The Chief Executive, Mr Sam Hou Fai, visited the Harbin Institute of Technology Space Museum this afternoon to learn more about the development of China’s space programme. 

Mr Sam, who is currently in Harbin for the 9th Asian Winter Games Harbin 2025, took a tour of several exhibition halls at the Space Museum, accompanied by Mr Yu Jian, Vice Governor of Heilongjiang Province.

Commenting on his visit, the Chief Executive said it allowed him to learn, from different perspectives, about the history of the world’s missions in space. In particular, he was able to see the development of China’s space programme, which – after starting from scratch – was now going from strength to strength. 

He added that the Harbin Institute of Technology had made important contributions to the development of China’s space programme. 

The exhibits seen by Mr Sam included: the return capsule of the recoverable satellite "Jianbing-1"; China’s first electronic reconnaissance satellite "Changkong-1"; and the command document issued for the nation’s first manned space mission.

The Harbin Institute of Technology Space Museum is the largest museum of its kind among institutes of higher education in the nation, and with the biggest collection of exhibits. It is also an important base for space education in the region.