HONG KONG - Scientists from Hong Kong universities and aspiring secondary students in the city have been among those who have contributed to the nation's decades-long exploration of space.

Here is a timeline of significant projects involving Hong Kong's participation:

2013

Chang'e 3 lunar probe mission

Hong Kong Polytechnic University

Designed the Camera Pointing System (CPS), which helps to photograph the moon and facilitates the mission control center in commanding the movement of the rover.

(The system was also used during the Chang'e 4 lunar probe mission in 2019.)

2015

The Chinese University of Hong Kong

Established the Joint Research Center for Health Maintenance of Musculoskeletal System on Space Medicine with the China Astronaut Research and Training Center.

2016

Tiangong 2 space laboratory

Three Hong Kong secondary students

Designed three experiments that were conducted in the laboratory by astronauts. The experiments were devised to see whether silkworms can produce silk in space; how porous membranes are formed in space; and to examine chaos theory in space.

2017

Tianzhou 1 cargo spacecraft

Hong Kong Baptist University

Participated in research conducted in the spacecraft that investigated the effect of microgravity conditions on bone formation.

2020

Chang'e 5 lunar probe mission

Hong Kong Polytechnic University

Designed the “Surface Sampling and Packing System”, which collects and packs samples from the lunar surface. The mission collected lunar samples of up to 2 kilograms and brought them back to Earth.

2020

Lobster-Eye X-ray Satellite

The University of Hong Kong

Participated in the design of the satellite, which was tasked to complete several important space X-ray detection experiments.

2021

Tianwen-1 Mars probe mission

Hong Kong Polytechnic University

Helped identify landing regions on Mars with topographic mapping and geomorphological analysis technologies.

Manufactured a “Mars camera”, which was equipped on a lander to capture images of the red planet.