Science payloads of China’s first reusable and returnable satellite delivered to users

BEIJING – Science payloads for space breeding and other science and technology experiments conducted by China’s first reusable and returnable satellite, Shijian-19, were delivered to Chinese and foreign users on Thursday.

At a payload handover ceremony hosted by the China National Space Administration in Beijing on Thursday, CNSA and China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation signed payload delivery certificates with domestic and international users, including Thailand and Pakistan.

Bian Zhigang, deputy chief of CNSA, said that the Shijian 19 mission makes full use of the advantages of the next-generation retrievable space experiment platform, conducting space breeding experiments of about 1,000 species of germplasm resources, providing key support for innovation in germplasm resources in China. The mission also provided a valuable opportunity to test domestically produced components and raw materials in orbit.

The Shijian 19 satellite was launched into orbit from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwestern China on September 27 and was successfully recovered from the Dongfeng landing pad in northern China’s Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region.