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Hong Kong moonshot projects? Ambitious bids desirable but leadership needed to drive interest, investment, scientists say

  • Experts chime in after Alibaba Cloud founder Wang Jian suggests city should tap into China space telescope to set up central research opportunity
  • Government funding and private donations needed, they say, as well as the ability to sell such bids to top global talent

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The Shenzhou-16 spacecraft attached to a Long March-2F rocket launches in Jiuquan, mainland China. Technology experts have said Hong Kong’s best chance at a moonshot project would be to be part of the country’s space research. Photo: Kevin Frayer/Getty Images/TNS
Kahon ChanandSammy Heung

Ambitious scientific bids by Hong Kong could lure talent to the city but it would take leadership to drive interest and investment for such projects to take off, according to experts.

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Scientists and researchers chimed in after Alibaba Cloud founder Wang Jian on Tuesday floated a “moonshot” idea for the city to set up a cloud-based research hub for astronomers from around the world to make discoveries based on imagery captured by the yet-to-be-launched Chinese Survey Space Telescope.
Wang, who made the suggestion at the Post’s China Conference: Hong Kong 2023, said such a project would be a magnet for top talent and spawn innovations with great potential even if the initial idea itself held limited economic benefits.
Wang Jian, founder of Alibaba Cloud, shares his vision at the China Conference: Hong Kong 2023, organised by the Post. Photo: May Tse
Wang Jian, founder of Alibaba Cloud, shares his vision at the China Conference: Hong Kong 2023, organised by the Post. Photo: May Tse

The telescope, also known as Xuntian, is set to be put into use next year and will boast a 2.5 billion-pixel camera that has a field of view 300 times greater than the Hubble Space Telescope, allowing scientists to map up to 40 per cent of the skies.

The China Manned Space Agency has set up four research centres across the nation in anticipation of the Xuntian launch. Four tertiary institutions from the city, including the University of Hong Kong (HKU) and Polytechnic University (PolyU), are involved in the Zhuhai-based centre established in 2019.

An illustration of Chinese Survey Space Telescope Xuntian. Image: CNSA
An illustration of Chinese Survey Space Telescope Xuntian. Image: CNSA

Quentin Parker, an HKU astrophysicist and director of its Laboratory for Space Research, said it would not be too late for Hong Kong to start its own hub.

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