Fellow aviation/aerospace professionals, educators and enthusiasts: welcome to the new Alta blog on Chinese aerospace studies!
When I toured the World Expo in Shanghai in 2010, the Space Home Pavilion (太空家园馆) was my first stop. It was there where I fully grasped how exciting a time it is for aerospace in China. It was an inspiring presentation about how aerospace can benefit humanity and China, and where China wants to go with aerospace into the future. Displays and proposals ranging from new launch facilities to extra-terrestrial mining left the impression that the sky certainly isn’t a limit for China. Everyone visiting seemed tremendously excited, young and old.
Space Home Pavilion at World Expo 2010, Shanghai, China.
While standing in line to enter I also had an enjoyable time talking with a group of young Chinese students and their teachers who were visiting the Expo from a more remote part of China. It reminded me how easily aerospace brings people together and how it can unite us in achieving our greatest ambitions. The experience at the space pavilion was when I first considered the possibility that as an aviator, space professional and China scholar I might have a role to play in facilitating dialogue between the international and Chinese aerospace communities.
With several years of flight training, graduate studies and professional aerospace work behind me, and given the growth of China’s aviation and aerospace sectors, its a good time to commence this project on Chinese aerospace studies and to start finding an appropriate role for me to play in expanding the international aviation and aerospace community’s understanding of China. Hence this new website and blog, all under the banner of Alta - Aerospace Elevated.
Alta, its Center for Chinese Aerospace Studies, and now this blog will begin providing tailored, informative and useful knowledge to the audience of professionals and educators seeking greater understanding of China’s aviation and aerospace environments.
Perhaps the hottest topic in Chinese aerospace studies is the rapid growth of China’s aviation industry. It currently stands at a very nascent stage of progress relative to the developed world, but breakneck growth in the sector is forecast over the next two decades as Chinese air travel demand increases and infrastructure expands. China’s 12th 5-Year Plan made aviation reform and development a top priority for the national economy. Global engagement with China’s aviation industry is on the rise, so this blog will serve to boost that engagement.
The Alta Center for Chinese Aerospace Studies and this blog will provide aviation industry professionals, pilots, educators and students globally with important and readily understood information about China’s aviation & aerospace business, policy and reform environments via easy-to-consume media. The project serves the interests of the global aviation economy, aviation safety, and global/bilateral engagement with China as its aviation industry expands. It will also fulfill my own project requirement for completing a Masters degree in Chinese Studies at University of Michigan’s Center for Chinese Studies. But rather than crafting another thesis that only scholars would typically locate and read, online delivery seemed a more easily accessible method for communicating with the Alta Center’s audience.
So welcome to this blog and the Alta Center. I look forward to sharing what I learn and interacting with everyone I come in contact with both in person or online. Alta is wholly dedicated to elevating aerospace in global economies and societies, and I just can’t think of a more exciting, consequential and timely topic in that cause than engaging aerospace in Chinese. Keep in closer touch by also following Alta on Facebook. Until the next time, fly safe!
Joseph is author of the Chinese Aerospace Studies blog, founder of Alta Aerospace, a licensed commercial pilot (multi & single engine) with instrument rating, has lived, worked, studied and/or researched in Anhui, Beijing and Taiwan, and he speaks Chinese Mandarin. He holds a M.A. in Geography, is an Air Force Space Professional and international affairs officer, and is currently commanding a Civil Air Patrol squadron.
