Editorial | Sky’s the limit as Hong Kong enters the space age
Locally designed satellites launched into orbit is proof that city has a crucial role to play in China’s hi-tech future
Things are looking up for Hong Kong taking up an important role in planning for natural disasters and developing smart cities after a locally designed satellite was placed into orbit.
The city should encourage more of what the Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) has achieved with some smart civic investment.
Funded by Hong Kong’s Innovation and Technology Commission and supported by mainland China authorities, the satellite was launched late last month from a platform off the coast of Shandong province.
The Hong Kong Youth Scientific Innovation satellite will gather information from across southern China to help forecast disasters like landslides and floods.
The university’s Institute of Space and Earth Information Science says it will allow more efficient access to critical information previously sourced from the China National Space Administration.
Researchers and the government will now have access to data said to be more than 85 per cent accurate for predicting natural disasters.
