Tag: China
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Wang Yaping becomes the first Chinese woman to walk in space
On November 7, Chinese taikonauts Zhai Zhigang and Wang Yaping conducted the first spacewalk for the Shenzhou-13 mission at the Chinese Space Station. The extravehicular activity (EVA) was the first for a Chinese woman and successfully installed new hardware on the exterior of the Tianhe core module. The extravehicular activity began when Wang Yaping and…
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Chang Zheng 3B lifts Shijian 21 to orbit
Without any prior announcements, China launched another Chang Zheng 3B/E rocket with the Shijian 21 payload to Geostationary Transfer Orbit (GTO). The rocket took off at 01:27 UTC on October 24 from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center’s LC-2. The launch was called a success two hours later and it was confirmed that the payload, Shijian…
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Shenzhou 13 launches first long-duration Chinese Space Station crew
After a successful launch to the new Chinese Space Station earlier this year and the initial 90-day “shakedown cruise” of the Shenzhou 12 crew, three taikonauts launched to the station aboard the Shenzhou 13 spacecraft to begin the first long-duration stay aboard. Shenzhou 13 launched atop a Chang Zheng 2F (CZ-2F) rocket at 16:23 UTC…
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China launches hydrogen-alpha solar telescope aboard Long March 2D
China has launched a small experimental solar observatory as part of a multi-satellite launch aboard a Long March 2D rocket Thursday. The launch took place from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center at 10:51 UTC (18:51 Bejing time). Thursday’s launch carried eleven satellites, with the primary payload being the Chinese Hydrogen-Alpha Solar Explorer (CHASE), which was…
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Chang Zheng 4C lifts Gaofen-5-02 satellite to orbit
On Tuesday, September 7 China launched the second Gaofen-5 remote imagery satellite into a 705 km sun-synchronous orbit (SSO). The launch took place at 03:01 UTC on a Chang Zheng 4C and was conducted from Launch Complex 9 at the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center in China. The first launch attempt on Monday was scrubbed due…
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China launches Chang Zheng 3B for seventh TJSW mission
At 15:41 UTC on August 24, a Chang Zheng 3B (internationally known as Long March 3B) successfully lifted off from LC-3 at the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in China. It is believed the launch vehicle carried the seventh Tongxin Jishu Shiyan Weixing (TJSW-7) satellite to Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit. The nature of TJSW satellites is not…
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Chang Zheng 2C lofts experimental Chinese internet satellites into orbit
Just over a month after its most recent launch, a Chinese Chang Zheng 2C rocket lifted off from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in Inner Mongolia, successfully carrying three new Chinese satellites into polar orbits around Earth. Although very little public information has been released about the rocket’s payloads, it is believed to consist of…
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China places two KL-Beta satellites into orbit
Without previous warning or announcement, China’s space agency launched two satellites from Launch Complex 16 at the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center on Wednesday, August 4. The two payloads, called “KL-Beta-A” and “KL-Beta-B,” launched on a Chang Zheng 6 rocket into a sun-synchronous orbit (SSO) at 11:01 UTC. This marked the 27th launch from China in…
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China Launches Five Satellites on a Chang Zheng 2D
At 02:51 UTC, or 10:51 AM Beijing time on Saturday, July 3, the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC) successfully launched a Chang Zheng 2D rocket from LC-9 at the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center, carrying five satellites into Sun Synchronous Orbit. The launch is the beginning of what is expected to be a busy…
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Shenzhou-12 and three crew members successfully launch to new Chinese space station
The first crewed mission to the new Chinese Space Station has successfully launched. Shenzhou-12, carrying three taikonauts, lifted off on Thursday June 17 at 01:22 UTC from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in the Gobi Desert in northwest China. Shenzhou-12 launched on top of the human-rated Long March 2F vehicle, which is based on the…