7 February 2011
Dundee and China reach for the stars
Photo opportunity: 11 am, Tuesday February 8th,
Queen Mother Building, University of Dundee
Signing of the agreement with Chinese delegation
The University of Dundee and spin-out company STAR-Dundee Ltd will sign an agreement with the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation - Software Test & Evaluation Center on Tuesday February 8th.
The agreement between the Dundee institutions and the CASC Software Test & Evaluation Center will establish links in software and system testing, training and research-related development activities in SpaceWire Technology.
SpaceWire is a standard for high-speed links and networks for use onboard spacecraft and is widely used on many space missions.
Dundee is globally recognised as a forerunner in the space industry at the cutting edge of SpaceWire technology. In conjunction with the European Space Agency and the space industry Europe-wide, the University of Dundee’s Space Technology Centre was instrumental in writing the standard for SpaceWire.
Dr Steve Parkes, Director of the Space Technology Centre at the University of Dundee said, 'We are delighted to enter into this agreement with CASC-STEC, since CASC is one of the main contractors to China’s space programme.'
'This is further international recognition of Dundee's expertise in SpaceWire both within the University and through STAR-Dundee Ltd.'
Prof Kunsheng Wang, from CASC-STEC, said, 'CASC are very keen on Space Technology innovation and the co-operation with international institutes. CASC-STEC has high expectations of the collaboration with Dundee and would like to be actively involved with SpaceWire research and application.'
CASC is a large state-owned enterprise group with its own famous brands such as Shenzhou, Long March and Chang’e lunar missions. CASC is mainly engaged in the research, design, manufacture and launch of space systems such as launch vehicles, satellites and manned spaceships, and also provides international commercial satellite launch service. It has the capability and experience needed to perform large system engineering management, and boasts more than 120,000 employees in total, including more than 30 academics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) and the Chinese Academy of Engineering (CAE).
The Chinese delegation to Dundee will be lead by Prof Kunsheng Wang, Director of China Aerospace Engineering Consultation Center (CAECC), one of the specialised institutes within CASC.
He will be joined by Sheng Li, Quality Management Department of CASC; Gang Zhang, Executive Director of CAECC Software Test & Evaluation Centre (CAECC-STEC); Ms Xiaoguang Li, Chief Engineer of CAECC-STEC; and Xianglong Chen, Senior Engineer of CAECC-STEC.
NOTES TO EDITORS
ABOUT THE SPACE TECHNOLOGY CENTRE:
World leading research on spacecraft technology has been going on in the School of Computing at the University of Dundee for over a decade. This has led to the SpaceWire standard which is being used in many spacecraft by space organisations across the world, and the PANGU planet and asteroid simulation tool which is being used by ESA to help design navigation systems for future planetary landers. Environmental data from satellites has been received at Dundee since 1978 resulting in an extremely valuable archive of data for environmental change monitoring and other applications. The Space Technology Centre was formally opened by Lord Sainsbury in 2005 and the Satellite Receiving Station joined with the Remote Sensing Group at Plymouth Marine Laboratory to form the NERC Earth Observation Data Acquisition and Analysis Service in 2007.
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