China's UCAS opens School of Space Exploration

The University of Chinese Academy of Sciences (UCAS) unveiled on Monday its new School of Space Exploration, a training ground for China's next generation of space pioneers, China Media Group reported.

The school will offer an interdisciplinary curriculum spanning 14 fields, ranging from aeronautics to planetary science. Twenty-two main courses will be added based on the existing 97 courses, merging science, technology and real-world applications.

The students will also have access to three major research platforms and six specialized training systems in Beijing's Huairou Science City, including platforms for unmanned space patrol simulation, whole-process satellite development and space-ground collaborative innovation experiments.

This initiative traces its roots back over 60 years to the visionary "Interstellar Flight Committee" founded by legendary scientists such as Qian Xuesen and Zhao Jiuzhang. Today, the new school carries forward this legacy by focusing on cutting-edge frontiers including interstellar propulsion, deep-space communication and navigation, and space resource utilization.

A key feature of this program is the "dual-mentor" system, where students are guided by both top-tier scientists and chief engineers. This approach ensures that graduates possess a solid foundation in mathematics and physics while gaining the zero-to-one original innovation capabilities and the one-to-100 engineering transformation potential, according to Zhu Junqiang, dean of the school.

Looking ahead, Zhu envisions the school becoming a global highland for aerospace research and international academic exchange. By fostering a new generation of pioneers who are both scientifically grounded and engineering-savvy, the school aims to provide a sustainable force for China's mission of building a leading space power and contributing Chinese wisdom to the global exploration of the universe.

(Gong Zhe contributed to the story.)