Latest news with #SASTIND
South China Morning Post
28-05-2025
- General
- South China Morning Post
Chinese defence oversight official latest figure snared in military corruption crackdown
A senior former official at the agency responsible for the oversight of China's defence industry is under investigation for corruption. The Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, China's top anti-graft watchdog, said on Wednesday that Zhang Jianhua was suspected of 'serious violations of discipline and law' – a standard euphemism for corruption – and had 'turned himself in'. Zhang, formerly deputy head of the State Administration of Science, Technology and Industry for National Defence (SASTIND), is the latest target of the anti-corruption campaign that has swept through China's military and the defence industry in recent years and has brought down dozens of generals and executives. Zhang worked for many years at SASTIND, the government agency responsible for managing the industry and overseeing research and production in areas such as nuclear technology, aerospace, aviation and shipbuilding. Zhang, 64, has been working in the sector since 1990 in a number of roles, including a spell as director of the agency's centre for military-civil project review between 2005 and 2009, where he was responsible for reviewing defence projects and linking research to production. In 2013 he became deputy director of the administration and in 2018 he also became deputy director of the China Atomic Energy Authority.
Yahoo
18-02-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Wanted: 3 asteroid watchers for China's 'planetary defense force'
HONG KONG — China is recruiting for a planetary defense force to combat the threat of asteroids colliding with Earth. The successful candidates will be required to research tasks related to near-Earth asteroid monitoring and early warning systems, according to the job description for the three positions, among 16 posted last week by the State Administration of Science, Technology and Industry for National Defense (SASTIND), which oversees the country's space activities. Applicants must be younger than 35 and 'maintain a firm political stance' in line with the ruling Chinese Communist Party and its leader, Xi Jinping, it said. They are also required to have a background in astrophysics, Earth and space exploration technology, astronomy, optical engineering, or aerospace science and technology, with a master's degree or higher. SASTIND did not immediately respond to a faxed request for comment Tuesday. The job postings come after the Dec. 27 discovery of 2024 YR4, an asteroid measuring up to 300 feet that crosses Earth's orbit about every four years. Last week, NASA said there was a 2.3% chance that the asteroid would collide with Earth in 2032, up from 1.2% in late January. 'It's a small chance, but it's still not insignificant, that it could collide with the Earth, and if it does, then it could create a huge amount of damage,' said Quentin Parker, director of the Laboratory for Space Research at the University of Hong Kong. But 2032 is far enough away, he said, that the Chinese program and similar ones in the United States and other countries can work together to prevent that from happening. While the word 'force' can suggest military connotations such as the U.S. Space Force, Parker said what China is establishing is more of a team for detecting planetary threats and doing something about them, 'including looking at international cooperation, which is something that, in my experience, at least the Chinese really like to try to do.' The ads have been a major topic of online discussion among young people in China, who are grappling with high unemployment. 'The asteroid threat has created three new job opportunities,' one commenter joked on the Chinese social media platform Weibo. Social media users also said the three recruits would be under a lot of pressure, trying to save their world on their own. But Parker said they might have more company soon. 'The thing about China is that it can devote resources, significant resources, to a thing of this nature,' Parker said. 'You start off with a team of 16, and five years from now it might be a team of 100.' The planetary defense force is part of a robust Chinese space program that includes a space station, missions to the far side of the moon and a rover on Mars. China has been a member of the International Asteroid Warning Network, a centralized hub of information coordinated by NASA, since 2018. In 2022, Wu Yanhua, deputy director of the China National Space Administration, said China would begin building a near-Earth asteroid defense system. 