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Introduction

Strategically located at the seaside of Tsim Sha Tsui, the Hong Kong Space Museum commenced its construction in 1977. Mr. Joseph Ming Gun LEE of the Public Works Department was the chief architect of the project. Hong Kong Space Museum was commissioned in October 1980. It is the first local planetarium for the popularisation of astronomy and space science. The unique egg-shaped dome renders the 8000-square-metre museum to be one of the most famous landmarks in Hong Kong.

The Museum comprises two wings - east and west. The former, the planetarium's nucleus, has an egg-shaped dome structure. Beneath it are the Space Theatre, the Hall of the Cosmos, OMNIMAX projector room, workshops and offices. The west wing houses the Hall of Space Exploration, the Lecture Hall, the Gift Shop and offices.

Inside the Space Theatre, there is a hemispherical projection dome with a diameter of 23 metres. Boasting the first OMNIMAX film projector in the eastern hemisphere, the Museum is also the first planetarium in the world to possess a fully automatic control system at its Space Theatre. Each year, the Museum produces Sky Show to be displayed using the digital planetarium projection system, and introduces the best foreign 3D Dome Shows to Hong Kong.

The Museum has two thematic exhibition halls: the Hall of the Cosmos and the Hall of Space Exploration on the ground and first floors respectively. The exhibits, predominately interactive, enable visitors to learn through a series of entertaining and educational experiences.

Last but not the least, the Museum organises plenty of extension activities each year, including Stargazing in light-flooded city, Starry Wonderland, fun astronomy classes, lectures and astronomy film shows, and observation programmes for special astronomical events etc. You can also find a lot of information related to stargazing, basic astronomy, astronomical news and educational resources in the Museum's homepage.

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Mission, Vision and Values

Vision

We provide world-class museum facilities and services and make the Museum a regional astronomy and space science education centre.

Mission

Our Mission is to:

To enrich our community life by providing high quality museum services and a lifelong learning environment for all.
To deliver professionalism and excellence in our museum services.
To provide multi-lingual planetarium shows and exhibitions that foster community interest in astronomy and space science, and that promote cultural exchange.
To provide activities that establish the museum as an astronomy education centre.
To provide a safe, clean, comfortable and friendly environment that generates high levels of visitor satisfaction.
To establish superior collections reflecting our regional heritage in astronomy and space science.
To build and maintain a highly motivated, committed and satisfied workforce.

Values

We achieve our mission by embracing these core values:

Visitor focus
Quality
Creativity
Professionalism
Continuous improvement

Scope of Collections

Display materials of historical or popular interest for public viewing, such as meteorite specimens, artifacts and models, antique instruments, or replica of spacecraft; and
Research and reference materials such as astronomical films, slides, tapes and literature for programme productions, extension activities or improvement of existing facilities.

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Performance Pledge

We keep at least 90 percent of the hands-on exhibits in the Museum in use at all times.

For suggestions on exhibit operations and services, please feel free to contact the duty officers.

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Timeline of Hong Kong Space Museum's History

1961

The construction of a planetarium in Victoria Park on Hong Kong Island was proposed preliminarily by the Urban Council of Hong Kong.
1971

The Urban Services Department set up a working group to study overseas experience in establishing planetariums. The study was aimed at laying the groundwork for setting up the future Hong Kong Space Museum.
1973

The Hong Kong Government decided to build the Hong Kong Space Museum at Tsim Sha Tsui and invited Mr. Joseph Liu to serve as Planetarium Advisor. Mr. Joseph Ming Gun LEE of the Public Works Department was the Chief Architect of the project.
1974

Planetarium

Mr. Joseph Liu was transferred from the Education Department to the then Urban Services Department and assumed the post of Planetarium Adviser.

