From engineering equipment for lunar and Martian missions to sending its first astronaut to the nation's space station, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region's growing contribution to China's space program has made the city an indispensable force in the country's space exploration journey, according to scientists.

Lai Ka-ying — China's first female payload specialist and the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region's first astronaut — and her fellow Shenzhou XXIII crew members Zhu Yangzhu and Zhang Zhiyuan, launched into space on Sunday night, headed to the Tiangong space station.

Lai will stay aboard the Tiangong for six months to conduct key scientific experiments.

News of Lai's inclusion in the mission sparked a strong sense of pride across Hong Kong's scientific community, marking a milestone built on years of sustained contributions by the city's scientists and engineers to the nation's space program.

In 2013, the Camera Pointing System developed by a team from The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, led by Professor Yung Kai-leung, landed on the near side of the moon aboard the Chang'e 3 lander, successfully capturing and monitoring the operation of the Yutu lunar rover.

It was the first SAR-developed and manufactured instrument deployed in China's lunar exploration program. The system was used again on the far side of the moon during the Chang'e 4 mission in 2019.

In 2024, Yung's team developed a surface sampling and packing system that supported China in completing the world's first lunar far-side sampling during the Chang'e 6 mission.

For Mars exploration, PolyU scientists developed and manufactured the Mars landing surveillance camera for China's Tianwen 1 mission, launched in 2020, while The University of Hong Kong and The Chinese University of Hong Kong are developing key instruments for the upcoming Tianwen 3 mission, scheduled for launch around 2028.

Earlier this month, the SAR's self-developed Multi-Spectral Imaging Carbon Observatory, dubbed the "eye for space", arrived at the Tiangong space station.

As the world's first lightweight, high-resolution, high-precision carbon dioxide and methane point-source detector, MUSICO will anchor China's Earth observation project, operated by Lai, supporting the country's space development and carbon neutrality goals.

"Lai's selection proves that Hong Kong is capable of producing world-class scientific equipment and of sending top-tier personnel into space to operate these devices," said Su Hui, co-leader of the MUSICO project and chair professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology.

The convergence of technological capability and talent has far-reaching significance, Su said, adding that the synergy between Lai and MUSICO demonstrates that Hong Kong can both help the nation explore distant planets and address closer-to-home challenges such as carbon neutrality, enabling the city to play a more comprehensive and diverse role in national space missions.

Zhang Limin, another co-leader of the MUSICO project and head of HKUST's Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, said Lai's selection demonstrates national confidence in Hong Kong's scientific research strength and opens unprecedented opportunities for the city's technology sector.

"If MUSICO can accurately identify individual carbon dioxide and methane emission sources and measure their emission fluxes in Hong Kong and the wider Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area in the near future," Zhang said, "it will unlock vast opportunities for scientists to drive impactful research."

williamxu@chinadailyhk.com