'We aim to detect these asteroids, develop defense strategies and, if necessary, find ways to change their orbits so they no longer pose a threat to humanity or the Earth,' Wu Weiren, the chief designer of China's lunar exploration program, told Hongxing News in October. In 2027, China is planning an asteroid-deflection test akin to the double asteroid redirection test successfully carried out by NASA in 2020. The Chinese test will be conducted on an asteroid called 2015 XF261, which is smaller than the 525-foot Dimorphos asteroid whose trajectory NASA disrupted by crashing a spacecraft into it. In recent years, China has made 'significant progress' in asteroid defense, with engineering projects and telescope construction in the works, Li Mingtao, an expert at the National Space Science Center of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, told the state-run China Science Daily newspaper in an interview published Feb. 10. 'In the future, we will not only strengthen the equipment configuration and performance, improve the operational models and algorithms,' Li said, 'but also cultivate specialized talent in asteroid defense, contributing China's wisdom and power to safeguard Earth's safety.' Jennifer Jett reported from Hong Kong, and Dawn Liu and Rae Wang reported from Beijing. This article was originally published on
Yahoo
18-02-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Wanted: 3 asteroid watchers for China's 'planetary defense force'
HONG KONG — China is recruiting for a planetary defense force to combat the threat of asteroids colliding with Earth. The successful candidates will be required to research tasks related to near-Earth asteroid monitoring and early warning systems, according to the job description for the three positions, among 16 posted last week by the State Administration of Science, Technology and Industry for National Defense (SASTIND), which oversees the country's space activities. Applicants must be younger than 35 and 'maintain a firm political stance' in line with the ruling Chinese Communist Party and its leader, Xi Jinping, it said. They are also required to have a background in astrophysics, Earth and space exploration technology, astronomy, optical engineering, or aerospace science and technology, with a master's degree or higher. SASTIND did not immediately respond to a faxed request for comment Tuesday. The job postings come after the Dec. 27 discovery of 2024 YR4, an asteroid measuring up to 300 feet that crosses Earth's orbit about every four years. Last week, NASA said there was a 2.3% chance that the asteroid would collide with Earth in 2032, up from 1.2% in late January. 'It's a small chance, but it's still not insignificant, that it could collide with the Earth, and if it does, then it could create a huge amount of damage,' said Quentin Parker, director of the Laboratory for Space Research at the University of Hong Kong. But 2032 is far enough away, he said, that the Chinese program and similar ones in the United States and other countries can work together to prevent that from happening. While the word 'force' can suggest military connotations such as the U.S. Space Force, Parker said what China is establishing is more of a team for detecting planetary threats and doing something about them, 'including looking at international cooperation, which is something that, in my experience, at least the Chinese really like to try to do.' The ads have been a major topic of online discussion among young people in China, who are grappling with high unemployment. 'The asteroid threat has created three new job opportunities,' one commenter joked on the Chinese social media platform Weibo. Social media users also said the three recruits would be under a lot of pressure, trying to save their world on their own. But Parker said they might have more company soon. 'The thing about China is that it can devote resources, significant resources, to a thing of this nature,' Parker said. 'You start off with a team of 16, and five years from now it might be a team of 100.' The planetary defense force is part of a robust Chinese space program that includes a space station, missions to the far side of the moon and a rover on Mars. China has been a member of the International Asteroid Warning Network, a centralized hub of information coordinated by NASA, since 2018. In 2022, Wu Yanhua, deputy director of the China National Space Administration, said China would begin building a near-Earth asteroid defense system. 'We aim to detect these asteroids, develop defense strategies and, if necessary, find ways to change their orbits so they no longer pose a threat to humanity or the Earth,' Wu Weiren, the chief designer of China's lunar exploration program, told Hongxing News in October. In 2027, China is planning an asteroid-deflection test akin to the double asteroid redirection test successfully carried out by NASA in 2020. The Chinese test will be conducted on an asteroid called 2015 XF261, which is smaller than the 525-foot Dimorphos asteroid whose trajectory NASA disrupted by crashing a spacecraft into it. In recent years, China has made 'significant progress' in asteroid defense, with engineering projects and telescope construction in the works, Li Mingtao, an expert at the National Space Science Center of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, told the state-run China Science Daily newspaper in an interview published Feb. 10. 'In the future, we will not only strengthen the equipment configuration and performance, improve the operational models and algorithms,' Li said, 'but also cultivate specialized talent in asteroid defense, contributing China's wisdom and power to safeguard Earth's safety.' Jennifer Jett reported from Hong Kong, and Dawn Liu and Rae Wang reported from Beijing. This article was originally published on
