Tag: China
-
Chinese Long March 3B/E launches Apstar-7
China opened their 2012 commercial launch manifest with the lofting of the Apstar-7 into orbit. The launch took place at 10:27UTC from the LC2 launch platform at the from the Xichang satellite Launch Center, using a Long March 3B/ (Chang Zheng-3B/E) launch vehicle. Chinese Commercial Launch: Apstar-7 satellite is an advanced telecommunications satellite based on…
-
China paving the way for first female taikonaut
China appears to be on the brink of selecting female taikonaut for the up-coming Shenzhou 9 mission, likely to launch in early June. Following the success of last year’s Shenzhou-8 and Tiangong-1 unmanned docking, 2012 is expected to mark another first, with a crewed Shenzhou-9 set to launch and dock with Tiangong 1. Chinese Preparations…
-
Long March 3C launches fifth Compass-G satellite into orbit
The Chinese were back in action on Friday, launching the fifth Compass-G satellite into orbit via their Long March 3C (Chang Zheng 3C) launch vehicle. The 16:12 UTC launch from the C2 launch complex of the Xichang Satellite Launch Center, in Sichuan Province was China’s third launch of the year. Chinese Launch: The Compass Navigation Satellite…
-
China opens 2012 with ZiYuan-3 launch via Long March 4B
China launched a new high-resolution remote sensing satellite on Monday at 03:17 UTC using the Long March 4B (Chang Zheng-4B -Y26) launch vehicle from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center. According to the official Xinhua News Agency, the ZiYuan-3 its first high-resolution geological mapping satellite, to be used for civil purposes. Chinese Launch: The ZiYuan-3 (ZY-3) is…
-
China in surprise launch of Long March 4B with ZiYuan-1
Despite an expected launch date of December 26, China launched their Long March 4B (Chang Zeng 4B) rocket at 03:26 GMT on Thursday from a wintry Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center. The launch – adding to what is a record year for the Chinese, a year they beat the United States in orbital launches – carried the…
-
Chinese Long March 3B/E launches NigComSat-1R
China launched another commercial satellite mission on Monday, when a Long March 3B/E (Chang Zheng-3B/E) lofted the NigComSat-1R on behalf of Nigeria from the Xixhang satellite Launch Center. The launch – adding to China’s record year – took place at 16:41 UTC. Chinese Commercial Launch: NigComSat-1R is built on DFH-4 satellite bus developed by the China…
-
Philatelic Cover Reveals the secret names of second Taikonaut team
The names of the military pilots selected in 2010 to form China’s second group of taikonauts – which have been a closely guarded secret for the last 18 months – appear to have been released to the space community, due to a possible philatelic blunder. Chinese Taikonauts: A space collectibles website is offering a postal cover for…
-
China breaks record with Long March 3A launch of another BeiDou-2 satellite
A record breaking 16th successful launch of the year for China took place at 21:07 UTC on Thursday, when a Long March 3A (Chang Zheng-3A) launch vehicle orbited a new navigation satellite – another for the BeiDou-2 Compass satellite navigation range – from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center, in Sichuan Province. China’s Record: This launch was the 16th…
-
Long March 2D launches two research satellites for China
After the successful return of Shenzhou-8 on November 17, China entered on the final phase of its 2011 launch schedule with the launch of two research satellites, the SW-4 Shiyyan Weixing and the Chuang Xin-1 (3), from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center. The launch took place at 00:15 UTC on Sunday from the 603 (SLS-2)…
-
Long March 4B launches YaoGan Weixing-12 for China
China’s YaoGan Weixing-12 (YG-12) satellite – highly likely to be used for military purposes – has been launched into orbit by a CZ-4B Chang Zheng-4B (Long March 4B) rocket on Wednesday. The launch took place from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center at 11:21am local time. Another Chinese Launch: Once again, the Chinese media classed the satellite…