BEIJING, Dec. 26 (Xinhua) -- In a recent demonstration of speed and coordination, China's manned space program safely returned the Shenzhou-20 crew. It launched the new spaceship Shenzhou-22 within just 20 days, after the original return vehicle suffered minor impact damage from space debris.
The China Manned Space Agency attributed the successful implementation of the first such contingency plan in its history to the strengths of the country's distinctive new system for mobilizing resources nationwide.
From manned spaceflight and the BeiDou Navigation Satellite System to the Chang'e lunar exploration program, China's space endeavors rely on comprehensive planning, long-term advancement, and collaboration among thousands of entities, all underpinned by such a system.
While adhering to national strategic planning, the new system deeply integrates market mechanisms and technological innovation. Through systematic coordination, it stimulates the vitality of multiple innovators across the country. This has not only driven sci-tech innovation and breakthroughs but also provided sustained momentum for the country's overall development.
NATIONWIDE COORDINATION
According to the developer of the Shenzhou spaceship, the China Academy of Space Technology, the window anomaly caused by the impact triggered a rapid mobilization of experts across the country.
The study of window cracks alone involves experts from institutions such as Beihang University, Beijing University of Technology, the University of Science and Technology Beijing, and the Shanghai Institute of Ceramics under the Chinese Academy of Sciences.
Within 20 days, research and testing teams completed tasks including risk analysis and assessment, solution evaluation and decision-making, personnel and material mobilization, crew return, and emergency spacecraft launch.
China's manned space program, implemented since 1992, now comprises 14 major systems and hundreds of subsystems, involving thousands of participating units and hundreds of thousands of personnel.
"Engines, solar cells, electronics, and propellant -- parts from factories across the country can be sent to the assembly workshop in Beijing within a day once a command is issued," said a veteran expert describing how the system pools resources nationwide.
COLLABORATION AMONG INNOVATORS
A key advantage of the system is its ability to coordinate diverse innovators. State-owned research institutions and enterprises are responsible for top-level design and system integration, while private enterprises and academic teams contribute specialized expertise and skills.
As the most sophisticated aerospace engineering project in China to date, the Chang'e lunar exploration program illustrates this collaborative model. The program comprises five major systems: probes, launch vehicles, launch sites, TTC (tracking, telemetry and command), and ground applications, which involve about 3,000 organizations and nearly 100,000 people.
Take the Chang'e-6 mission, which made history by bringing 1,935.3 grams of lunar far-side samples back to Earth, as an example. The mission combined research institutions and academic teams to develop a lunar soil structure detector and a mechanical sampling arm, with coordinated support across multiple provincial regions and technical disciplines.
The optical components for the mechanical arm's camera and the bearing parts of the rocket launch system's servo mechanism are developed by private enterprises in Jiangsu and Fujian, respectively.
Such integration ensures complex lunar missions proceed on schedule and achieve scientific objectives.
"Without the support of the new system for mobilizing resources nationwide, the three-step plan for China's lunar exploration program could not have been completed on schedule," said Hu Hao, chief designer of the Chang'e-5 and Chang'e-6 missions.
MARKET BENEFITS
The new system has also leveraged the market's decisive role in allocating resources, ensuring that the massive investment in R&D not only achieves research and development goals but also generates market benefits, thereby forming a cycle between R&D and application.
The BeiDou Navigation Satellite System, the country's largest, most extensive, and most people-connected aerospace project, has mobilized over 400 organizations and more than 300,000 technical personnel nationwide to participate in its development and construction.
At the same time, it is a model that balances achieving scientific objectives with a focus on benefits. It has given rise to the new industry of satellite navigation and location services. To date, there are about 14,000 related domestic entities, employing over 500,000 people, and their services cover more than 200 countries and regions globally.
In 2024, the total output value of China's BeiDou industry reached 575.8 billion yuan (about 82 billion U.S. dollars), up 7.39 percent year on year. BeiDou applications are increasingly integrated into people's daily lives, accounting for over 70 percent of various terminal types.
China's new nationwide resource mobilization system will continue to drive innovation in the country. As noted in a recommendations document for the formulation of the 15th Five-Year Plan (2026-2030), China will further improve the system and promote decisive breakthroughs in core technologies across entire chains in key fields such as integrated circuits, industrial machine tools, high-end equipment, basic software, advanced materials and biomanufacturing. ■
