When it comes to the space economy, Hong Kong must reach for the stars

China has made great leaps into space but the industry is still not mainstream in the consciousness of Hong Kong’s decision-makers, entrepreneurs and the public
The city must get ready to seize the massive but fleeting opportunities offered in NewSpace as a greater conduit to hi-tech industry and wealth generation

Quentin Parker

Published: 9:30am, 26 Oct 2023

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On October 20, about 40 international speakers from countries including the US, Japan, Australia, China, Malaysia and France provided a rich tapestry of contributions to “Tomorrow’s Technologies Today”, the first conference on the “NewSpace” ecosystem held in Hong Kong and, indeed, the entire Greater Bay Area.

NewSpace describes the community of new aerospace companies and start-ups developing low-cost access to space and space flight technologies, and the advocates of low-cost space flight capability, policy, space tourism, etc. The global space economy will be worth some US$1 trillion by the end of the decade, according to Morgan Stanley, and is estimated to already be at around US$500 billion. Can and should Hong Kong get a slice of this action?

The importance of the event can be gauged by the calibre of speakers and participants. Interestingly, astronaut and People’s Liberation Army air force pilot Zhao Chuandong and Nasa-trained commercial astronaut Chris Altman both spoke at the same event.

Zhao gave an excellent and important presentation on how we must leverage the advantage of Hong Kong’s unique position under “one country, two systems” to engage with and exploit the burgeoning aerospace programme, not just in China but globally.

He also stressed that Hong Kong needed to nurture aerospace talent by leveraging China’s support so as to contribute to China’s space programme more directly. Only Polytechnic University and the University of Hong Kong have done this so far. PolyU is part of China’s deep space exploration programme for the Chang’e moon missions and the Tianwen Mars rover, while HKU’s Laboratory for Space Research helped launched the first X-ray satellite mission back in July 2020.

We should heed such sage advice. It is abundantly clear that the mainland is keen to engage Hong Kong in this strategically important national endeavour due to our unique advantages under one country, two systems.

One only has to look at some recent examples of what is on offer to appreciate not only the tremendous potential but also the clear signalling from the mainland.

This includes the initiative to recruit astronaut payload specialists from Hong Kong and Macau for China’s Tiangong space station, the opportunity for Hong Kong’s tertiary education establishments to propose science payloads – to collect data and conduct and maintain experiments – for the space station, HKU being granted access to China’s moon rock for research, and the growing presence of commercial NewSpace companies in the city such as Hong Kong Aerospace Technology Group, ADA Space and Silkwave.

To some, the NewSpace conference was a big deal. But the industry is not yet mainstream in the consciousness of decision-makers and entrepreneurs, or, indeed, the general public in Hong Kong. Should we care? Is Hong Kong ready, willing, or even able to seize the massive opportunities offered in NewSpace as a greater conduit to hi-tech industry, development, investment and wealth generation in our city?

This conference, organised by the Orion Astropreneur Space Academy (OASA), a non-governmental organisation, with the support of Hong Kong’s Cyberport and the Innovation and Technology Commission, was intended to at least explore this potential.

05:06

How China’s space programme went from launching satellites to building its own space station

It was well attended by senior members and representatives from the Legislative Council, academia and business. They heard presentations on areas from agriculture and aerospace, satellites, stardust and remote sensing, to resource management, space transport, space tourism and technology.

Despite this diversity, common themes were clear. There is a need for the underpinnings of local hi-tech to pursue all these activities, for access to sufficient reservoirs of the “right stuff” in terms of STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) and “astropreneurial” talent (entrepreneurs in the aerospace sector, especially in NewSpace) and finally, for proper investment delivery to enable the commercial ideas and initiatives to bear fruit.

At the very least, this event provided the first valuable forum for participants to engage, inform, link up and explore the development of our local NewSpace ecosystem, which holds so much promise.

One small step for Hong Kong, one giant leap for the economy?

Perhaps this NewSpace event will finally precipitate a bright spark from the Hong Kong government to ignite the flame of engagement, support and investment sorely needed. This will provide the impetus and endorsement for our city to more effectively grab the myriad opportunities emerging in a rapidly changing environment where such opportunities are fleeting and mobile.

Hong Kong has plenty of fuel to feed the NewSpace flame. The city has an excellent regulatory and compliance infrastructure for investment that is independent, globally respected and trusted. Local expertise and prowess in financial management, fintech and the delivery of initial public offerings can be applied to seek out, funnel and leverage the investment needed in NewSpace start-ups and more mature entities to take them to the next level.

02:22

China’s Shenzhou 16 mission sends its first civilian astronaut into space

Finally, Hong Kong is a mini superpower of tertiary education excellence with five universities in the global top 100 in a city of less than 8 million – an astonishing strength that deserves greater recognition and support. They can be a conveyor belt of STEM talent into the NewSpace industry.

Our city needs to better leverage, mentor and promote our home-grown STEM talent, where more students emerging from the halls of academe can be encouraged to turn to the emerging domain of NewSpace, instead of the traditional areas of law, medicine and banking.

Let us hope that NewSpace gets the official recognition it deserves, as an important and emerging tech-based incubator for opportunities that are out of this world.

Quentin Parker is an astrophysicist based at the University of Hong Kong and director of its Laboratory for Space Research

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