aerospace Photo: CFP

 
In a letter replying to a youth team working on space station construction at the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation, Chinese President Xi Jinping encouraged young people working in the space sector to be innovative so as to make breakthroughs and contribute more to China's realization of greater self-reliance in aerospace science and technology.

The replying letter was sent to the team on Monday ahead of May 4, which is known as Youth Day in China to commemorate the May Fourth Movement, which was held in 1919. 

Xi wrote that reading the letter from the team reminded him of the exchanges he had with young researchers during a visit to the corporation on Youth Day nine years ago. From the Tiangong Space Station, the BeiDou Navigation Satellite System, Chang'e lunar probe to the Tianhe space station core module, Tianwen Mars probe and the sun-observation satellite Xihe, for the past nine years, China's aerospace team has continued to create new history. A bunch of young people have stood out to take the lead and showcase the spirit of Chinese young people. 

President Xi stressed that to build China into an aerospace power, it needs the efforts of people across several generations. He said he hopes that young people in the aerospace industry can carry on the spirit of the "two bombs and one satellite" and the spirit of manned spaceflight to make breakthroughs and new contributions to China's aerospace development. 

Xi also sent greetings to young people for the upcoming Youth Day.

As this year marks the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Youth League of China, the youth team working on space station construction at the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation wrote a letter to President Xi, representing 80,000 young people in the corporation, to report their work on aerospace development over the past nine years and expressed firm resolution to build China into an aerospace power. 

In a list of young people who have been awarded the "May 4 Medal" for their outstanding contributions to the country released on Tuesday,17 are individuals or groups from the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation.

Young people have taken a leading role in China's aerospace development. The Beijing Aerospace Flight Control Center is the command and dispatch, flight control, data processing and information exchange center for China's manned space missions. More than 85 percent of the 274 key positions at the center are held by young people under the age of 30, according to media reports. 

Among them, more than 100 young scientific and technological staff have grown into technology leaders in various fields, and the average age of those in charge of key technological projects is younger than 30 years old.

"In recent years, with the rapid development of China's space industry and the important tasks before us, it is in urgent need for the young people to grow up quickly in their positions," Cui Xiaofeng, head of the center's Mars mission control team, told China Economics Weekly.

President Xi has invigorated China's space exploration dreams on multiple occasions over the past few years. 

"It is a vital milestone in the development of China's space endeavor," Xi said when he met with representatives of space scientists and engineers who participated in the research and development of the Chang'e-5 lunar mission in February 2021. Xi summed up the lunar exploration spirit as pursuing dreams, daring to explore, cooperating in tackling difficulties and win-win cooperation, the Xinhua News Agency reported

In the congratulatory message on the successful landing of China's first probe on Mars in May 2021, Xi said the landing, which left a Chinese mark on Mars for the first time, is another milestone for China's space industry development, according to Xinhua.

One month later, during his talk with the three astronauts stationed in the space station core module Tianhe, Xi called the construction of the space station a milestone in China's space endeavors, noting that the three astronauts are the representatives of those who are striving and climbing up in China's space industry in the new era, Xinhua reported.

Global Times