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China, Russia launch space center for global aviation weather service
CGTN
Photo via CFP

Photo via CFP

China and Russia on Tuesday inaugurated a global space weather center to enhance meteorological services for international civil aviation, a statement by China Meteorological Administration (CMA) said.

The Beijing-based China-Russia Consortium (CRC) space weather center, jointly built and operated by CMA, Civil Aviation Administration of China and Russian Federal Service for Hydrometeorology and Environmental Monitoring, is the first in China to be approved by the International Civil Aviation Organization and is the fourth global space weather center.

Space weather can affect high-tech systems, such as satellite operations and aviation flights, as well as human health, said CMA.

Yu Rucong, deputy director of the CMA, said building a comprehensive system and mechanism for the center can realize real-time monitoring of global space weather and warn of disastrous space weather. 

By cooperating with Russia, China will help space weather aviation services, Yu said.

It is hoped that the two countries will conduct in-depth cooperation in data sharing, product integration and forecast verification to provide global civil aviation users with more accurate and pragmatic service products and create a new pattern of international space weather aviation meteorological services, Yu added.

China has already established a preliminary framework for a national-level space weather operational mechanism, which is able to make long-, medium-, short-term weather forecasting, early warning and reporting with world-class accuracy.

CMA began space weather operation tests in the late 1990s. In 2002, China approved the establishment of the National Space Weather Monitoring and Early Warning Center, which was put into operation in 2004.

In 2012, China's meteorological and civil aviation departments began preparations to develop aerospace weather services. In 2018, China and Russia jointly applied for a regional space weather center, and two years later, the CRC center was approved.

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