Saturday, 23 May 2026
Hong Kong Baptist University (HKBU) is deeply encouraged by Dr Lai Ka-ying becoming the first Hong Kong scientific researcher to join the crew of Shenzhou-23 as a payload expert for its spaceflight mission, and expresses sincere appreciation to the Nation for its trust and support of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.
Professor Alex Wai, President and Vice-Chancellor of HKBU, said: “Our Nation’s space programme has attained remarkable achievements in recent years, which is a testament to our Nation’s technological and comprehensive strengths rising to the top level internationally. HKBU, and the people of Hong Kong, are deeply proud of this. Hong Kong scientific researcher participating in spaceflight mission the first time represents the Nation’s recognition of Hong Kong’s continued contributions to the national space programme.”
“HKBU has consistently provided full support to the Nation’s space exploration efforts. Previous relevant achievements include the Landing Chair for spacecraft Shenzhou series as one of the key tools used by the astronauts while landing on Earth from space flight missions, for which an HKBU scholar played a key role in its design; development of a novel aptamer drug for alleviating microgravity-induced bone loss in astronauts during deep space exploration; design of a subcutaneous injector for outer space applications that, together with the novel aptamer drug, can protect astronauts against bone loss in microgravity,” added Professor Wai.
HKBU will actively align with the Nation’s 15th Five-Year Plan with an emphasis on the principle of achieving self-reliance in technology, and endeavour to contributing to the Nation’s space programme in different aspects.
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