Tag: China
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China’s Long March 11 rocket lofts Earth-imaging and tech demo satellites
China’s Long March 11 rocket fires into space Monday from the Jiuquan space base. Credit: Xinhua China’s second space launch of the year released four satellites into orbits more than 300 miles (500 kilometers) in altitude, adding two spacecraft to the Chinese-owned Jilin 1 commercial Earth-imaging constellation and deploying two smallsats on tech demo missions.…
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Satellogic strikes Chinese deal to launch 90 satellites for Earth-watching network
China’s Long March 6 rocket lifts off from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center in 2017. (CCTV via YouTube) An international space venture called Satellogic says it will have 90 satellites launched by a Chinese company to create an Earth-observing constellation. The first launch by the China Great Wall Industry Corp. under the newly announced deal,…
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In the 2020s, China aims to lay groundwork for a moon base — plus missions to Mars
Video captured by China’s Chang’e-4 lander shows the Yutu 2 rover roaming the surface of the moon’s far side. (CNSA via Weibo) Flush from the success of the world’s first rover mission to the moon’s far side, Chinese space officials said today that they’re planning robotic trips to the lunar south pole to prepare the…
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China begins 2019 launch campaign with a success
A Long March 3B rocket lifted off Thursday from the Xichang space center carrying the Zhongxing 2D, or Chinasat 2D, communications satellite. Credit: Xinhua A Chinese communications satellite heading for geostationary orbit more than 22,000 miles over the equator lifted off Thursday from the Xichang space base in southwestern China aboard a Long March 3B…
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After media mix-up, China says Chang’e-4 makes first landing on moon’s far side
An image captured from the Chang’e-4 lander shows the Yutu 2 rover rolling onto the terrain of the lunar far side. (CLEP via Weibo / Twitter) Official Chinese media confirmed that the nation’s robotic Chang’e-4 probe made the first-ever landing on the far side of the moon — but not before issuing, and then withdrawing, an initial…
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China debuts new upper stage in final launch of the year
A Long March 2D rocket lifts off Saturday from the Jiuquan space base in northwestern China’s Inner Mongolia region. Credit: China Aerospace Science and Technology Corp. A Chinese Long March 2D booster climbed into orbit from the Jiuquan space base in the northwest of the country Saturday, delivering seven small satellites to space on communications…
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Long March 2D concludes 2018 campaign with Hongyan-1 launch
A Chinese Long March-2D/YZ-3 (Chang Zheng-2D/YZ-3) rocket has conducted the final orbital launch of 2018 when it lofted the Hongyan-1 satellite from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center on Saturday. The launch took place at 08:00 UTC from the Launch Pad 94 of the LC43 Launch Complex. Hongyan-1 is the first satellite of a constellation of…
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China launches two more Long March rockets; another possible before end of year
A Long March 11 rocket lifts off Dec. 21 (Dec. 22 Chinese time). Credit: Xinhua China’s space program is sprinting toward the end of the year by extending the country’s record-breaking launch rate, with two more space missions lifting off in the last week carrying a pathfinder for a planned constellation of Internet satellites and…
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Long March 3C lofts secretive TJSW spacecraft
Launch activities at the Xichang Satellite Launch Center for 2018 ended with the launch of another secretive Tongxin Jishu Shiyan Weixing (TJSW) satellite on Christmas Day. The launch took place at 16:53 UTC using a Long March-3C/G2 (Chang Zheng-3C/G2) launch vehicle from the LC3 launch complex. As with the previous launch of Communications Engineering Test…
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China launches Chang’e-4 probe, destined for landing and roving on moon’s far side
A Chinese Long March 3B rocket lifts off from Xichang Satellite Launch Center, sending the Chang’e-4 probe into space. (CASC via Weibo) China’s space effort launched its most ambitious robotic lunar mission to date, taking aim at a crater near the south pole on the moon’s far side. The Chang’e-4 combination lander and rover were…