Tag: Chang Zheng 3B
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Despite initial setbacks, Chinese spaceflight expected to see exciting 2026
The new year has not started well for China, with two failures among its first six launches. Even so, 2026 is shaping up to be a pivotal year, with numerous new launch vehicles — including several reusable designs — expected to debut, and a realistic prospect of the country’s first propulsive landing of an orbital-class…
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China Roundup: Commercial launch providers drive forward reusability with more VTVL tests
Private Chinese launch providers continue to march at pace toward reusability, with two companies performing test high-altitude hops of their Vertical Takeoff and Vertical Landing (VTVL) prototype vehicles. Landspace achieved a 10 km altitude flight in late August with its ZhuQue-3 hopper prototype. This week, Deep Blue Aerospace flew its Xingyung-1 reusable test vehicle for…
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China Roundup: Chang’e 6 lands on the Moon, and record-breaking EVA
China’s Chang’e 6 landed on and sampled the far side of the Moon while the Shenzhou-18 crew performed a record-breaking spacewalk at the Tiangong Space Station. Additionally, 10 more rockets were launched from the country in the last few weeks. Chang’e 6 lands on the far side of the Moon China’s sixth uncrewed lunar exploration…
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Launch Roundup: SpaceX pushes for 100 flights in the year with a ISS resupply, a rideshare mission, and more
SpaceX is actively working to reach its goal of 100 launches by the end of this year with four launches carrying many different types of payloads coming this week. Additionally, China has continued to upgrade its satellites in orbit with the 150th launch of its Chang Zheng 3B/E rocket. A Starlink mission started out the…
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Commercial rockets spotted amidst Chinese launch tripleheader
China is starting to increase its launch cadence again after a slow start to 2023. This week saw three launches in the Chang Zheng family while several more non-Chang Zheng vehicles were spotted on launch pads at Jiuquan. Satellite Imagery of Jiuquan Recently published satellite imagery showed new Chinese commercial vehicles on multiple pads at…
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China launches two satellites following EVA at Tiangong station
The Chinese space program has resumed launches after going over a month without a single launch due to the Chinese New Year and Spring Festival holiday period. On Thursday, Feb. 23, at 7:49 PM Beijing time (11:49 UTC), Chang Zheng 3B Y93 flew successfully from pad LC-2 at Xichang in southwest China. This flight, the…
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China to launch new station modules and collaborate with Europe on science missions in 2023
With launch numbers 63 and 64 just before the end of this year, China finishes its most successful spaceflight year yet. Another Gaofen-11 launched from Taiyuan on a Chang Zheng 4B on Dec. 27 at 07:37 UTC, before the year was closed with the Shiyan 10-02 payload aboard a Chang Zheng 3B on Dec. 29…
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China launches Zhongxing-19 mission from Xichang
China successfully launched the Zhongxing-19 mission on a Chang Zheng 3B/E rocket today. The rocket took off at 11:50 UTC from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in China and launched into geostationary transfer orbit (GTO). This launch is a replacement payload for the previously malfunctioned Zhongxing-18 satellite, which was initially launched on the same rocket…
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China lofts new Tianlian-2 data relay satellite from Xichang
China has successfully launched the third satellite of their Tianlian 2 series of data and relay satellites. Liftoff occurred from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in inner China at 16:30 UTC on July 12, 2022, utilizing a Chang Zheng 3B/E (CZ-3B/E) rocket. Tianlian, translated as “sky chain,” is the name of the Chinese data relay…
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China’s Chang Zheng 3B/E launches ChinaSat 6D
China has successfully launched the ChinaSat 6D satellite into geostationary transfer orbit Friday via their Chang Zheng 3B/E rocket. The launch took place at 12:00 UTC (8:00 PM local time) from Launch Complex 2 at the Xichang Satellite Launch Center. The ChinaSat 6D satellite, also known as Zhongxing 6D, was deployed into orbit by the…