China successfully launched two astronauts into space on Monday morning for a 30-day stay aboard the Tiangong-2 space station. Veteran Chinese astronaut Jing Haipeng and rookie Chen Dong lifted off aboard the Shenzhou-11 spacecraft from Jiunquan Satellite Launch Center in the Gobi Desert. The Long March 2F booster appeared to perform flawlessly in a launch shown live around the world. Shenzhou-11 is now in orbit and has deployed its two […]

China will end a three-year hiatus in human spaceflight late this year with the launch of the two-person Shenzhou-11 spacecraft to the new Tiangong-2 space station, Chinese officials say. The crew will carry out a 30-day mission aboard the space station before returning to Earth. Tiangong-2, which is set for launch sometime during the third quarter, is larger and more capable than the Tiangong-1 space station launched in 2011. The […]

China is looking to significantly increase its launch rate through 2020. China will launch about 150 of its Long March carrier rockets over the next five years, one of its space chiefs said on Friday, days ahead of celebrations marking the launch of the country’s first satellite 46 years ago. “In the 13th Five-Year Plan period [2016-2020], we will see about 30 launches [of the Long March series] each year,” […]