USD signed contract with the Carl Zeiss Company to purchase a planetarium and other equipment with a price of HK$3,050,000.
1976

USD placed order to an American company to buy the projection screen for the Space Theatre with a price of HK$660,000.
1977

Foundation of Hong Kong Space Museum

To start the foundation work and the building of the Hong Kong Space Museum.
1978

Under the sponsorship of the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum, NASA agreed to lend the Aurora 7 capsule of the Mercury Project, moon rock and spacesuit to the Hong Kong Space Museum for exhibition.
1980

Hong Kong Space Museum - appearance (upper) and interior decoration (lower)

Hong Kong Space Museum, with the Space Theatre and an exhibition hall on the ground floor, was completed and officially opened on 7th October and opened to the public on 8th October. Boasting the first OMNIMAX film projector in the eastern hemisphere, Hong Kong Space Museum was also the first planetarium in the world to possess a fully automated control system at its Space Theatre. Since its inception, the Space Museum has become the most important local educational institution for popularising astronomy and has been working hand in hand with local astronomical societies to promote astronomy by organising a wide range of activities.
1981

The Solar Telescope

The Solar Telescope and the "Solar Hall" situated at the first floor of the Hong Kong Space Museum were officially opened.
1982

The museum's first astro-calendar

Hong Kong Space Museum published its first astro-calendar.
1983

A multi-lingual system was first installed at the Space Theatre of the Hong Kong Space Museum. The system provided narration of 4 languages (Cantonese, Mandarin, English and Japanese) for each programme.
1984

Urban Council Ticketing System (Urbtix) was launched to allow people to buy tickets for any performance at any of the Council's five venues. Hong Kong was the first city outside the United Kingdom and the United States to operate similar system.
1986

Hong Kong Space Museum screened the first school show.
1988

Urban Council invested HK$17,700,000 to renew the exhibition halls of the Hong Kong Space Museum, introducing more interactive exhibits and information on space science.
1991

A newly designed exhibition hall

Hong Kong Space Museum opened its newly designed exhibition halls, which were renamed as "Hall of Space Science" and "Hall of Astronomy".
1993

The monthly programme "The Night Sky"

Hong Kong Space Museum launched the monthly programme "The Night Sky", which allowed visitors to learn seasonal constellations under the simulated night sky in the Space Theatre.

The "Automatic programming and Control Subsystem" at the Space Theatre of the Hong Kong Space Museum was upgraded to allow more vivid and lively presentations of Sky Shows.
1995

Hong Kong Space Museum developed in-house and installed the "Interactive System" in the Space Theatre which collected real-time responses from audience. As a result, the flow of Sky Shows could be changed subject to visitors' reaction.

A new projection screen was installed in the Space Theatre to improve image quality.
1997

Hong Kong Space Museum website

The homepage of Hong Kong Space Museum was formally in operation.
1998

Asteroid (6743) Liu was named after Mr. Joseph Liu, the first Chief Curator of the Hong Kong Space Museum.

Hong Kong Space Museum broadcast the partial solar eclipse on the web. This was the first time a celestial event being web-cast in Hong Kong.
1999

Hong Kong Space Museum launched the monthly observation programme "Astronomy Happy Hours". Supported by local public astronomical associations, the programme allowed participants to enjoy the Hong Kong night sky on the Museum's rooftop.

The Hong Kong Space Museum installed a new rewinding unit to its OMNIMAX projector. The unit permitted concurrent screening and rewinding of film. In addition, it could handle larger film reels and hence extended the maximum film duration from 45 minutes to 90 minutes.
2001

The 60cm telescope in the Interactive Observatory

Hong Kong Space Museum successfully secured a funding of HK$2,500,000 from the Quality Education Fund to build an Interactive Observatory that could be controlled via Internet. The Observatory would house a 60 cm telescope which would be the largest professional telescope in Hong Kong.
2002

The Interactive Observatory in Lady MacLehose Holiday Village

Hong Kong Space Museum reached agreement with the Lady MacLehose Holiday Village, Sai Kung to build the Interactive Observatory in the Village.
2003

Construction of a temporary observatory in Tuen Mun for testing of astronomical equipment and controlling system.
2004

Dr. Stanley Ho contributed HK$20,000,000 to the Facility and Programme Donation Scheme of Home Affairs Bureau.

