Tag: CNSA
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NASA’s CLPS program accelerates as two landers head for the Moon
As NASA focuses on returning humans to the Moon with Artemis, commercial providers are gearing up to deliver cargo to the lunar surface for NASA and other customers. Over a dozen uncrewed lunar missions are scheduled to be launched in the coming years, and more concepts are being developed globally. Two commercial lunar landers are…
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Chang Zheng 12, ZhuQue-2E fly maiden missions; Hainan spaceport and mega constellations expand
In late November, two new Chinese rockets took their maiden flights within four days of each other, with the Chang Zheng 12 and Landspace’s enhanced ZhuQue-2E successfully completing their missions. This week saw the first launch of the Chang Zheng 5B heavy-lift vehicle in over two years, carrying an initial batch of satellites for another…
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China Roundup: Tianlong-3 static fire anomaly, Chang’e 6 sample return, and next-generation rockets
Throughout the last few weeks, several events in Chinese spaceflight have created international headlines. After launching a Chang Zheng 2C rocket that would later fall onto an inhabited village, a Tianlong-3 rocket was unexpectedly released during a static fire test and would crash in an area close to the launch site. However, not all of…
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Launch Roundup: Electron launches for the 50th time; Falcon 9 returns to normal operations
Concluding a rare week that was void of any launches and riddled with scrubs, the spaceflight industry looks to return to the planned course of action with four launches from all over the world. This week, the 50th launch of Electron has taken flight, and SpaceX and CASC continue to dominate the launch calendar. SpaceX…
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Through international collaboration, scientists find cause of InSight’s most powerful Marsquake
An international team of scientists has found the cause of the largest Martian seismic event, or Marsquake, observed by NASA’s Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy and Heat Transport (InSight) Mars lander. After ruling out a meteor impact, they concluded the event must have been caused by a release of stress within the planet’s crust.…
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China reveals lunar lander, launches satellites, and conducts a spacewalk
China has stayed busy over the last week, launching a new set of Tianhui-6 satellites into space while detailing plans for their first lunar missions in 2030. Furthermore, a new change could impact the Chang Zheng 5B rocket and reduce the chances of an uncontrolled reentry. Finally, an EVA was conducted on the Tiangong Space…
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China finishing busy Space station year with Shenzhou-15
China has launched the Shenzhou-15 mission to the Tiangong space station on Tuesday, Nov. 29, during an instantaneous launch window at 15:08 UTC from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center (JSLC). It launched three taikonauts to the station to replace the current crew of the Shenzhou-14 mission, using a Chang Zheng 2F (CZ-2F) rocket and launching…
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Three spacewalks completed across two days on two space stations
In low Earth orbit (LEO) this week, NASA, Roscosmos, and the China National Space Administration (CNSA) performed spacewalks outside humankind’s two permanently-crewed space stations. NASA conducted its Extravehicular Activity, or EVA (colloquially referred to as a spacewalk), on Tuesday, Nov. 15 on the International Space Station (ISS), with China following on Nov. 17 outside their…
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China performs second EVA in two weeks, Chang Zheng 2D launch
China conducted another EVA outside of their Tiangong Space Station, preparing the station for the future and practicing safety mechanisms for upcoming EVAs. They also launched the Yunhai-1-03 payload from Jiuquan on board a Chang Zheng 2D rocket. Shenzhou-14 Mission Conducts Second Spacewalk On Sept. 17, Chinese taikonauts Chen Dong and Cai Xuzhe started the…
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China debuts Chang Zheng 6A, teases more variants
China successfully debuted one of its new generation vehicles on Tuesday when the Chang Zheng 6A successfully lifted off at 09:50 UTC (5:50 am EDT) from a brand new launch pad at the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center (TSLC). The rocket lifted the Pujiang-2 satellite and the Tiankun-2 payload to a sun-synchronous orbit (SSO). This is…