China’s first retrievable microgravity satellite, SJ-10, landed safely back on Earth on Monday after a 12-day stay in low Earth orbit. The recoverable capsule from the research probe, launched on April 6, touched down at around 4:30 p.m. at the planned landing area in Siziwang Banner in north China’s Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, retrievers said. The capsule was transferred to the China Academy of Space Technology (CAST), which will hand […]
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Model of the Tiangong-2 space station
China’s ambitious space plans for 2016 include a crewed flight to a new space station and the maiden flights of the Long March 5 and Long March 7 boosters. The nation plans to set a new record for launches in a year with more than 20 flights.
China's Tiangong-1 space laboratory with a Shenzhou spacecraft approaching it. (Credit: CNSA)
Now that China has its Tiangong-1 space station in orbit, the rising space power has a great bargaining chip for concluding cooperative agreements with other nations. This week, China signed a deal with Italy that could see the Italians helping to build future Chinese space stations and flying their astronauts to them.