Hong Kong Space Museum's Space Theatre was renamed to "Stanley Ho Space Theatre" in honour of Dr. Stanley Ho's generous contribution of HK$20,000,000 to the Facility and Programme Donation Scheme of Home Affairs Bureau. The naming right would last for 15 years.
2005

Starting the construction of the Interactive Observatory.
2008

Hong Kong Space Museum Sai Kung iObservatory (upper) and the 60 cm Cassegrain telescope in the iObservatory (lower)

The interactive observatory in the Lady MacLehose Holiday Village in Sai Kung was completed and named as the "Hong Kong Space Museum Sai Kung iObservatory". The two-storey iObservatory has a site area of about 150 square metres and a floor area of 270 square metres. It is equipped with a 60 cm Cassegrain telescope, the largest professional telescope in Hong Kong, inside a 6 m dome on the roof.

The Stanley Ho Space Theatre was closed in November to prepare for renovation of the planetarium projection system and the seats.
2009

A new 8K digital planetarium projection system was installed

Installed with a new 8K digital planetarium projection system, the Stanley Ho Space Theatre was reopened on 1 July. New seats were installed with a multi-language interactive system, allowing the audience to select different narration languages for a show.
2010

Astropark

Astropark, the first theme park with star gazing facilities in Hong Kong, was opened on 30 January. Designed and managed by the Space Museum, the Astropark is located in Chong Hing Water Sports Centre, West Sea Cofferdam, High Island Reservoir, Sai Kung. With an area of about 1,200 square metres, it houses replicas of ancient Chinese astronomical instruments, specially designed inclined stargazing benches and telescope piers for the enjoyment of star lovers.
2011

Hong Kong Space Museum Facebook Fan Page (upper) and YouTube Channel (lower)

The Hong Kong Space Museum Facebook Fan Page was launched. Hong Kong Space Museum YouTube Channel was opened.
2012

A 3D full-dome projection system with 8 ultra-high definition projectors

The digital projection system of the Stanley Ho Space Theatre was upgraded to a 3D full-dome projection system with 8 ultra-high definition projectors employing interference filtering technology to produce 3D images. The first 3D dome show was released on 1 July.
2014

Stargazing app "Star Hoppers"

Launched the mobile stargazing app "Star Hoppers" on 22 September.
2015

Sky Show "The Stories of Solar Eclipse"

Launched the Sky Show "The Stories of Solar Eclipse", its first production to be displayed using the digital planetarium projection system.
2016

Sky Show "Decoding Starlight"

Launched the Sky Show "Decoding Starlight" and featured in the Immersive Festival Madrid in Spain and the Fiske Full Dome Film Festival in the United States.
2017

Weatherproof Vacuum Solar Telescope System

The new Weatherproof Vacuum Solar Telescope System installed on the rooftop the Space Museum was put in commission in November. The system consists of 4 telescopes each with an aperture of 10 cm to display the white light, hydrogen alpha and calcium K images of the Sun. It can also be used to observe the Moon and planets.
2018

Permanent exhibition halls

The permanent exhibition halls opened on 25 April after renovation. They were renamed as the "Hall of the Cosmos" and "Hall of Space Exploration".
2018

Sky Show "In Search of Cosmic Life"

Launched the Sky Show "In Search of Cosmic Life" and featured in various fulldome film festivals in Czech, Russia and Belarus.
2021

The Space Theatre

The Space Theatre has been reopen on 1 July 2021 after a large-scale renovation. The renovation this time is of the largest scale ever. The major part of the project was the replacement of the 23-metre-diameter dome screen. Utilising the latest NanoSeam technology, the new screen offers a seamless viewing experience, enabling sharper and more colourful images for different shows.