Recently, the Ministry of Science and Technology, China, announced the approved projects under the 2020 national key research and development plan "Earth Observation and Navigation". The project of "National PNT System Flexible Architecture Design and Key Technology Demonstration (Project Number: 2020YFB0505800)", with Shandong University as the initiator, was officially approved by the Ministry of Science and Technology. The total project funding is 19.58 million RMB, of which 13.58 million RMB will be from the central government, while 6 million yuan will be self-raised.

This Project will provide solid technical support for the design, testing, construction and application demonstration of the new generation PNT system in China. Xu Tianhe, team member of Shandong University “Climbing” Project “Sun Burst and Its Impact on the Planetary Space Environment”, PI of the Satellite Navigation and Remote Sensing group, Institute of Space Sciences, as well as outstanding young and middle-aged scholar of Shandong University, is the leader of the Project. Researcher Yang Yuanxi, academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and researcher Wei Ziqing, academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, provide technical guidance to the Project as the chief consultants. The Project gathers a number of domestic organizations which play dominant roles in the PNT research, includingXi'an Institute of Surveying and Mapping,Wuhan University, China Transport Telecommunications & Information Center, Beijing Jinkun Innovation Technological Co.Ltd. etc., which reflects the comprehensive competitiveness of the team in navigation, surveying and mapping, marine, transportation, geology, aerospace and other researching fields.