Chinese space

China Enters the Big Leagues With Maiden Flight of Massive New Rocket

China Enters the Big Leagues With Maiden Flight of Massive New Rocket

China has taken a major step forward in advancing its space ambitions with the maiden flight of its Long March 5 heavy lift booster. Liftoff of the all liquid fueled rocket took place from China’s Wenchang Satellite Launch Center located on Hainan Island. As with most Chinese launches, and any that carry the potential of […]

Posted in: Chinese space
China Resumes Crewed Spaceflight With Sunday Launch

China Resumes Crewed Spaceflight With Sunday Launch

On Sunday, China launched a two person crew to its newly orbited Tiangong-2 space station. The launch, labelled Shenzhou-11, took place aboard a Long March 2F rocket from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center located in the Gobi desert, lifting off at 7:30 PM EDT, which was 7:30 AM local. The crew of the Shenzhou-11 carrier […]

Posted in: Chinese space
China Debuts Its New Rocket, Launch Center, and Prototype Crew Capsule

China Debuts Its New Rocket, Launch Center, and Prototype Crew Capsule

China has taken a great leap forward in advancing its space ambitions with the successful Saturday night debut of its all new, kerosene/liquid oxygen fueled Long March 7 rocket. The 13.5 ton to LEO EELV class rocket, roughly comparable to the Atlas V and Falcon 9, is intended to be the workhorse booster for supporting […]

The Ties That Bind: Russian / Chinese Engine Cooperation

The Ties That Bind: Russian / Chinese Engine Cooperation

From Tass: “Russia and China are actively discussing the prospects of cooperation in space rocket engine-making, creating a heavy rocket, space stations and making long-distance space flights, Russia’s Ambassador to China Andrey Denisov told TASS on Tuesday. “Our country has substantial potential accumulated in the sphere of engine-making. This is a well-known fact,” the ambassador […]

Posted in: Chinese space, Congress
China Introduces New Commercial Small Launch Vehicle With Close Military Ties

China Introduces New Commercial Small Launch Vehicle With Close Military Ties

China is about to introduce a new class of small launch vehicle aimed at entering the growing smallsat market. The new, solid fueled booster is called Kuaizhou-11, or Fast Vessel-11 and should be capable of placing 1,000 kg into a 700 km sun-synchronous orbit. And at least some versions of a closely related booster sport […]

Posted in: Chinese space
NASA’s Venture Class Announcement & New Chinese Small Launcher Too

NASA’s Venture Class Announcement & New Chinese Small Launcher Too

Yesterday, NASA held a press conference to formally announce the winners of its initial Venture Class Launch Services competition. Given that notice of the awards, which went to Virgin Galactic, Rocket Lab and Firefly Space Systems was posted over two weeks ago, the event was somewhat redundant, but did shed new light on the agency’s […]

China Joins the Kerosene Club with New Rocket Launch

China Joins the Kerosene Club with New Rocket Launch

Until late last week, China’s most impressive space achievements have been carried out with relatively primitive, hypergolic fueled launch vehicles. On Friday however, China marked the debut of the first of a new series of boosters which while still carrying the Long March designation, are designed to bring that nation’s boost capabilities on par with […]

Chinese VC Firm Invests $5M in XCOR

Chinese VC Firm Invests $5M in XCOR

Lynx Mark I Under Construction / Image Credit XCOR Aerospace Forbes reports that the Chinese venture capital firm Haiyin Capital has made a $5 million dollar investment in XCOR Aerospace. The investment is noteworthy for a number of reasons, and may be pointing the way to a brighter future for NewSpace firms looking for additional […]

Posted in: Chinese space, XCOR
China’s 3rd Generation Space Station

China’s 3rd Generation Space Station

Artists’ Concept of a Third Generation Chinese Station. Image Credit Xinhuan.net Following the success of Tiangong 1, China announced last year that after another round of development with the follow on Tiangong 2 station, that it is planning to open up its considerably more advanced third generation station to international astronauts.  Unfortunately, an ongoing ban on […]

China’s Rover Not Done Yet

China’s Rover Not Done Yet

Apparently there is no need to compose “Ode to a Rover Dying Young.” At least not yet.  Chinese new service Xinhuan.ner has confirmed that the  Yutu, or  “Jade Rabbit” Moon rover is coming back to life after surviving the deep cold of the two week lunar night.  Shortly before going into a planned hibernation mode, the […]

Posted in: Chinese space, Moon
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