Tag: China
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Carrier rocket for China’s Chang’e-7 lunar probe arrives at launch site
The carrier rocket for the Chang’e-7 lunar exploration mission has arrived at the Wenchang Spacecraft Launch Site in south China’s Hainan Province, the China Manned Space Agency (CMSA) said on Monday. The Long March-5 Y14 carrier rocket will undergo assembly and testing at the launch site together with the Chang’e-7 lunar probe, which was transported…
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China achieves first-ever controlled rocket recovery in Long March-10B maiden flight
China successfully launched the Long March-10B carrier rocket at the Hainan commercial spacecraft launch site in south China’s Hainan Province on July 10, achieving its first-ever controlled recovery of a carrier rocket’s first stage. The rocket, in its maiden flight, sent the payload into the preset orbit. After the separation of the rocket’s first and…
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China’s Commercial Space Industry Reaches Its “TEMU Moment”
Satellites have traditionally been among the world’s most expensive assets. Building, launching, and operating a spacecraft often required investments measured in millions of dollars, limiting access to governments, military organizations, and large corporations. China’s commercial space industry is now attempting to change that equation. Driven by automated manufacturing, expanding launch capacity, and large-scale satellite production,…
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China’s Long March 10B Nails First Net Catch at Sea
Is China’s Net-Catch Booster Recovery a Viable Third Architecture? China’s state-owned China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC) recovered an orbital-class booster for the first time on July 11, 2026, catching the Long March 10B first stage in a tensioned cable net mounted to an offshore vessel — a recovery method distinct from both SpaceX’s…
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China Lands Orbital Rocket First Time in Net at Sea
Does China Now Have a Reusable Orbital Rocket? China recovered an orbital rocket’s first stage for the first time on July 10, 2026 — and did it in a way no one has tried before. The Long March 10B’s maiden flight lifted off from the Hainan Commercial Space Launch Site at 12:15 p.m. Beijing time,…
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Historic First: Long March-10B Successfully Demonstrates Controlled First-Stage Recovery
Long March-10B Rocket Makes Successful Maiden Flight and Booster Recovery At 12:15 p.m. on July 10, 2026, the Long March-10B launch vehicle lifted off from the Hainan Commercial Space Launch Site. Approximately six minutes after first-stage and second-stage separation, the first-stage booster executed a controlled vertical return and was successfully recovered on an offshore recovery…
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China’s Tianwen-2 probe reaches target asteroid, starts scientific exploration
China’s Tianwen-2 probe has successfully arrived at a distance of 20 kilometers from the asteroid 2016HO3, enabling it to begin scientific exploration after an approximately 400-day journey of about 1 billion kilometers, the China National Space Administration (CNSA) announced on Monday. China launched its first asteroid sample-return mission, Tianwen-2, on May 29, 2025, aiming to…
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Tianwen-2 Reaches Kamo’oalewa at 20 km After 400-Day Transit
Has China’s Tianwen-2 Reached Asteroid Kamoʻoalewa? Yes — and the first close-up image has already rewritten what planetary scientists thought they knew about it. China’s Tianwen-2 sample return spacecraft arrived at near-Earth asteroid 469219 Kamoʻoalewa (2016 HO3) on July 6, 2026, establishing a 20-kilometer station point after a transit of approximately 1 billion kilometers across…
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China’s Long March-8A rocket launches new satellite group
China sent a new satellite group into space on Sunday from a commercial spacecraft launch site in the southern island province of Hainan. The satellite group was launched at 9:43 p.m. (Beijing Time) and entered its preset orbit successfully. Sunday’s launch marked the 656th flight of the Long March rocket family.
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China launches new satellite group for commercial constellation aboard Long March-6 modified rocket
A modified Long March-6 carrier rocket carrying a new satellite group blasts off from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center in north China’s Shanxi Province on July 4, 2026. (Photo by Li Tiantian/Xinhua) TAIYUAN, July 4 (Xinhua) — China sent a new satellite group into space on Saturday from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center in north…