Recently, Wuhan University has issued a document for approving the establishment of Aerospace Science and Technology Research Institute. This institute is affiliated to the School of Remote Sensing and Information Engineering for construction and management. Its establishment marks WHU’s another step to build a world-class talent cultivation platform and scientific research base in the field of Remote Sensing and Aerospace Engineering, after it is selected into the national “Double-First Class” initiative .
It is noticed that this decision is made after calculating demonstration and discussions among the experts in WHU. Endowed with the discipline ascendancy in relevant field, this measure aims to promote the integrated development of such disciplines as Remote Sensing and Aerospace Science by founding a discipline system of Remote Sensing Science and Technology.
Professor Gong Jianya, academician of Chinese Academy of Sciences and dean of School of Remote Sensing and Information Engineering of Whuhan University, states in the interview with Changjiang Daily, “This is a meaningful project: on the one hand, the rapid development of Aerospace Technology indicates the new industrial direction for Wuhan. Last year, the implementation plan of Wuhan National Aerospace Industrial Base got approved. In the first half of this year, it has been built in Xinzhou. Wuhan is expected to become a national commercial aerospace high-tech industrial base. Nationally, this is a strategic commanding height of high-tech. On the other hand, the two disciplines of Remote Sensing and Aerospace are intertwined. What`s more, Remote Sensing is a comprehensive field, covering Spaceborne Remote Sensing, Aerial Remote Sensing, Ground-based Remote Sensing, etc.,but Spaceborne Remote Sensing is the most advanced.” The well-developed Spaceborne Remote Sensing subject has laid a firm foundation for the Remote Sensing discipline as a whole, according to Gong. Therefore, the establishment of Institute enhances the Remote Sensing discipline of Whuhan University.
Gong also pionts out that the vast majority of universities of “Project 985” have School of Aerospace and Aeronautics or related research Institutes, which, however, has not come into being in Whuhan University until this establishment. The desynchronical development of Remote Sensing and Aerospace makes it a character in this institute to rely on the information acquisition and processing from the former, involving the platforms and sensors. However, aerospace covers a wide array as rockets, satellites and engines for collecting and processing data, in which Wuhan University has evident advantages.
When it comes to the future development of the research institute, Gong mentions two priorities in present phase. One is small satellites, the other is remote sensing sensors. Wuhan University has already started a launch plan of three remote sensing satellites including Luojia No. 1, Luojia No. 2 and Luojia No. 3. It is expected that the first satellite will be launched next year and three satellites will be launched in the next three years to strengthen the satellite industry in Wuhan.
Rewritten by Ge Chao
Edited by Shen Yuxi, Hu Sijia
