SPACE SCIENCE ACTIVITIES IN CHINA

Chief Editor:GUO HuadongDeputy Chief Editor:WANG Chi, LI LeiEditorial Staffs:SUN Weiying, SONG Yana Preface he space science program, the deep space exploration program,and the manned spaceflight program in China experienced rapidprogress during the 2022–2024 period.T The two phases of Strategic Priority Program on Space Science in-itiated by the Chinese Academy of Sciences in 2011 have producedsubstantial scientific output, with the Phase I including the Dark Mat-ter Particle Explorer (DAMPE), ShiJian-10 (SJ-10), Quantum Expe-riments at Space Scale (QUESS) and Hard X-ray Modulation Tele-scope (HXMT), and Phase II including Taiji-1 (the first technologydemonstration mission of Taiji Program), the Gravitational wavehigh-energy Electromagnetic Counterpart All-sky Monitor (GECAM),the Advanced space-based Solar Observatory (ASO-S), the EinsteinProbe (EP), and the Solar wind Magnetosphere Ionosphere Link Explorer (SMILE). The Advanced space-based Solar Observatory (ASO-S), China’s first comprehensive solar missionin space, and the Einstein Probe (EP), a mission dedicated to time-domain astronomy to monitor thesky in the soft X-ray band, were launched on Oct. 9, 2022 and Jan. 9, 2024 respectively. The Solarwind Magnetosphere Ionosphere Link Explorer (SMILE), an ESA-China joint mission, is scheduled tobe launched by the end of 2025. SDGSAT-1, the world’s first science satellite dedicated to assisting the United Nations 2030 Sus-tainable Development Agenda, has been operational for over two and a half years, providing valuabledata to facilitate the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals internationally. TheSpace-based multiband Variable Object Monitor (SVOM), a China-France joint mission mainly de-signed to study Gamma-Ray Bursts, was launched into an orbit of about 635 km on June 22, 2024. In the future, new scientific missions will be planned to answer questions in five scientific themesnamely, the Extreme Universe, Space-Time Ripples, the Panoramic View of the Sun and Earth, theHabitable Planets, and Biological & Physical Science in Space. For lunar and deep space exploration, the Chang’E-6 lunar exploration mission reentered the at-mosphere and successfully landed on Earth on June 25, 2024, completing its historic mission to collectthe first ever samples from the far side of the moon. In the field of manned spaceflight, the Chinese Space Station (CSS) has been fully deployed by theend of 2022, and the facility has entered into the application and development phase. It has conductedscientific research projects in various fields, such as space life science and biotechnology, space mate- rials science, microgravity fundamental physics, fluid physics, combustion science, space new tech-nologies, and applications. For the ground observation, the second phase of the Chinese Meridian Project (CMP) has passed thetechnique acceptance, and is expected to operate as a whole in 2025 after national acceptance of thesecond phase. From 2022 to 2023, utilizing the monitoring data collected by the CMP, scientists havemade major breakthroughs in fields of ionosphere, middle and upper atmosphere, and coupling be-tween layers. Human beings have been relentlessly leveraging the development of space science to explore thefrontiers of the vast universe and push the boundaries of human knowledge to its limits. Internationalcooperation is an integral part of Chinese space science endeavors. There are international collabora-tion elements in all individual space science missions in China. As illustrated in the EP and SMILEmission, international partners are welcome to take part in Chinese scientific programs. In this report, the PIs of scientific missions and the leading experts in various fields of space sciencein China will present the major programs, the highlights of mission achievements, the status of themissions to be launched, and the future mission planning. I wish you can get a general picture of the recent progress in space research in China and also inviteyou to use the published data of the Chinese space science missions. 1Manned Spaceflight Program Recent Progress in Space Science and Applications on Chinese Space Station in 2022–2024 ......................... 2Lunar and Deep Space Exploration The Latest Scientific Results of China’s Lunar and Deep Space Exploration (2022‒2024)............................... 3Achievement Highlight and Progress Update of Space Science Missions 3.1Recent Progresses of the DAMPE Mission...............................................................................................(26)3.2Insight-HXMT Research Progress Since 2023..........................................................................................(35)3.3Progress of GECAM Observation Research .............................................................................................(57)3.4Progress of Taiji-2 Project...............................................................................