Innovation and Development

Data to Increase Space Innovation Ability

At 4 o’clock am of June 3, the first meteorological rocket of the Meridian Project (the Meridian Chain of Comprehensive Ground-Based Space Environment Monitors in the Eastern Hemisphere), a major project of the Large Science Facility Program in China, was successfully launched from the Hainan Sounding Rocket Launch Site. Using GPS technology, the high-precision observation parameters of atmospheric temperature, pressure and wind field in near space environment at an elevation of 20-60 km at low altitudes in China were obtained for the first time. The construction of the Meridian Project started in 2008 and was scheduled to be completed within 3 years. The project is coordinated by CAS with 12 participatory institutions under 7 departments. The success of the project will lay a solid foundation in terms of data basis for strengthening China’s innovation capability in space science.