- Twisted magnetic topological insulator: When momentum-space topology meets real-space topology?
Prof. G. Chen's research
Exciting News and Plans
HKU Researchers Plan to Lead the Launching of Hong Kong Science Satellite Constellation
"Exploring the vast universe, developing the aerospace industry, and building a strong aerospace country are our unremitting pursuit of aerospace dreams." It has been more than 50 years since the successful launch of China's first artificial earth satellite "Dongfanghong-1" on April 24, 1970. Over the years, China has adhered to the innovation-driven development strategy, and pursued space exploration, deep space science, and aerospace engineering in an all-round fashion. The Wukong, Huiyan, and Mozi were launched successfully, and Chang'e's lunar exploration and Tianwen's Mars exploration were carried out in sequence, which fully demonstrated the prowess of the Chinese aerospace science and technology power. Leveraging Hong Kong’s international technology platform and its in-depth cooperation in technology development in complementary areas with Guangdong and Macao, the Greater Bay Area has become a key strategic direction for the scientific and technological development in the area.
The University of Hong Kong is the only university in Hong Kong SAR that conducts interdisciplinary research in space science, astronomy and astrophysics, and has a solid scientific research foundation. In recent years, the Department of Physics at the University of Hong Kong has strengthened its cooperation with Mainland in space field, and launched a space exploration telescope project. More than three years ago, it joined forces with Nanjing University to launch the first satellite for research & development in space science in Hong Kong, the "Lobster Eye X-ray Space Telescope". Relying on the new opportunities for the development of commercial aerospace in Mainland, this project has become the first space astronomical satellite developed by a university in China. After several years of development, the telescope was successfully launched into space on July 26, 2020. It has been in orbit for nearly two years and is still in good working condition. This is another scientific research achievement of successful cooperation between Hong Kong and Mainland. In the past five years, the University of Hong Kong has also participated in several important space science missions and projects in the field of space astronomy, including the scientific exploration mission of China's first astronomical satellite "Dark Matter Particle Detection Satellite" (Wukong), China's space station "Cosmic High-Energy Particle Detector”, etc., and has carried out long-term research cooperation with top universities and research institutions in Mainland China, such as Peking University and Nanjing University as well as many institutes of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.
On the occasion of the 25th anniversary of Hong Kong's return to the motherland and in the context of the rapid development of global commercial aerospace, the physics and astronomy researchers at the University of Hong Kong are planning to build a team, led by Dr. Su Meng and Dr. Zhang Binzheng, taking advantage of scientific and technology cooperation platforms by universities in Guang Dong, Jiangsu, Hong Kong and Macau. This team is leading the construction of the "Hong Kong Science Satellite Constellation", offering as a gift to the 25th anniversary of Hong Kong's return to the motherland. The "Hong Kong Science Satellite Constellation" intends to carry out a series of cutting-edge explorations in basic fields such as space research and space astronomical observation. In terms of application, the "Hong Kong Science Satellite Constellation" plans to carry out application development based on international cooperation in the fields of deep space exploration, space weather observation and early warning, and contribute to the Deep Space Exploration Program in China.
香港大學研究人員計劃領銜發射香港科學衛星星座
“探索浩瀚宇宙，發展航天事業，建設航天強國，是我們不懈追求的航天夢”。1970年4月24日我國第一顆人造地球衛星「東方紅一號」發射成功至今已經整整五十余年。多年來我國堅持創新驅動發展戰略，太空探索、深空科學、航天工程得以全面發展。悟空號、慧眼號、墨子號先後成功升空，嫦娥探月、天問探火依序開展，全面彰顯了航天科技大國的科研及工程實力。而香港國際化科技平臺和粵港澳大灣區科技發展優勢互補深度合作，是國家對粵港澳大灣區科技發展的戰略定位。
香港大學是香港特區唯一開展太空科學、天文學、天體物理學等交叉研究方向的高校，擁有堅實的科研基礎。近年來，香港大學物理和天文學科加強跟內地太空領域的合作，開展了太空探測望遠鏡的計劃，於3年多前聯手南京大學啟動了香港地區首顆空間科學衛星「龍蝦眼X射線太空望遠鏡」的研製工作。該項目依托內地商業航天發展的新機遇，成為我國首顆高校主導研製的空間天文衛星。望遠鏡經過數年時間研製於2020年7月26日成功發射升空，在軌運行近兩年時間依然工作狀態良好， 這是香港與內地成功合作的又一科研成果。過去五年中，香港大學在太空天文領域還參與了我國數項重要空間科學任務及項目，包括我國首顆天文學衛星「暗物質粒子探測衛星」（悟空號）的科學探測任務，我國空間站「宇宙高能粒子探測器」等，並與北京大學、南京大學、及中國科學院多個科研院所等內地頂尖高校與科研機構開展了長期科研合作。
值此慶祝香港回歸祖國25周年之際及在全球商業航天快速發展的大背景下，香港大學的物理和天文學科研究人員正緊鑼密鼓地籌劃由蘇萌和張彬錚博士等組成團隊， 依托粵港澳和蘇港澳等高校科技合作平臺，領銜建設「香港科學衛星星座」，為香港回歸25周年獻上一份薄禮。「香港科學衛星星座」擬在太空科學研究、太空天文觀測等基礎領域開展一系列的前沿探索。在應用方面，「香港科學衛星星座」擬在深空探測技術，空間天氣觀測和預警領域開展基於國際合作的應用開發，在服務大灣區的通信導航等基礎應用需求的同時，也為國家未來深空探測計劃貢獻一份力量。