Tag: China
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China launches Chang Zheng 7A rocket on its Return To Flight mission
China has successfully launched the second Chang Zheng 7A (CZ-7A) rocket from the Wenchang Spacecraft Launch Site on Hainan Island, thus recovering from the first failed launch that took place almost one year ago. Carrying the mysterious Shiyan 9/Xinjishu Yanzheng-6-02 satellite, liftoff took place at 17:51 UTC on 11 March from the LC-201 launch complex.…
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China preparing to build Tiangong station in 2021, complete by 2022
China is gearing up for its next big leap in space exploration: the construction of its modular crewed space station, the Tiangong. Starting in 2021, the construction of the Tiangong orbital space station is expected to be complete in 2022 after eleven missions, including three launches of different modules, four launches of cargo vehicles and…
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Another trio of Chinese military satellites successfully deployed
A Long March 4C rocket takes off Feb. 24 with another trio of Yaogan 31 military satellites. Credit: Xinhua Weeks after the launch of an earlier trio of Chinese military satellites, another spacecraft triplet successfully took off Feb. 24 aboard a Long March 4C rocket on a clandestine mission that analysts believe may involve spying…
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Spectacular video released from China’s first Mars mission
China’s space agency has released a pair of spectacular video clips from “selfie” cameras on-board the country’s Tianwen 1 spacecraft as it braked into orbit around Mars on Feb. 10. One of the videos shows Tianwen 1’s high-gain directional antenna shaking from vibrations caused by the spacecraft’s main engine, which fired for 15 minutes to…
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China’s first Mars mission enters orbit around Red Planet
A camera on-board the Tianwen 1 spacecraft captured a view of Mars earlier this month as it approached the Red Planet. Credit: CNSA/CASC China placed is first spacecraft into orbit around Mars on Wednesday, continuing an international blitz on the Red Planet one day after the arrival of a spacecraft from United Arab Emirates and…
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China, with Tianwen-1, begins tenure at Mars with successful orbital arrival
The Tianwen-1 orbiter, lander, and rover mission to Mars from the People’s Republic of China has successfully arrived at the Red Planet following an approximately 15 minute Mars Orbit Insertion burn that placed the craft into orbit. The arrival capped a seven-month cruise to Mars and marks the start of a multi-pronged scientific mission that…
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China launches military satellite toward geostationary orbit
A Long March 3B rocket takes off with the TJS 6 satellite. Credit: CASC A mysterious Chinese government satellite, believed to be a military-operated early warning station, successfully launched into orbit Feb. 4 on top of a Long March 3B rocket. The three-stage, 184-foot-tall (55-meter) rocket lifted off from the Xichang space center at 1536…
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After success in 2019, Chinese startup fails on second orbital launch attempt
This image of the Hyperbola 1 launch was shared on Chinese social media. The second orbital launch attempt by Chinese launch company iSpace failed shortly after liftoff Feb. 1, following a successful debut flight in 2019 that made iSpace the first private firm in China to put a payload into orbit. The Hyperbola 1 rocket…
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Chinese Hyperbola-1 rocket fails during its second launch
The Chinese private space launch company i-Space (Beijing Interstellar Glory Space Technology Ltd.) developed Hyperbola-1 (Shian Quxian-1) rocket failed in its second launch on Monday in an attempt to orbit the small Fangzhou-2 (Ark-2) satellite. The launch took place at 08:15 UTC from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center. Available images from the launch show the vehicle…
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China launches military spy satellite trio into orbit
A Chinese Long March 4C rocked launched Friday with three Yaogan 31 military surveillance satellites. Credit: Xinhua China launched three Yaogan military satellites Friday on a Long March 4C rocket, adding to a fleet of spacecraft independent analysts believe are designed to spy on naval forces. The three Yaogan 31-series satellites lifted off aboard a…