Hong Kong awaits day it will contribute payload specialist to Chinese space missions, city’s John Lee says ahead of astronauts’ arrival

The group are expected to arrive in the city by Tuesday noon and attend a media briefing at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre to discuss the latest developments at the China Manned Space Program.

Lee said the group’s four-day itinerary included an appearance at the Hong Kong Coliseum, with about 5,000 free tickets to be distributed by the Home Affairs Department from 1pm that day on a first-come, first-served basis.

The astronauts will also speak at the opening ceremony for the Science Museum’s “China Manned Space Exhibition” and later meet local students of all ages and talk to members of the innovation and technology sector.

“The visit reflects how the country values our city’s youth,” Lee said.

“During the delegation’s stay in the city, they will talk to local young people as part of a variety of events … and share the developments history and latest efforts by the country’s aerospace industry.”

The city’s leader also said the visit showed the nation valued the local science and technology sector, adding that he hoped the city might one day contribute an astronaut to China’s space exploration efforts.

“We look forward to seeing the emergence of the first local astronaut in the future,” Lee added. “The country’s aerospace industry is developing rapidly.

“In addition to actively promoting local innovation and technology development, we will also support various institutions to participate in the country’s aerospace projects to ensure we make greater contributions.”

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Beijing announced in October last year that it was recruiting two payload specialists from Hong Kong and Macau, marking the first time the China Manned Space Agency was accepting candidates from the two cities for the positions.

The Hong Kong government later shortlisted about 80 people from among more than 100 applications and recommended them to central authorities.

In September, the city’s technology minister Sun Dong revealed at least two candidates had made it to the final round of the astronaut selection process.

Chinese astronauts last came to Hong Kong more than a decade ago. Three crew members who had been on the Shenzhou-9 spaceship mission in June 2012 visited the city for four days that August.