Tag: China
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China’s Private Rockets Accelerate Toward Orbit: Who Has Made It—and Who Is Next in Line
On September 1, PALLAS-1 Y1 lifted off from Jiuquan. Galactic Energy is no longer a company with only small solid-fueled rockets: its 52-meter-tall, medium-to-heavy liquid launch vehicle, powered by seven clustered liquid oxygen/kerosene engines, has now completed its first orbital flight. PALLAS-1 Y1 lifts off. Image source: Galactic Energy website, September 2, 2026. Less than…
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i-Space’s Xie Hongjun: Why Is a Rocket Company Moving Into Space Computing?
In 2026, space computing emerged as an important new frontier in commercial space. What problems is it intended to solve, and where is the industry heading? Hello Space has launched its Space Computing Interview Series, speaking with leading Chinese players to examine the real progress being made in this emerging sector. Our guest in this…
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In the Age of Space Computing, Why Is Energy Both the First Opportunity and the First Barrier?
On the ground, when computing capacity falls short, more servers can be added, the grid can supply more electricity, and additional cooling towers can be built. In orbit, however, there are no power outlets and no air to carry heat away. Every model inference, image-processing operation and inter-satellite data exchange ultimately becomes two things: electricity…
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China Commercial Space Industry Monthly Report — August 2026
In August 2026, China and the United States continued to dominate the global launch market. The United States maintained its lead through the high-cadence reuse and launch operations of Falcon 9, while China saw parallel advances by both its state-owned space sector and commercial space companies. A total of 26 orbital launches were conducted worldwide…
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China Launches International Earth-Moon CubeSat Constellation to Support Future Lunar Bases
China has formally launched the International Earth-Moon CubeSat Constellation Big Science Program, which aims to deploy 30 CubeSats across cislunar space in six batches. The preliminary schedule targets the completion of all launches and deployments around 2030. The satellites will conduct space-environment monitoring, gamma-ray burst observations and lunar-resource surveys, generating data intended to support future…
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‘Xuelong’ Receives and Processes HY-1E Data in Arctic, Expanding Real-Time Satellite Support for Polar Navigation
China’s icebreaker Xuelong successfully received and processed data from the HY-1E ocean-color satellite while sailing at high speed in the Arctic on Aug. 27, marking the first time the vessel’s shipborne satellite remote sensing system has acquired and processed data from the new-generation satellite in the region. The system maintained stable tracking of the HY-1E…
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China Uses Fengyun Satellites and MAZU to Support Cross-Border Disaster Monitoring in Nepal
On Aug. 26, a high-altitude ice-and-rock avalanche occurred on the Nepalese side of the border, triggering a chain of cross-border debris flows that caused significant casualties and left people missing at Gyirong Port in China’s Gyirong County. Following the disaster, the China Meteorological Administration activated the Fengyun International User Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Emergency Support…
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Tianwen-3 to Dig Up Martian Soil and Bring It Back to Earth, a First for Humanity
As a key step in China’s planetary exploration program, the Tianwen-3 Mars sample return mission is expected to become the first successful Mars sample return mission in human history. At the 2026 Deep Space Exploration (Tiandu) International Conference held on September 3, Academician Hou Zengqian of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the chief scientist of…
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From “Southern Rockets, Northern Satellites” to Four-District Coordination: Why Has Beijing Become a Hub for Commercial Space?
On September 3, the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Commerce released the Work Plan for the Development of China (Beijing) Pilot Free Trade Zone Linkage Development Areas. The commercial space section presents a more detailed industrial coordination map than the previous “Southern Rockets, Northern Satellites” concept: Haidian focuses on constellation R&D, Fengtai on satellite application services,…
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China’s MAZU System Brings AI-Powered Early-Warning Capabilities to Weather-Vulnerable Regions
China is expanding an artificial-intelligence-based weather early-warning solution to developing countries, combining satellite observations, radar, buoy measurements and numerical weather models to deliver localized forecasts and alerts even where computing and communications infrastructure remain limited. Known as MAZU, the system was developed by the China Meteorological Administration to support global disaster-risk reduction and the United…