Tag: Wenchang
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Launch Preview: SpaceX and Chinese rockets to launch internet satellites to LEO
SpaceX and Chinese launches dominate this week’s launch manifest, which features six missions from five launch sites worldwide. Falcon 9 is scheduled to launch three Starlink missions from SpaceX’s California and Florida launch facilities. In China, a Chang Zheng 12B flew on its debut mission on Monday, with a Chang Zheng 8 and Chang Zheng…
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Launch Preview: three launches — a calm before the storm?
Two Falcon 9 launches and a Chang Zheng 7 make up the launch roster for the week commencing Monday, May 4, 2026. SpaceX will use its launches to place a further 48 Starlink satellites into Group 17 of the huge constellation of over 7,000 satellites. China’s single flight is a cargo supply mission to the…
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Launch Preview: Falcon 9 to dominate another busy week of missions
Eight launches are scheduled worldwide this week, with Falcon 9 again dominating the launch schedule. SpaceX is set to launch a communications satellite and Starlink satellites this week from its Florida and California launch facilities. Meanwhile, Firefly Aerospace was set to launch its Alpha rocket from California on Tuesday, before scrubbing. Internationally, China is scheduled…
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Launch Roundup: SpaceX to launch Crew-11 to ISS; ISRO and NASA launch new SAR satellite
With 11 launches scheduled worldwide, this week’s launch roundup is among the busiest of 2025 so far. SpaceX is expected to conduct four missions with the workhorse Falcon 9, including the crewed Crew-11 mission to the International Space Station. Blue Origin’s New Shepard took six humans to suborbital space this week. Internationally, the first-ever domestically…
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China accelerates toward lunar goals as reusability programs gain momentum
China has conducted two spacewalks from its Tiangong space station in as many months and is advancing on its lunar exploration plans with a successful pad abort test of its crewed Mengzhou capsule. Meanwhile, an experimental spacecraft has made advances in in-space refueling. Meanwhile, the next generation of reusable Chinese commercial rockets, many of which…
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China launches three taikonauts to Tiangong, commercial sector continues to expand
China has launched its ninth crewed mission to the Tiangong space station, coinciding with the 55th anniversary of the launch of Dongfanghong-1, the country’s first satellite. Meanwhile, China has achieved the world’s first network of satellites using a distant retrograde orbit (DRO) in Earth-Moon space, with its DRO-B satellite completing a final manoeuver this month.…
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Chang Zheng 8A launches as Chinese spaceport expansions begin
Chinese spaceflight activities have been on pause in recent weeks due to the annual Spring Festival and New Lunar Year celebrations. Nonetheless, February saw the maiden launch of the Chang Zheng 8A (CZ-8A) rocket, which debuted new engines and other technologies to expand China’s spaceflight capabilities. Construction is underway to extend infrastructure at the Hainan…
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Launch Roundup: Starlink and CZ-8A launches planned; Falcon booster to land in Bahamas
China conducted the debut flight of an upgraded version of the Chang Zheng 8 medium-lift rocket this week. Three Starlink launches from Florida were planned, with just the Feb. 18 flight remaining to be done, and a NROL flight from Vandenberg aboard a Falcon 9 is now set for Feb. 17. All three Starlink flights…
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China Roundup: Chang Zheng 8A set for debut, Chinese hopper flies 75 km high-altitude test
China’s Chang Zheng 8A rocket is set for its maiden flight from the Hainan commercial spaceport this month. Meanwhile, a Chang Zheng 12A development prototype flew a 75 km high-altitude test flight this week with an uncertain outcome. 2025 has begun with land and sea launches as commercial companies gear up to debut new and…
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Chang Zheng 12, ZhuQue-2E fly maiden missions; Hainan spaceport and mega constellations expand
In late November, two new Chinese rockets took their maiden flights within four days of each other, with the Chang Zheng 12 and Landspace’s enhanced ZhuQue-2E successfully completing their missions. This week saw the first launch of the Chang Zheng 5B heavy-lift vehicle in over two years, carrying an initial batch of satellites for another…