Tag: Long March 5
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China Advances Tianwen-3 Mars Sample-Return Mission Toward 2028 Launch
China has moved hardware for its Tianwen-3 Mars sample-return mission into prototype development, maintaining plans for two Long March 5 launches in late 2028 and the return of approximately 500 grams of Martian material to Earth around 2031. If successful, the mission would complete the first direct return of samples from Mars and could give…
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China Delays Historic Chang’e-7 Lunar South Pole Mission as Tropical Storm Narra Disrupts Launch Plans
China has postponed the launch of its landmark Chang’e-7 lunar exploration mission after Tropical Storm Narra developed in the Gulf of Tonkin and created unfavorable conditions near the Wenchang Space Launch Site on Hainan Island. The delay affects one of the most ambitious robotic lunar missions ever attempted and a key element of China’s long-term…
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Carrier rocket for China’s Chang’e-7 lunar probe arrives at launch site
The carrier rocket for the Chang’e-7 lunar exploration mission has arrived at the Wenchang Spacecraft Launch Site in south China’s Hainan Province, the China Manned Space Agency (CMSA) said on Monday. The Long March-5 Y14 carrier rocket will undergo assembly and testing at the launch site together with the Chang’e-7 lunar probe, which was transported…
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Rocket Report: Astroscale chases down dead rocket; Ariane 6 on the pad
Welcome to Edition 6.42 of the Rocket Report! Several major missions are set for launch in the next few months. These include the first crew flight on Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft, set for liftoff on May 6, and the next test flight of SpaceX’s Starship rocket, which could happen before the end of May. Perhaps as…
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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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NASA chief criticizes China for uncontrolled rocket re-entry
The core stage of China’s Long March 5B rocket, seen here before launch, re-entered the atmosphere over the Arabian Peninsula and Indian Ocean late Saturday. Credit: Xinhua NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said Saturday that China is failing to meet “responsible standards” on space debris after a massive Long March rocket stage fell back to Earth…
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Large Chinese rocket tumbling toward toward unguided re-entry this weekend
A Long March 5B rocket lifts off with the Tianhe space station module. Credit: Xinhua For the second time in a year, a large spent Chinese rocket stage intentionally left in orbit is heading for an unguided plunge back into Earth’s atmosphere Saturday or Sunday somewhere between 41.5 degrees north and south latitude. The heavy-lift…
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Assembly of Chinese space station begins with successful core module launch
A Chinese Long March 5B rocket lifts off with the Tianhe space station core module. Credit: Xinhua Chinese officials confirmed the successful launch of the first element of the country’s space station early Thursday, laying the keystone to a permanently-inhabited orbiting habitat that could welcome its first astronauts this summer. The liftoff of the Tianhe…
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First element of Chinese space station ready for liftoff
The core module of China’s space station undergoes a vacuum test to simulate the conditions it will see in orbit. The core module of China’s space station is packaged inside the nose cone of a heavy-lift Long March 5B rocket for liftoff late Wednesday (U.S. time), the first of 11 launches to deliver astronauts, supplies,…
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China to begin construction of space station this year
Components for the Long March 5B rocket that will launch the core module of China’s space station. Credit: CASC The core section of China’s space station is scheduled to launch in the next several months, the first of 11 missions carrying lab elements, cargo, and astronauts to the fledgling outpost over the next two years,…