The third session of the 14th National People's Congress (NPC) and the third session of the 14th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) came to a close earlier this week, with the deputies and members giving some exciting news about science and technology breakthroughs.

Wang Yifang, deputy to the NPC and director of the Institute of High Energy Physics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, said the high energy photon source (HEPS), the first high-energy synchrotron radiation light source in China, has been basically built in Huairou district in Beijing. The first batch of 14 beamlines are being tested, and all equipment will have been tested by the end of the year and put into test operation.

Like a large microscope, HEPS can help scientists clearly see the changes in the atomic arrangement of materials under extreme conditions, and design alloy with higher hardness, Wang explained.

From the point of beamlines, HEPS surpasses all other domestic synchrotron radiation facilities. With its energy as high as six billion electron volts, it can see thick samples clearly. Its brightness is also higher than that of third-generation light source by three orders of magnitude, which reduces the time required to check samples as it can capture molecular movements in a trillionth second.

The designed lifespan of HEPS is 30 years, but it can work for 50 years or longer as it will be continuously upgraded and reconstructed once construction is complete, Wang said.

Deep water exploration has also reached a milestone. The prototype of Hainiu III, the upgraded deep-water drilling rig system, has been designed and processed, overcoming all key technological barriers, according to Wan Buyan, deputy to the NPC and a professor at Hunan University of Science and Technology.

Wan said the assembly and testing of Hainiu III is about to start. Its sea trial will be carried out at an opportune time next year.

Deep-water drilling rigs are indispensable for marine geology and environmental science research, exploration of marine mineral resources, and geological survey of subsea projects.

Once Hainiu III is ready, it will be the first full coverage of ocean drilling technologies in the world, Wan said.

Remarkable progress has been made in aerospace as well.

Rong Yi, a member of the National Committee of the CPPCC and a rocket expert at China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation, said several reusable rockets will debut this year.

Once the mission is complete, part or all of a reusable rocket can safely return to Earth. After overhaul, maintenance and refueling, it can be launched once again.

Reusable rockets will greatly cut the cost of space launches, thus increasing launching frequency, Rong added.