Tag: China
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China Completes Launch Pad on Hainan Island, Boosting Space Access and Satellite Constellation Plans
China has achieved a significant milestone in its space endeavors with the completion of the first launch pad at the Hainan Commercial Launch Site on December 29. The newly-completed launch pad is poised to enhance China’s access to space, providing crucial support for national constellation projects and commercial launch initiatives. This development addresses a key…
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Launch Roundup: Vulcan’s maiden flight, SpaceX continues launching Starlink
The week of Jan. 4 to Jan. 10 saw the long-awaited maiden flight of the United Launch Alliance’s (ULA) Vulcan rocket carrying the Astrobotic Peregrine Mission One Lunar Lander to the Moon. Two Chinese rockets have launched: one Kuaizhou 1A, and the Einstein Probe X-ray satellite, launched on Jan 9. from Xichang, China on board a…
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Launch Roundup: Vulcan’s maiden flight, SpaceX continues launching Starlink
The week of Jan. 4 to Jan. 10 saw the long-awaited maiden flight of the United Launch Alliance’s (ULA) Vulcan rocket carrying the Astrobotic Peregrine Mission One Lunar Lander to the Moon. Two Chinese rockets have launched: one Kuaizhou 1A, and the Einstein Probe X-ray satellite, launched on Jan 9. from Xichang, China on board a…
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China’s 2023: closing out a busy year amidst preparations for lunar missions
Following China’s impressive 2022, the country once again managed to launch over 60 times in a calendar year. While the year lacked high-profile missions, more are on the horizon as China focuses on the Moon. The launches While the year is not fully over yet, China already managed to build up an impressive manifest for…
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Launch Roundup: scrubs deny SpaceX its 100 Falcon launch goal; look to end the year with a 300th mission milestone
This week nearly saw two secret spaceplanes launched within days of each other. After ground systems concerns and then weather delays, the US Department of Defense’s X-37B vehicle had its OTV-7 launch on the Falcon Heavy USSF-52 mission scrubbed from its initial planned attempt on Dec. 11. Starlink Group 6-34 was also scrubbed that same…
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A top-secret Chinese spy satellite just launched on a supersized rocket
China’s largest rocket apparently wasn’t big enough to launch the country’s newest spy satellite, so engineers gave the rocket an upgrade. The Long March 5 launcher flew with a payload fairing some 20 feet (6.2 meters) taller than its usual nose cone when it took off on Friday with a Chinese military spy satellite. This…
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Launch Roundup: Rocket Lab returns to flight; SpaceX launches more Starlink
SpaceX had a lighter week of launches, with Rocket Lab, Russia, and China also launching rockets. Following several delays, SpaceX launched the Starlink Group 6-34 mission. Rocket Lab returned to flight on Friday with “The Moon God Awakens” mission. This comes after a previous mission, dubbed “We Will Never Desert You,” failed to reach orbit…
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ZhuQue-2 launches on third flight
LandSpace has launched its third ZhuQue-2 rocket on Friday, Dec. 8, at 23:40 UTC. The launch, just like the first two, took place from Launch Site 96 at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in China. Earlier this year, ZhuQue-2 performed its second launch, in which the rocket successfully reached orbit. After the initial launch in…
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Rocket Report: A mysterious explosion in China; Firefly tests new engine
Welcome to Edition 6.21 of the Rocket Report! Someone is always watching, and it’s more difficult than ever to hide bad news. This is one of my mantras as a reporter who will always come down on the side of transparency. We’ve seen space companies and government agencies in the United States try to downplay…
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With another record broken, the world’s spaceports are busier than ever
Led by SpaceX and China, the world’s launch providers have put more rockets and payloads into orbit so far in 2023 than in any prior year, continuing an upward trend in launch activity over the last five years. On Sunday, the Transportation Security Administration reported that it screened more than 2.9 million airline passengers making…