The Guardian
14-02-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
China opens recruitment for ‘planetary defence force' amid fears of asteroid hitting Earth
China has begun recruiting for a planetary defence force after risk assessments determined that an asteroid could conceivably hit Earth in 2032. Job ads posted online by China's State Administration of Science, Technology and Industry for National Defence (SASTIND) this week, sought young loyal graduates focused on aerospace engineering, international cooperation and asteroid detection. The recruitment drive comes amid increasing focus on an asteroid with a low – but growing – likelihood of hitting earth in seven years. The 2024 YR4 asteroid is at the top of the European and US space agencies' risk lists, and last week analysts increased their probability assessment of it hitting Earth from 1.3% to 2.2%. The UN's Space Mission Planning Advisory Group, comprising countries with space programs including China, have been meeting regularly to discuss a response. The ads, posted to WeChat earlier this week, listed 16 job vacancies at SASTIND, including three for a new 'planetary defence force'. They invited applications from recent graduates aged under 35, with professional and technical qualifications and 'a firm political stance' supporting the Chinese Communist party and an ideology aligned with its leader, Xi Jinping. The ads prompted widespread online discussion among young people – a demographic that saw unemployment rates reach a record high in 2023. 'The Earth would depend on you three. Isn't that stressful?' asked one person. 'If you succeed, you're a hero who saves the world,' said another popular comment on Weibo. 'But no one would punish you for failing, I mean, there be literally 'no one' left.' Job descriptions attached to the ads suggest the force will have a key focus on international cooperation, and on designing systems for new and experimental technology. The planetary defence force jobs are described as 'research on monitoring and early warning of near-Earth asteroids', and required graduates with a masters degree or higher, with majors in astrophysics, earth and space exploration technology, and aerospace science and technology. China's aerospace sector is advancing, and it's not clear the recruitment has been specifically prompted by the discovery of the asteroid. SASTIND did not respond to requests for comment. Andrew Jones, a correspondent at SpaceNews specialising in China's sector, said the timing of recruitment appeared to be coincidental with the discovery of 2024 YR4, and the jobs were likely 'supplemental to China's already established efforts to develop its planetary defence capabilities'. 'This includes monitoring and warning systems, both on the ground and potentially in space, and preparing to test measures such as kinetic impactors to alter the orbits of threatening asteroids.' Deflecting an asteroid like 2024 YR4 appears to be a key focus of China's aerospace development, including plans to replicate the 2020 Double Asteroid Redirection Test (Dart), conducted by Nasa. The Dart involved crashing a spacecraft into a 160-metre-long asteroid named Dimorphos, successfully diverting its trajectory for the first time. The European Space Agency later launched another spacecraft to observe and report on the impact the Dart had on Dimorphos. China is also preparing its own asteroid-redirection test, on a smaller asteroid named 2015 XF261, in 2027. But Harrison Agrusa, a planetary scientist at the Observatoire del la Côte d'Azur said there are concerns about the smaller size of the asteroid China is targeting. 'Given what we learned from Dart, a similar impactor mission onto a much smaller target would likely fully disrupt it,' he said. 'This may not be the most useful mitigation strategy, as you can potentially create an even bigger problem by turning a single projectile (with a known trajectory) into many fragments (with unknown trajectories).' Harrison said there was no need to be overly alarmed about 2024 YR4, noting that multiple countries and aerospace organisations were working together on it. 'We know we have the capability to deflect an asteroid like this, as demonstrated by the Dart mission. So this asteroid doesn't need to be feared, it just needs to be studied and understood.' Additional research by Jason Tzu Kuan Lu
