Tag: China
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Lightning Hit Long March-3B 30 Seconds After Liftoff
Did the Long March-3B Survive a Lightning Strike at Liftoff? A Long March-3B rocket absorbed a lightning strike approximately 30 seconds after liftoff from China’s Xichang Satellite Launch Center on July 23, 2026 — and still delivered its payload to geostationary orbit (GEO) as planned. The China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC) confirmed the…
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Orienspace Gravity-1 Third Flight Delivers 9 Sats from Shanghai
Did Orienspace’s Third Gravity-1 Mission Succeed? Yes. Orienspace’s third Gravity-1 solid rocket successfully delivered nine satellites to low Earth orbit at 10:54 p.m. Eastern on July 21 (0254 UTC, July 22), lifting off from a launch service ship in the East China Sea near Shanghai. The mission marked Orienspace’s first long-range sea launch — a…
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Saudi Arabia Launches 142 Sustainable Investment Opportunities: Satellite Remote Sensing Advances Ecological Monitoring
On July 3, 2026, Saudi Arabia’s National Center for Vegetation Cover Development and Combating Desertification (NCVC), in cooperation with the Federation of Saudi Chambers, announced 142 sustainable investment opportunities across the Kingdom. Covering more than 60 million square meters, the opportunities have investment periods ranging from five to 25 years and include potential projects in…
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Shijian-31 Sweeps GEO in an Orbit Never Seen Before
Is China’s Shijian-31 the First Satellite Designed to Surveil the Entire GEO Belt? A 50 meters-per-second retrograde burn at perigee is all that separates China’s Shijian-31 from passing directly through geostationary orbit (GEO) — the orbital band hosting the world’s most strategically valuable communications, missile warning, and intelligence satellites. Launched June 16, 2026 on a…
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After the China-Saudi Space Agreement: Satellite Data Is Turning Into Real Savings
On July 13, 2026, China National Space Administration (CNSA) Administrator Shan Zhongde met in Beijing with Abdullah Alswaha, Saudi Arabia’s Minister of Communications and Information Technology and Chairman of the Board of the Saudi Space Agency. The two sides discussed cooperation across deep space exploration, space debris mitigation, and communications satellites under a bilateral space…
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Epic Milestone: The World’s First Offshore Net-Based Rocket Recovery — A Comprehensive Analysis of the Long March 10B and Related Companies
On July 10, 2026, the Long March 10B achieved a historic breakthrough by completing China’s first recovery of a rocket first stage, making China the second country in the world—after the United States—to recover a reusable rocket. According to China Central Television, the Long March 10B carrier rocket, developed by the China Academy of Launch…
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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…