be responsible for execution. This arrangement proved somewhat unsatisfactory, as these two agencies were, in effect, one large agency, sharing both personnel and management.^[2]

As part of a massive restructuring, in 1998, CASC was split into a number of smaller state-owned companies. The intention appeared to have been to create a system similar to that characteristic of Western defense procurement in which entities which are government agencies, setting operational policy, would then contract out their operational requirements to entities which were government-owned, but not government-managed.^[2]

Function

China National Space Administration (CNSA) was established, as a government institution to develop and fulfill China's due international obligations, with the approval by the Eighth National People's Congress of China (NPC). The Ninth NPC assigned CNSA as an internal structure of the Commission of Science, Technology and Industry for National Defense (COSTIND). China National Space Administration assumes the following main responsibilities: signing governmental agreements in the space area on behalf of organizations, inter-governmental scientific and technical exchanges; and also being in charge of the enforcement of national space policies and managing the national space science, technology and industry.

Up to now, China has signed governmental space cooperation agreements with Brazil, Chile, France, Germany, India, Italy, Pakistan, Russia, Ukraine, the United Kingdom, the United States and some other countries. Significant achievements have been scored in the bilateral and multilateral and technology exchanges and cooperation.^[3]

Administrators of CNSA are appointed by the State Council.

Administration

The current administrator is Sun Laiyan, appointed in 2004. Jin Zhuanglong and Luo Ge were appointed as vice-administrators in 2005.

List of Administrators

• April 1993: Liu Jiyuan
• April 1998: Luan Enjie
• 2004: Sun Laiyan

Departments

There are four departments under the CNSA:

• Department of General Planning
• Department of System Engineering
• Department of Science, Technology and Quality Control
• Department of Foreign Affairs

CNSA logo

CNSA's logo is a similar design to that of China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation.^[4] The arrow in middle has a similar shape as the Chinese character 人 which means 'human' or 'people', to state that human is the center of all space explorations. The three concentric ellipses stand for three Escape Velocity (minimum speed needed to move around earth, to escape earth system and to escape the solar system) which are milestones of space explorations. The second ring is drew with a bold line, to state that China has passed the first stage exploration (earth system) and is undergoing second stage exploration (within the solar system). The 人 character stands above the three rings to emphasize on human's capability to escape and explore. Olive branches were added to state that China's space exploration is peaceful.

See also

• Asian space race

References

v • d • e Public sector space agencies Africa North Africa  ASAL ·  NARRS, RSC ·  CRTS ·  CNT Sub-Saharan  NASRDA ·  SANSA Americas North America  CSA · NASA, DoD (NRO, AFSPC, SMDC, TCO, USSTRATCOM) South America  CONAE, ICTE ·  ACE ·  AEB, INPE, CTA, ITA ·  CCE ·  EXA  ·  CONIDA ·  CIDA-E ·  ABAE, IVIC Asia East Asia  CASC, CCF, CAC, CGWI, CNSA, CALT, COSTIND ·  JAXA (ISAS, NAL, NASDA), USEF, NICT ·  NRSC ·  KCST ·  KARI ·  NSPO ·  STI, VNSC Southeast Asia  LAPAN ·  MNSA ·  PAGASA ·  GISTDA South Asia  SPARRSO ·  ISRO, INCOSPAR, IUCAA, IIA, DoS, Antrix Corp ·  SUPARCO, NESCOM, DESTO, ISPA Southwest Asia  AMAKA1 ·  ISA ·  ISA, NCSR ·  SRI · Central Asia  SRI1 Europe  ASA, ASSA ·  BISA ·  BSA ·  CSO ·  DTU Space · esa ESA, ECSS, ELDO, ESRO, ESTEC ·  EUSC ·  EUMETSAT ·  CNES ·  DLR ·  ISARS ·  HSO ·  ASI ·  SRON ·  NSC ·  SI  ·  CBK ·  CEP ·  ROSA ·  RKA1, VKS1 ·  SSP ·  SNSB ·  INTA ·  SSO ·  TÜBİTAK ·  BNSC ·  NSAU1 Oceania  CSIRO World  APSCO ·  CCSDS ·  COSPAR ·  IAA ·  Intercosmos ·  INTELSAT ·  Intersputnik ·  UNOOSA ·  UNCOPUOS See also Timeline of first orbital launches by country. · 1 Preceded by the Soviet space program.