Tag: China

  • China launches second Kuaizhou-1A rocket in four days

    China launches second Kuaizhou-1A rocket in four days

    In just a little more than a four day period, from the very same pad, with the very same launch team and launch truck, China has launched yet another Kuaizhou-1A rocket carrying satellites into orbit. This flight, fresh on the heels of yet another flight with the Jilin-1 Gaofen-2A satellite on November 13, lifted off…

  • Two Chinese satellite launchers lift off three hours apart

    A solid-fueled Kuaizhou 1A rocket launched from the Jiuquan space base in northwestern China’s Inner Mongolia region at 0340 GMT Wednesday (10:40 p.m. EST Tuesday). Credit: Xinhua Chinese rockets performed two satellite delivery missions in a three-hour span Wednesday, carrying a commercial Earth-imaging satellite and five mysterious surveillance payloads into orbit. The launches originated from…

  • Another Beidou satellite launched by China

    A Long March 3B rocket lifted off from the Xichang space center Monday with a Beidou navigation satellite. Credit: Xinhua A Chinese Long March 3B rocket successfully carried a new Beidou navigation satellite into orbit Monday, continuing a brisk launch cadence at the country’s launch sites. The Long March 3B rocket lifted off from the…

  • Long March 3B launches Beidou-3I3 (IGSO-3)

    China successfully launched another navigation satellite on Monday with the flight of Beidou-3I3 (IGSO-3) that took place from the LC2 Launch Complex of the Xichang Satellite Launch Center, Sichuan province. The launch used the Long March-3B/G2 ‘Chang Zheng-3B/G2’ (Y61) launch vehicle. T-0 was recorded at around 17:43 UTC. Also designated Beidou-49, the satellite is part…

  • Chinese mapping satellite launches on Long March 4B rocket

    A Chinese Long March 4B rocket lifted off Sunday with four satellites on-board. Credit: Xinhua An Earth observation satellite designed to collect three-dimensional mapping imagery rode a Long March 4B rocket into orbit Sunday with three smaller spacecraft, including one to test an innovative French-made iodine thruster, and another satellite built for Sudan. Hailed as…

  • China on pace to resume Long March 5 launches by end of year

    File photo of the second Long March 5 rocket before its ill-fated launch in July 2017. Credit: Xinhua Components for China’s third Long March 5 rocket arrived at the country’s southern launch base this week as teams prepare for the first flight of the heavy-lift launcher since a 2017 mission ended in failure. The return-to-flight…

  • NASA’s moon program winning international support

    Sylvain Laporte, president of the Canadian Space Agency, speaks during a heads of agencies panel Monday at the International Astronautical Congress in Washington. Credit: NASA/Joel Kowsky While Congress considers whether to provide funding NASA says it needs for a moon landing with astronauts before the end of 2024, several international partners voiced their intentions Monday…

  • China launches mysterious geostationary satellite

    A Long March 3B rocket lifted off from the Xichang space center at 1521 GMT (11:21 a.m. EDT) Thursday. Credit: CCTV China successfully launched a satellite toward geostationary orbit Thursday aboard a Long March 3B rocket, but the spacecraft’s purpose remained a mystery. The TJS 4 satellite lifted off from the Xichang space center in…

  • China launches new Gaofen Earth-imaging satellite

    A Long March 4C rocket lifted off from the Taiyuan space center at 1851 GMT (2:51 p.m. EDT) Friday. Credit: CCTV A Chinese Long March 4C rocket delivered into orbit Friday the Gaofen 10 Earth-imaging satellite, a likely replacement for a spacecraft lost in an August 2016 launch failure. The Long March 4C booster lifted…

  • China launches environmental monitoring satellite

    A Long March 2D rocket lifted off at 0054 GMT Wednesday (8:54 p.m. EDT Tuesday) from the Jiuquan space base in northwestern China. Credit: Xinhua China launched a Long March 2D rocket Wednesday carrying a Yunhai environmental monitoring satellite into an orbit some 470 miles (760 kilometers) above Earth. The Long March 2D booster took…