China National Space Administration

"CNSA" redirects here. For other uses, see CNSA (disambiguation).

This article is about the current Chinese space agency. For the Chinese space program in general, see Chinese space program.

China National Space Administration
国家航天局

CNSA logo
Owner	China
Established	22 April 1993
Headquarters	Beijing, China
Primary spaceport	Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center
Administrator	Chen Qiufa
Budget	US$500 million (official); US$1.3 billion (Euroconsult)[1]
Website	www.cnsa.gov.cn

China National Space Administration
Traditional Chinese	國家航天局
Simplified Chinese	国家航天局
Cantonese Jyutping	Gwok3 Gaa1 Hong4 Tin1 Guk6
Cantonese Yale	Gwo Jya Hang Tyan Jyu
Hanyu Pinyin	Guó Jiā Háng Tiān Jú
Transcriptions Mandarin - Hanyu Pinyin Guó Jiā Háng Tiān Jú - Wade–Giles Kuo Chia Hang T'ien Chü - IPA [kwɔ̌ tɕjá xɑ̌ŋ tʰjɛ́ntɕy̌] Cantonese (Yue) - Jyutping Gwok3 Gaa1 Hong4 Tin1 Guk6 - IPA [kʷɔ̄ːk.gáː.hɔ̭ːŋ.tīn.kùːk] - Yale Romanization Gwo Jya Hang Tyan Jyu

The China National Space Administration (CNSA, Chinese: 国家航天局; pinyin: Guó Jiā Háng Tiān Jú, literally "National Astronautics Department") is the national space agency of the People's Republic of China responsible for the national space program.^[2] It is responsible for planning and development of space activities. CNSA and China Aerospace Corporation (CASC) assumed the authority over space development efforts previously held by the Ministry of Aerospace Industry.

History

Although China's space program has existed since 1956, CNSA is a relatively new agency created in 1993 when the Ministry of Aerospace Industry was split into CNSA and the China Aerospace Corporation (CASC). The former was to be responsible for policy, while the latter was to be responsible for execution. This arrangement proved somewhat unsatisfactory, as these two agencies were, in effect, one large agency, sharing both personnel and management.^[2]

As part of a massive restructuring, in 1998, CASC was split into a number of smaller state-owned companies. The intention appeared to have been to create a system similar to that characteristic of Western defense procurement in which entities which are government agencies, setting operational policy, would then contract out their operational requirements to entities which were government-owned, but not government-managed.^[2]

Function

CNSA was established as a government institution to develop and fulfill China's due international obligations, with the approval by the Eighth National People's Congress of China (NPC). The Ninth NPC assigned CNSA as an internal structure of the Commission of Science, Technology and Industry for National Defense (COSTIND). CNSA assumes the following main responsibilities: signing governmental agreements in the space area on behalf of organizations, inter-governmental scientific and technical exchanges; and also being in charge of the enforcement of national space policies and managing the national space science, technology and industry.

Up to now, China has signed governmental space cooperation agreements with Brazil, Chile, France, Germany, India, Italy, Pakistan, Russia, Ukraine, the United Kingdom, the United States and some other countries. Significant achievements have been scored in the bilateral and multilateral and technology exchanges and cooperation.^[2]

Administrators of CNSA are appointed by the State Council.

Future missions

FY 2011

• Tiangong 1 : 9.4 ton "space laboratory module" launched in 2011.
• Yinghuo 1 : un-manned Mars probe scheduled for launch in 2011. The Russian sample return mission Phobos-Grunt will be sent together with Yinghuo 1.

FY 2013

• Chang'e 3 : lunar-lander and rover scheduled for launch in 2013.

Space travelers

Main article: List of Chinese astronauts

As of 2011, six Chinese nationals have traveled in space (alphabetical order) :

• 

  Fei Junlong

• 

  Jing Haipeng

• 

  Liu Boming

• 

  Nie Haisheng

• 

  Yang Liwei

• 

  Zhai Zhigang

Administration

The current administrator is Chen Qiufa, appointed in 2010. Jin Zhuanglong and Luo Ge were appointed as vice-administrators in 2005.

List of Administrators

• April 1993: Liu Jiyuan
• April 1998: Luan Enjie
• 2004: Sun Laiyan
• 2010: Chen Qiufa

Departments

There are four departments under the CNSA:

• Department of General Planning
• Department of System Engineering
• Department of Science, Technology and Quality Control
• Department of Foreign Affairs

CNSA logo

CNSA's logo is a similar design to that of China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation.^[3] The arrow in middle has a similar shape as the Chinese character 人 which means 'human' or 'people', to state that human is the center of all space explorations. The three concentric ellipses stand for three Escape Velocity (minimum speed needed to move around earth, to escape earth system and to escape the solar system) which are milestones of space explorations. The second ring is drawn with a bold line, to state that China has passed the first stage of exploration (earth system) and is undergoing second stage exploration (within the solar system). The 人 character stands above the three rings to emphasize on humanity's capability to escape and explore. Olive branches were added to state that China's space exploration is peaceful.

See also

	People's Republic of China portal
	Spaceflight portal

• Chinese space program
• Chinese Lunar Exploration Program
• List of space agencies

References

1. ^ http://www.atimes.com/atimes/China/KA09Ad01.html
2. ^ ^{a b c d} http://www.cnsa.gov.cn/n615709/n620681/n771918/index.html
3. ^ http://www.spacechina.com/qywh_qysbxt_sjsbxt.shtml

External links

• Official website