There are many challenges facing Hong Kong, and the world order seems to be reorganizing itself in rapid and unforeseen ways at blistering pace. It is disruptive, unprecedented in modern times and disturbing in equal measure. Areas of geopolitics that were thought stable have been uprooted. Friends and allies are increasingly seen as tradeable commodities and what was deemed certain and reliable a short while ago is anything but today. Against this backdrop of chaos, international mayhem and regime change, and when then combined with local pressing issues around building safety (in the wake of our terrible fire and loss of life), and of course the on-going Jimmy Lai Chee-ying saga, it is extremely difficult for there to be any bandwidth for very much else at the moment it seems.
It is therefore perhaps understandable, if not very easy, to “drop the ball” in other important areas and especially those that might seem more esoteric and both figuratively and literally more remote from most people’s thinking.
I am talking here about various rapidly emerging initiatives and opportunities around space, the NewSpace economy and space sustainability. On Jan 14 there was, at last, a Chief Executive Policy Unit (CEPU) “roundtable meeting” on space. I believe this event gestated from the chief executive’s most recent Policy Address that, in points 158 and 159, broached the opportunities of space meaningfully for the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region for the first time, even if briefly. The CEPU meeting was attended by stakeholders from the aerospace industry, investment bodies, legal firms, academia, nongovernment organizations and civil servants. The aim was to discuss how Hong Kong can start, finally, to make some progress in how it can begin to take advantage of the low hanging fruit that has been dangling in front of us temptingly (at least to some of us) for quite some time. Indeed, some of this ripe fruit has already fallen from the tree and been picked up by other jurisdictions. If we are not careful we may forget what good fruit looks like.
Anyway, one point of total consensus around the room was the urgent need for Hong Kong to establish a meaningful “space office” of some kind as soon as possible. However, one problem that was clear is that within the HKSAR government there is no current champion identified to internally take charge, nor any firm ideas for what such a space office should look like. From the floor and in further discussion it was clear that this office should be representative, inclusive, accountable, transparent and interdisciplinary, covering not vested interests but interests vested in the best options for Hong Kong. We need to move on this now.
I myself made some key points about not just the new space commercial opportunities (there are now a total of about 60 aerospace companies in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area) which I strongly urge us to grasp but the bigger picture of how Hong Kong can position itself as a global hub for space sustainability — a topic I have broached before in other pieces. I am not so much motivated by how new space activity within Hong Kong can generate wealth for the city but something I see as more important — how Hong Kong’s reputation, influence and projection of soft power can be enabled by the city becoming such a global hub. As others have pointed out, we have so many cards we can play. Indeed, Professor Michael Mainelli, ex lord mayor of London and an expert on space insurance, is currently in Hong Kong talking about such matters and he himself recognized and supports such a role for Hong Kong.
This issue is now far more germane and pressing than ever, especially given several recent events. I am talking specifically about the recent Shenzhou XX and XXI saga on China’s Tiangong space station that so enthralled the world. Here a tiny piece of space debris impacted the window of the Shenzhou XX capsule creating damage so serious that it was deemed too risky for the Shenzhou XX crew to use it to return to earth and effectively rendering inoperative, at least for the foreseeable future, a 1 billion yuan space vessel. This event was somewhat ironic given the installation of additional protective measures on Tiangong over several missions to enhance safety against such debris impacts. Instead, in a remarkable turn-around, the Shenzhou XXII capsule was sent up to the Chinese space station within 11 days to dock so the Shenzhou XX crew could return as planned to earth at the end of their rotation — a powerful demonstration of the flexibility and capacity of the modern Chinese space program. Nevertheless, this event focused the powers that be, not just in China but globally, like a laser, on the issue of space debris and the existential threat it poses. This is not just to human occupied space stations, but to the entire low-earth orbit, satellite filled, ecosystem upon which, unbeknown to most people, our modern lives now strongly depend.
I believe China has the will, technical capacity and scale to tackle this problem for the global good and I believe the superconnector, international focused and outward looking common law jurisdiction that is the HKSAR can and should play a key role!
The author is director of the Lab for Space Research at the University of Hong Kong.
The views do not necessarily reflect those of China Daily.
