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[Excerpt]
China Starts Cutting Edge Space Science Projects After Declaring First Missions Successful
Chinese Academy of Sciences
November 24, 2017
China has declared its dark matter, x-ray observatory, microgravity and quantum space science missions successful, and is turning attention to a new batch of cutting edge projects.
The Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) last Tuesday declared that the four missions making up its pioneering Strategic Priority Program on Space Science have been successful in terms of science, management and execution.
The missions, launched between December 2015 and June 2017, are the 'Wukong' (or DAMPE) dark matter probe, the Shijian-10 retrievable satellite, the Quantum Science Satellite 'Mozi', and the Hard X-ray Modulation Telescope (HXMT), also known as 'Insight'.
CAS sees the missions as having improved China's global standing in space science and beyond, but looking to the future the next batch of missions were officially opened on Tuesday.
The next phase of missions are already under development and will be launched around 2021, as part of a wider, long-term vision for space science.
These are SMILE, a space-weather observatory mission being developed in collaboration with the European Space Agency, a global water cycle observation mission (WCOM), the Magnetosphere, Ionosphere and Thermosphere coupling exploration mission (MIT), the Einstein Probe (EP), and the Advanced Space-based Solar Observatory (ASO-S).
Operating in the new field of transient astronomy, the Einstein Probe will survey large portions of the universe for exotic space phenomena using very sensitive wide-filed X-ray camera and telescope.
EP will also aim to locate the electromagnetic wave counterparts of gravitational wave events, and survey the skies for phenomena including supernovae, neutron stars and transient activity in galactic centres.
WCOM will further understanding of the global water cycle and its variations, while SMILE will investigate how charged particles coming from the sun interact with the Earth’s magnetosphere. MIT will involve sending four spacecraft to various altitudes to simultaneously investigate the magneto-, iono-, and themospheres at the Earth’s polar regions.
ASO-S will study the connections between the solar magnetic field, solar flares and coronal mass ejections.
Also launching around this time will be the Space Variable Objects Monitor (SVOM), a collaboration between CNES, the French space agency and China National Space Agency (CNSA).
The SVOM spacecraft aims to study Gamma Ray Bursts (GRBs) - the most powerful explosions in the universe - emanating from the era of the first generation of stars. The phenomena are triggered by the deaths of massive stars or merger of two smaller stars.
http://english.cas.ac.cn/newsroom/news/ … 6544.shtml
Last edited by EdwardHeisler (2017-11-29 16:42:12)
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This was a great read! Thanks for sharing!
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This topic goes back to 2017...
it is a reasonably good match with the subject of this post...
https://www.yahoo.com/news/china-succes … 31750.html
The article reports that China has made progress in developing an operating system for satellites that is independent of the West, since sanctions have been imposed by western nations.
The development of an OS by China is not surprising. The new OS is reported to be superior to the Western open source software used previously. The new OS runs on locally developed chips.
My guess is the intelligence agencies of multiple Nations will be hard at work seeking copies of the source code.
Interesting Engineering
China successfully tests home-grown OS in space to reduce foreign software dependence
Bojan Stojkovski
Sat, June 21, 2025 at 1:01 PM EDT3 min readIn a move to minimize dependency on foreign software amid increasing sanctions from the West, particularly the US, China has successfully tested an indigenously-developed operating system in space.
After launching into the orbit, the Dalian-1 Lianli CubeSat spent over 1,000 hours testing satellite subsystems powered by OpenHarmony real-time operating system (RTOS)—a streamlined, light-weight, open-source version of Huawei’s HarmonyOS. The trials assessed the platform’s ability to manage onboard functions with increased efficiency and reliability in space conditions.
Researchers from Dalian and Xian demonstrated that the suitcase-sized satellite, deployed from China’s Tiangong space station last year, achieved faster data updates and greater operational stability with OpenHarmony.
Satellite shows performance boost with OpenHarmony system
As per findings published in the journal Space: Science and Technology, the home-grown system outperformed earlier setups that relied on basic firmware or foreign software, the South China Morning Post reported.
According to Yu Xiaozhou, lead author of the study and a professor at Dalian University of Technology, the Lianli satellite mission demonstrated that using the OpenHarmony real-time operating system significantly enhanced the satellite’s response speed and reliability.
Yu’s team implemented the OpenHarmony RTOS on three critical subsystems of the Lianli satellite: the magnetometer, sun sensor, and attitude unit, which collectively determine its position and orientation. The mission demonstrated that all these subsystems operated reliably and without issues.
Following the OpenHarmony upgrade, the subsystems responded to commands within just two microseconds, demonstrating a remarkable increase in processing speed. This enhancement also enabled continuous data updates at significantly higher rates than previous configurations, improving the satellite’s overall efficiency and real-time responsiveness during its mission.
Marking a milestone in China’s space tech development, the Lianli microsatellite became the first to operate using both the OpenHarmony real-time operating system and a domestically produced chip. This fully home-grown hardware-software combination offers a new alternative for spacecraft operating systems on a global scale, as per Chinese media reports.
Reliance on open-source satellite systems created long-term challenges
Building on the success of the Lianli mission, Yu and his team introduced national technical standards for integrating OpenHarmony into small satellites. The move aims to standardize its application and accelerate wider adoption—momentum that is already evident in both commercial and research satellite projects across China.
Blacklisted by the US in 2019, Huawei lost access to key American tech—prompting China to fast-track self-reliance efforts, including in operating systems. Developed in response, OpenHarmony is now overseen by China's OpenAtom Foundation and has expanded into satellites and embedded systems.
In a 2023 interview with state news agency Xinhua, Yu observed that China long depended on foreign or open-source operating systems like FreeRTOS for its small satellites. While FreeRTOS offered early benefits due to its cost-free availability, this reliance later proved problematic—especially when access to foreign-made chips became restricted, limiting the usability of even open systems.
Yu further explained that the reliance on foreign software and hardware had placed significant constraints on domestic satellite development teams. Overcoming these limitations has since become a central challenge in advancing China’s technological self-sufficiency.
(th)
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tahanson43206,
It says right in this "newsy" article that this supposedly "new" Chinese OS was a derivative of HarmonyOS. HarmonyOS was a fork of the Android 10 software. They haven't created anything new. They took a piece of western-sourced software and built a fork of the software (Harmony OS), and then created a deterministic / reduced functionality fork of Harmony OS. Recompiling a version of Harmony OS to work on another chip architecture, that are also derivatives of western-designed chips, is nothing new, either.
The new OS is reported to be superior to the Western open source software used previously.
Their derivative OS is superior to what competitive product, under what circumstances, and in what ways?
FreeRTOS is considered to be a minimally functional RTOS, despite widespread adoption. If that's the basis of their comparison, then it's not much of a comparison.
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