Tag: China
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China’s space station plan bolstered by year of successes
Artist’s concept of China’s planned space station. Credit: CMSA A series of achievements in China’s space program over the last 12 months have set the stage to start construction of the country’s first space station in 2019, a year later than previously scheduled, officials said Friday. “Since 2016, we have successfully launched the Long March…
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Tianzhou 1 freighter achieves China’s first in-space refueling demo
Animation of the Tiangong 2 space lab (left) and Tianzhou spacecraft (right) docked in orbit. Credit: CCTV The robotic Tianzhou 1 refueling freighter launched last week has successfully completed the first in-orbit propellant transfer with China’s Tiangong 2 space lab, a major accomplishment as the country’s engineers hope to finish assembly of a large space…
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China’s Tianzhou 1 cargo carrier docks with space lab in orbit
Less than two days after launching from southern China, the Tianzhou 1 supply ship glided to an automated linkup with the Chinese Tiangong 2 space laboratory around 240 miles (385 kilometers) above Earth on Saturday, ready for several months of technical demonstrations to prepare for assembly of a space station in the next few years.…
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First supply ship for Chinese space station lifts off on test flight
The Tianzhou 1 cargo craft launched aboard a Long March 7 rocket Thursday. Credit: Xinhua A Long March 7 rocket lifted off Thursday with Tianzhou 1, an unpiloted refueling freighter heading for China’s Tiangong 2 mini-space station to conduct several months of robotic demonstrations, practicing for the assembly and maintenance of a future permanently-staffed orbital…
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Tianzhou-1 – China launches and docks debut cargo resupply
China is taking another significant step on the road towards a permanent presence in space, following the Long March 7 (TZ-1) launch of Tianzhou-1 – the first Chinese logistics cargo vehicle. The launch took place at 11:40:45 UTC on Thursday from the LC201 Launch Complex at the Wenchang Space Launch Center, followed by docking on…
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China’s first robotic resupply freighter transferred to launch pad
A Chinese Long March 7 rocket rolled out to its launch pad at the Wenchang space center on China’s Hainan Island on Monday. Credit: Xinhua/Ju Zhenhua Chinese engineers rolled out a Long March 7 rocket to a seaside launch complex on Hainan Island in the South China Sea on Monday, aiming to fire a robotic…
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China’s highest-capacity communications satellite launched into orbit
A Long March 3B rocket blasted off Wednesday with China’s Shijian 13/Chinasat 16 communications satellite. Credit: Xinhua A Chinese Long March 3B rocket fired into space Wednesday with Shijian 13, also known as Chinasat 16, to deliver Internet connectivity to remote parts of China, airline travelers and high-speed trains. The Shijian 13 satellite also has…
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Experimental Tiankun-1 lofted during secretive KT-2 launch
China orbited a small experimental satellite called Tiankun-1 (TK-1), utilizing the Kaituozhe-2 (KT-2) rocket, new launch vehicle. Launched at 23:45 UTC on Thursday from the Jiuquan Launch Center, the new launcher is the latest in a series of solid launcher fueled rockets developed by China that debuted during recent months. Chinese Launch: The small TK-1…
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Small experimental satellite launched by new Chinese rocket
China debuted a new solid-fueled booster Thursday in an unannounced flight that put a small satellite into polar orbit, adding another rocket to the country’s growing fleet of lightweight launchers. The KT-2 rocket lifted off at 2353 GMT (6:53 p.m. EST) Thursday from the Jiuquan space center, a military-run base in northwestern China’s Gobi Desert,…
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China sets November launch for lunar sample return mission
File photo of the moon seen from the International Space Station. Credit: NASA China plans to launch a robotic mission to return samples from the lunar surface, the first such mission in four decades, in November on top of the country’s new heavy-lift Long March 5 rocket, according to state media reports. The government-run Xinhua…