China’s new reusable spacecraft landed on Sunday after a two-day test flight in Earth orbit, the official Xinhua news agency announced. “The success indicated that China has achieved key breakthroughs in researching the spacecraft’s reusable technologies. It will provide more convenient and cheaper transport for the peaceful use of space in the future,” Xinhua said. The spacecraft landed back at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center where it was launched aboard […]

A Chinese rocket launched a “reusable experimental spacecraft” into Earth orbit on Friday. The Long March 2F booster lifted off from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China. China has released no details about the vehicle. However, it could be similar to the U.S. military’s X-37B reusable space plane. “After a period of in-orbit operation, the spacecraft will return to the scheduled landing site in China. It will test […]

China launched the Gaofen 9-04 remote sensing satellite on Thursday in the 50th flight of the Long March 2D booster. The launch of the optical observation satellite was conducted from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in the Gobi Desert. A secondary satellite, Q-SAT, was also launched. The spacecraft, which was developed by Tsinghua University in Beijing, will gather atmospheric density and gravity data. Long March 2D first launched in August […]

China’s Kauizhou 11 booster failed on its maiden flight on Friday, destroying two satellites and dealing a setback to the nation’s commercial launch industry. The three-stage, solid-fuel rocket apparently failed during the latter stages of flight after lift off from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center. Chinese media said an investigation is under way. Destroyed in the launch failure were the Jilin-1 video satellite and the CentiSpace-1-S2 navigation spacecraft. Operated by […]

China launched the classified Shiyan-6 (02) reconnaissance satellite on Sunday, marking the country’s second successful launch in two days. A Long March 2D rocket lofted the spacecraft into orbit from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center. The China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation said the satellite will be “mainly used to carry out space environment detection and related technical tests.” Western experts believe the description is used for reconnaissance satellites. The […]

The week ahead features launches by Rocket Lab and SpaceX, Vega’s first rideshare mission, two Chinese launches, and a Japanese sounding rocket flight.

While the United States was focused last week on its first domestic flight of astronauts to orbit in 9 years, China was busy with a pair of launches that placed four satellites into space. A Long March 11 booster launched the Xinjishu Shiyan-G and Xinjishu Shiyan-H technology test satellites from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center on Friday, May 29. The Xinjishu Shiyan-G satellite was developed by the Shanghai Institute of […]

A Chinese Kuaizhou-1A rocket launched two Internet of Things (IoT) communications satellites into Earth orbit on Tuesday. The rocket lifted off with the Xingyun-2 01 and 02 satellites from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China at 9:16 a.m. Beijing time. The spacecraft, developed by the Xingyun Satellite Co., will test IoT applications and inter-satellite laser communications while in orbit. Kuaizhou-1A is a low-cost, solid-fuel rocket used to launch […]

China launched its second Kuaizhou-1A booster in four days on Sunday, orbiting a pair of commercial Ka-band satellites. The launch of the KL-a-A and KL-a-B satellites took place from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China at 6 p.m. Beijing time. The Xinhua news agency described the payloads as “global multimedia satellites” designed to test Ka-band communication technology. The Chinese Academy of Sciences’ Innovation Academy for Microsatellites built the […]

China conducted two launches within three hours on Wednesday, placing a commercial Earth observation satellite and five military surveillance satellites into orbit. A four-stage Kuaizhou 1A booster lifted off with the Jilin 1 Gaofen 02A satellite at 11:40 a.m. Beijing time from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwestern China. The commercial imaging satellite, owned by Chang Guang Satellite Technology Co. Ltd., is designed to return high-definition video and images […]