More science satellites on the drawing board

Chinese space scientists are planning to develop several satellites in the 13th Five-Year Plan period (2016-20), according to senior researchers at the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

"We have started preliminary research on four space-based scientific projects - the Solar Wind Magnetosphere Ionosphere Link Explorer, Water Cycle Observation Satellite, Einstein Probe and as the Magnetosphere, Ionosphere and Thermosphere Program," said Gong Jiancun, deputy director of the academy's National Space Science Center.

"Our center is submitting these projects to the government for review and approval," he added, noting that the Hard X-ray Modulation Telescope developed by the academy will be sent into space before the end of this year to explore black holes and the rules of physics in extreme environments.