China and Europe will share the data collected by each other's satellites in their space exploration programs, a Chinese space expert Wednesday said of the Probe No. 1 satellite launched successfully Tuesday.  

Liu Zhenxin, a leading Chinese expert in space physics who initiated the country's "Geospace Double Star Exploration Program," said both sides agreed to share the data under an official agreement signed in 2001.

Under the geospace exploration program, which will cost the country US$48 million, China launched a satellite on Tuesday and is scheduled to put another one in orbit in the middle of 2004 to form an independent constellation-like system to monitor geospace storms.

The two satellites will probe areas not covered by the four satellites in orbit, which were put into space by European Space Agency in 2001 as part of its Cluster II geospace exploration program, said the expert.

The six satellites constitute the world's first three dimensional geospace exploration system for coordinated multi-satellite observation of solar activities.

The data would help improve the safety of space activities and protect the near-earth space environment, and give more accurate weather forecasts, said Liu, who is member of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

The geospace cooperation between China and the European Union represents the first geospace project using satellites, which is important for the development of China's geospace physics research.

(Xinhua News Agency January 1, 2004)