Tag: Chang Zheng 3B/E
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Despite initial setbacks, Chinese spaceflight expected to see exciting 2026
The new year has not started well for China, with two failures among its first six launches. Even so, 2026 is shaping up to be a pivotal year, with numerous new launch vehicles — including several reusable designs — expected to debut, and a realistic prospect of the country’s first propulsive landing of an orbital-class…
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Launch Roundup: China, Russia, Rocket Lab, ULA join SpaceX in flying this week
The upcoming launch week, starting on Monday, Dec. 8, is a very busy one as 2025 enters its final stretch. At least six Chinese launches are planned from four different space centers across the country, while Russia expects to launch twice, once from Plesetsk and another from Baikonur. The United Launch Alliance is planning to…
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China launches the Tianwen-2 asteroid sample return mission
The Chinese space program is preparing to join the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) and NASA in returning samples from an asteroid to Earth. The Tianwen-2 probe and its Chang Zheng 3B/E (CZ-3B/E) rocket launched successfully from Launch Complex 2 (LC-2) at the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in southwest China on Wednesday, May 28, at…
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Chinese launch cadence accelerates, Tianwen-2 prepares for launch
This month has seen the launches of three different commercial Chinese rockets, and the return-to-flight of a rocket that last flew in mid-2021. China has also begun deploying the world’s first space-based computing satellite constellation. Meanwhile, preparations are underway for China’s second interplanetary mission — a milestone two-part journey to return samples from an asteroid…
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Launch Roundup: Spectrum, Electron, and Falcon 9 fly missions
This week included three launches scheduled for Wednesday and the third Electron rocket to fly within 12 days. SpaceX kicked off the week with the launch of a classified mission on Monday. Two Starlink missions also flew alongside two others from China this week. Firefly Aerospace postponed the sixth flight of its Alpha rocket, following…
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Launch Roundup: New Glenn scrubs, SpaceX launches national reconnaissance mission
The first full week of 2025 – and the first part of next week – featured a full lineup of launches from the United States and China, though Blue Origin’s New Glenn scrubbed on its first launch attempt and Starlink Flight 7 moved into the middle of next week. The year’s first Starlink launch, which…
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Launch Roundup: SpaceX launches two Starlink missions; China launches Chang Zheng 5
A brand new week of spaceflight is approaching with SpaceX preparing to launch three Starlink missions, China getting ready to send two payloads to orbit, including one on the powerful Chang Zheng 5 (CZ-5) rocket, and Roscosmos preparing to launch Russian-built satellites to orbit atop Soyuz. Late on Feb. 22, Starlink Group 7-15 took 22…