Tag: China
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Rocket Report: Rocket Lab’s next step in reuse, Blue Origin engine explodes
Welcome to Edition 6.02 of the Rocket Report! I’m on my third week at Ars, and the space beat is as busy as ever. Going forward, Eric and I will alternate work on the Rocket Report every other week. SpaceX broke its own booster reuse record this week, and a Chinese company made history with…
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Launch Roundup: SpaceX finishes Starlink v1 flights – China launches methane powered ZQ-2
This week, LandSpace reached orbit on its second test flight of the ZhuQue-2 rocket; SpaceX launched the final v1.0/v1.5 Starlink satellites on Starlink Group 5-15; and India launched the Chandrayaan-3 lunar exploration mission atop their Launch Vehicle Mark 3 rocket. These launches will mark the 102nd through 104th orbital launches of 2023. If the launch…
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Chinese company wins race for first methane-fueled rocket to orbit
A commercial Chinese firm named LandSpace launched its Zhuque-2 rocket late Tuesday and made history as the first company to send a methane-fueled launcher into orbit, beating a bevy of US vehicles to the milestone. LandSpace launched the Zhuque-2 rocket at 9 pm ET Tuesday (01:00 UTC Wednesday) from the Jiuquan spaceport, a military-run facility…
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China outlines ambitious plans for Moon landing; ZhuQue-2 prepares to launch again
Over the last few weeks, China has remained busy with both launching rockets and announcing news, as the country outlined its ambitious plans for its upcoming Lunar program, in which they hope to land a taikonaut on the surface of the Moon by 2030. What’s more, China launched a rideshare mission on an all-solid rocket…
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Live coverage: Three Chinese astronauts return to Earth
Live coverage of China’s Shenzhou 15 mission, a six-month expedition to the Chinese space station. Text updates will appear automatically below. Follow us on Twitter. [tabby title=”CCTV Live Landing Coverage”] [tabby title=”CCTV Undocking Replay”] [tabbyending]
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Shenzhou crew capsule brings home three Chinese astronauts
The Shenzhou 15 spacecraft descends toward landing under its main parachute. Credit: CCTV Three Chinese astronauts departed the Tiangong space station Saturday and landed in the remote Gobi Desert of northwestern China, capping a six-month expedition that included four spacewalks and a host of experiments in the microgravity environment of low Earth orbit. The three-man…
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Chinese astronaut launch breaks record for most people in orbit
A Long March 2F rocket climbs through the sky after lifting off from the Jiuquan launch base with the Shenzhou 16 astronauts. Credit: China Manned Space Agency The launch of the next crew to China’s Tiangong space station late Monday (U.S. time) added three astronauts to the population of humans in space, which reached a…
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Live coverage: China launches three-man crew to Tiangong space station
Live coverage of China’s Shenzhou 16 mission, a planned six-month expedition to the Chinese space station. Text updates will appear automatically below. Follow us on Twitter. [tabby title=”CCTV launch coverage (with English commentary)”] [tabbyending]
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Three astronauts ready for ride to China’s space station
Chinese space officials announced the identities of the Shenzhou 16 crew members just one day before their launch to the Tiangong space station. From left to right: Payload specialist Gui Haichao, commander Jing Haipeng, and spaceflight engineer Zhu Yangzhu. Credit: China Manned Space Agency The next three-man crew to live on China’s Tiangong space station…
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Beidou-3 G4 gets launched and Chinese Raptor gets tested, as it receives its own name
One of China’s biggest rockets flew again this Wednesday. Chang Zheng 3B/E successfully launched the Beidou-3 G4 payload at 2:49 AM UTC. The launch was conducted from launch complex 2 of the China Xichang Satellite Launch Center (XSLC). This is already the third flight of the massive first-generation launcher. Beidou-3 G4 is a geostationary Earth…