Frontpage of the website of School of Space Exploration at the University of Chinese Academy of Sciences

The highly anticipated "School of Space Exploration" (SSE) of the University of Chinese Academy of Sciences (UCAS) has made its official debut - being listed under the "Colleges, Departments and Centers" section of the UCAS official website. Meanwhile, the official website of the former School of Aeronautics and Astronautics has been formally renamed the School of Space Exploration. 

The name of the SSE, if direct translated from Chinese, means school of "interstellar navigation."

According to the official website of newly named SSE, the school was founded on October 25, 2018. It is a collaborative initiative co-established by the CAS's institutions including the Institute of Engineering Thermophysics (IET), National Space Science Center (NSSC), Technology and Engineering Center for Space Utilization (CSU), Innovation Academy for Microsatellites (IAM), Aerospace Information Research Institute (AIR), and Institute of Automation (IA) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS). Led by the IET, the school has achieved significant development rapidly by fully leveraging the institutional advantages of the integration of science and education.

The school's core discipline is the first-level discipline of Aeronautical and Astronautical Science and Technology. To meet the scientific research needs and task requirements of relevant CAS institutions, it focuses on key secondary disciplines or research areas such as spacecraft design, propulsion and power engineering, systems engineering, and information and control - the four departments in the school.

Screenshot of online post about a notice announcing to change the school name to SSE Photo: online screenshot

In November, a notice circulated online, which dated to November 18, said the UCAS decided to rename its School of Aeronautics and Astronautics to School of Space Exploration. Some self-claimed students at UCAS also said on social media that their course registration system has changed the name of the school.

Course registration system of the University of Chinese Academy of Sciences Photo: online

The move prompted public interest and heated online discussions.

"What a romantic move! Our expedition extends to the stars and the ocean" Wrote a netizen. 

Others commented "Does the move means China will go deeper into the space?" "Space travel coming true" and "That sounds like science fiction."  

The name is a reference to classic, one user on Zhihu wrote, as China's first foundational textbook on aerospace for institutions of higher education was "An Introduction to Interstellar Navigation," written by Qian Xuesen, the pioneer of China's space program. 

The book was compiled from teaching materials of Qian after he taught rocket engineering at University of Science and Technology of China. In the book, Qian had raised ideas such as reusable rocket.  

Global Times