A square-shaped probe dubbed as "Little Bee" and placed atop China's second space lab currently orbiting the Earth issearching for gamma-ray bursts, the strongest explosions in the universe.
The formal name of the probe, placed on Tiangong-2, is POLAR (an abbreviation of Polarimetry of Gamma-ray Bursts), state-run Xinhua news agency reported.
Tiangong-2,an experimental space lab launched by China with two astronauts, is currently orbiting the Earth.
The device will help open a new window in the study of gamma-ray astronomy, said Zhang Shuangnan, principal investigator on the POLAR project and a chief scientist at the High Energy Physics Institute of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.
POLAR is the only international cooperation project on Tiangong-2, involving scientists from the University of Geneva, Paul Scherrer Institute in Switzerland and Poland's Institute of Nuclear Physics, the report said.
"The 30-kgs device can be regarded as a telescope, but it is different from other telescopes, as it consists of 1,600 sensitive components to detect the polarisation of gamma-ray bursts. They are like the 1,600 facets in the compound eyes of bees. That's why we call it 'Little Bee'," Zhang said.
Zhang said the project was aimed to "better understand the process of how the violent explosions happen."
Gamma-ray bursts are explosions that have been observed in distant galaxies. They are the brightest electromagnetic events known to occur in the universe.
Bursts can last from 10 milliseconds to several hours.
The intense radiation of most observed gamma-ray bursts is believed to be released during a supernova or hypernova as a rapidly rotating, high-mass star collapses to form a neutron star, quark star or black hole.
Another aim of "Little Bee" is to determine whether gamma-ray bursts are related to gravitational waves.
"If we can detect gamma-ray bursts at the same time gravitational waves happen, it will help us better understand gravitational waves," Zhang said.
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Scientists will research large-scale structure and
interaction models of solar wind and the magnetosphere, and the response to magnetospheric substorm change process, it said.
Shijian-10 recoverable satellite, Chang'e lunar probes, Shenzhou spacecraft, Tiangong-2 space laboratory and Tianzhou-1 cargo spacecraft are to be used to implement scientific experiments and research in biology, life sciences, medicine and materials in the space environment.
The paper said China will enhance the space debris basic database and data-sharing model, and advance the development of space debris monitoring facilities.
China will activate the heavy-lift launch vehicle project in next five years.
"Endeavours will be made to research key technologies and further study the plans for developing heavy-lift launch vehicles," said the document.
Breakthroughs are expected in key technologies for the overall system, high-thrust liquid oxygen and kerosene engines, and oxygen and hydrogen engines of such launch vehicles.
China will also develop and launch medium-lift launch vehicles which are non-toxic and pollution-free, improve the new-generation launch vehicle family, and enhance their reliability, it said.
China will improve the standardisation system for space debris, near-earth objects and space climate in the next five years, it said.
Efforts will be made to improve the space environment monitoring system and to build a disaster early warning and prediction platform to raise the preventative capability, it said.
It said that China will conduct studies on the building of facilities for monitoring near-earth objects, to elevate the country's capability to monitor and catalog such object.
China also plans to carry out quantum experiments in space besides basic research into sun-earth space environment, space climate and solar activity and its impact on space climate, and implement space-related interdisciplinary research as well, it said.
The White Paper said China is to perform experiments on new space technologies to provide solid technological support for its space industry.
It said China has seen smooth implementation of major projects, including manned spaceflight, lunar exploration, the BeiDou Navigation System and high-resolution earth observation system,new-generation launch vehicles and other important projects, it said.
In the next five years, China will continue to enhance the basic capacities of its space industry, and strengthen research into key and cutting-edge technologies.
The Chinese government holds that all countries in the world have equal rights to peacefully explore, develop and utilise outer space and its celestial bodies, the white paper said.
