Tag: CASC
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Launch Roundup: Starship and multiple Falcon 9 launches planned
Seven launches are scheduled this week by SpaceX and CSNA. CSNA will kick off the week with another Guowang launch, SpaceX launched the NAOS (LUXEOSys) & Others mission, as well as Starship on its tenth flight. Then, SpaceX wrapped up the week with four Starlink missions. Chang Zhang 8A | Guowang LEO Group 10 Starting…
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Launch Roundup: SpaceX to launch Crew-11 to ISS; ISRO and NASA launch new SAR satellite
With 11 launches scheduled worldwide, this week’s launch roundup is among the busiest of 2025 so far. SpaceX is expected to conduct four missions with the workhorse Falcon 9, including the crewed Crew-11 mission to the International Space Station. Blue Origin’s New Shepard took six humans to suborbital space this week. Internationally, the first-ever domestically…
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China’s Astronstone Secures $14 Million to Develop Stainless Steel Reusable Rocket Modeled on SpaceX Starship
Astronstone, one of China’s newest commercial space startups, announced it has raised over 100 million yuan ($13.9 million) in early-stage funding to develop a stainless steel, reusable rocket inspired by SpaceX’s Starship system. Founded in mid-2024, Astronstone is developing its AS-1 launch vehicle, a 70-meter tall, 4.2-meter diameter rocket powered by a customized version of…
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China Launches Tianwen-2 Asteroid and Comet Mission to Expand Planetary Science and Defense Capabilities
China launched its second planetary exploration mission last week, sending the Tianwen-2 spacecraft to collect samples from a near-Earth asteroid and later study a main belt comet, as Beijing expands its role in international deep-space science and planetary defense efforts. The mission lifted off on a Long March 3B rocket from the Xichang Satellite Launch…
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China Boosts Space Activity with Long March 7A and Ceres-1 Sea Launches
China has intensified its space launch schedule with two recent missions, deploying a Long March 7A rocket to geosynchronous orbit and a Ceres-1 solid rocket from a sea platform into low Earth orbit, marking the country’s 28th and 29th orbital launch attempts this year. A Long March 7A lifted off from the Wenchang Satellite Launch…
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Launch Roundup: Electron launches for the 50th time; Falcon 9 returns to normal operations
Concluding a rare week that was void of any launches and riddled with scrubs, the spaceflight industry looks to return to the planned course of action with four launches from all over the world. This week, the 50th launch of Electron has taken flight, and SpaceX and CASC continue to dominate the launch calendar. SpaceX…
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Shenzhou-17 Crew Launches to Tiangong Space Station
China launched the crewed Shenzhou-17 mission to the Tiangong Space Station on Thursday, Oct. 26, at 3:14 AM UTC. Launched via a Chang Zheng 2F (CZ-2F) rocket, the three crew members set sail for the station over the following hours after liftoff. This will begin the handover from the Shenzhou-16 crew to the Shenzhou-17 crew.…
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China launches resupply mission, lands space plane, and readies methane rocket
China plans to continue its ongoing supply chain for the Tiangong Space Station (TSS) by launching the Tianzhou-6 mission. The launch occurred at 13:25 UTC on May 10 and lofted a Tianzhou capsule on top of a Chang Zheng 7 (Long March 7). See Also Chinese Launchers Forum NSF Store Click here to Join L2…
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China completes doubleheader week from Xichang
Another busy week of rocket launches in China has come to a close. On Wednesday, the Yaogan 36 mission launched on a Chang Zheng 2D from Xichang, and on Friday, the launch of Shiyan 21 atop a Chang Zheng 11 rocket was conducted from the same spaceport. In total, four launches were conducted from China…
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China launches two missions from Jiuquan in under 30 hours
In just under 30 hours, China launched two rockets with six satellites to their respective orbits. The first launch was a Chang Zheng 4C (CZ-4C) with the Yaogan 34-03 (Yaogan-34C) government remote sensing satellite on Nov. 15 at 01:38 UTC from Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center (JSLC) at Site 43/94. It was followed by the Ceres-1…