November 5, 2025 Quick space links
Courtesy of BtB’s stringer Jay. This post is also an open thread. I welcome my readers to post any comments or additional links relating to any space issues, even if unrelated to the links below.
- A review of the 11 new Chinese rockets that were supposed to launch for the first time in 2025
Only one has launched, the government’s Long March 8. One government and three pseudo-company rockets have done static fire tests and appear ready for launch. Of the remaining six no news.
- Scientists claim a flare from an active galaxy 10 billion light years away that was detected in 2018 was the biggest black hole flare ever detected
All together now: The uncertainty of science!
- Stilsat-1: A Russian-owned and Chinese-built satellite watching Ukraine
Apparently the Russians bought a Chinese satellite for military reconnaissance. Apparently Russia has trouble doing this kind of thing itself these days.
- Chinese astronauts enjoy ‘1st ever space BBQ’ from Tiangong-3’s brand-new oven
Unlike the prototype oven tested on ISS but then returned to Earth, this oven is permanent and intended for regular use by the astronauts.
- China completes ground testing of its own inflatable space module
Based on their graphics, they are basically copying the Orbital Reef station design as well as Sierra Space’s LIFE inflatable modules.
On Christmas Eve 1968 three Americans became the first humans to visit another world. What they did to celebrate was unexpected and profound, and will be remembered throughout all human history. Genesis: the Story of Apollo 8, Robert Zimmerman's classic history of humanity's first journey to another world, tells that story, and it is now available as both an ebook and an audiobook, both with a foreword by Valerie Anders and a new introduction by Robert Zimmerman.
The print edition can be purchased at Amazon or from any other book seller. If you want an autographed copy the price is $60 for the hardback and $45 for the paperback, plus $8 shipping for each. Go here for purchasing details. The ebook is available everywhere for $5.99 (before discount) at amazon, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit. If you buy it from ebookit you don't support the big tech companies and the author gets a bigger cut much sooner.
The audiobook is also available at all these vendors, and is also free with a 30-day trial membership to Audible.
"Not simply about one mission, [Genesis] is also the history of America's quest for the moon... Zimmerman has done a masterful job of tying disparate events together into a solid account of one of America's greatest human triumphs."--San Antonio Express-News
Courtesy of BtB’s stringer Jay. This post is also an open thread. I welcome my readers to post any comments or additional links relating to any space issues, even if unrelated to the links below.
- A review of the 11 new Chinese rockets that were supposed to launch for the first time in 2025
Only one has launched, the government’s Long March 8. One government and three pseudo-company rockets have done static fire tests and appear ready for launch. Of the remaining six no news.
- Scientists claim a flare from an active galaxy 10 billion light years away that was detected in 2018 was the biggest black hole flare ever detected
All together now: The uncertainty of science!
- Stilsat-1: A Russian-owned and Chinese-built satellite watching Ukraine
Apparently the Russians bought a Chinese satellite for military reconnaissance. Apparently Russia has trouble doing this kind of thing itself these days.
- Chinese astronauts enjoy ‘1st ever space BBQ’ from Tiangong-3’s brand-new oven
Unlike the prototype oven tested on ISS but then returned to Earth, this oven is permanent and intended for regular use by the astronauts.
- China completes ground testing of its own inflatable space module
Based on their graphics, they are basically copying the Orbital Reef station design as well as Sierra Space’s LIFE inflatable modules.
On Christmas Eve 1968 three Americans became the first humans to visit another world. What they did to celebrate was unexpected and profound, and will be remembered throughout all human history. Genesis: the Story of Apollo 8, Robert Zimmerman's classic history of humanity's first journey to another world, tells that story, and it is now available as both an ebook and an audiobook, both with a foreword by Valerie Anders and a new introduction by Robert Zimmerman.
The print edition can be purchased at Amazon or from any other book seller. If you want an autographed copy the price is $60 for the hardback and $45 for the paperback, plus $8 shipping for each. Go here for purchasing details. The ebook is available everywhere for $5.99 (before discount) at amazon, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit. If you buy it from ebookit you don't support the big tech companies and the author gets a bigger cut much sooner.
The audiobook is also available at all these vendors, and is also free with a 30-day trial membership to Audible.
"Not simply about one mission, [Genesis] is also the history of America's quest for the moon... Zimmerman has done a masterful job of tying disparate events together into a solid account of one of America's greatest human triumphs."--San Antonio Express-News
Interesting observation from Eric Berger.
https://x.com/sciguyspace/status/1986243900227363073?s=46
“Crazy thing about the Viasat-3 launch tonight. It has a capacity of 1 terabit per second. Took 7 years and $700 million to build on contract by Boeing. Starlink v3 satellites have similar capacity. SpaceX will chuck dozens of them into space next year on every Starship launch.”
Gary,
Interesting and accurate observation from Eric Berger. The $700 million price of a single Viasat 3 would likely buy SpaceX a dozen Starship loads of V3 Starlinks. The difference between cottage industry and real mass production.
All,
For all of the PRC’s paper rockets and late rockets, that oven on Tiangong is a definite step beyond a quarter-century of ISS practice. The ability to cook buffalo wings on-orbit shows even the Godless Commies can appreciate quality-of-life touches.
Of course the foods one can make in an oven can be a bit more unruly in zero-G than toothpaste-like space rations. The odds of getting bits of this and that on one’s clothes would seem likely to take a steep jump upward. I don’t know if the PRC has copied NASA’s Jack Reacher-like practice of disposing of clothing once it needs laundering, but if they have a zero-G washer and dryer aboard instead, I will have no choice but to regard their whole space program with a Strange New Respect.
Wings in orbit. Mmmmm!
LM-8 the government rocket is the only one real?
Gosh–I thought only private rockets worked :)
Gary,
Mmmmmm, indeed! The Chinese are well-known as chicken fanciers. I wonder what their attitude is toward pizza? Seems like any oven that could do one could also do the other.
Jeff Wright,
No one here made any such claim anent PRC rockets. Are you responding to a voice in your head, perhaps?
In any case, while there are definitely a lot of PRC paper rockets around, quite a few of the so-called “commercial” ones are real. It’s just that, at the end of the day, none of them are really “commercial” or “private.” All of these “private” rocket outfits are pretty much just cut-outs for the government rocket establishment so that new things may be tried – and sometimes bungled – without any of the inevitable failures being laid at the feet of the government’s official rocket builders.
I had to take the shot ;)
A few news items–one involving a new coating process:
“An innovation in tool coating could solve…machining challenges.”
https://phys.org/news/2025-11-tool-coating-products-aerospace-medical.html
“The development of what’s known as a bi-layer AlTiN PVD coating enhances cutting-tool performance, improves wear resistance and extends the life of the tool life during ultra-high-speed machining of hard-to-machine materials.”
–and from China:
“A collaborative research team led by Prof. Ma Yanwei from the Institute of Electrical Engineering (IEE) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), has shattered records in the current-carrying performance of iron-based superconducting wires. Their breakthrough, enabled by a novel strategy to engineer high-density flux pinning centers via an asymmetric stress field, is published in Advanced Materials.”
I seem to remember hearing this kind of thing before…not sure I buy it–but hey…
There does seem to be an improvement in vapor deposition:
“Now, using a form of electrified vapor under atmospheric pressure, a team led by Yale’s Liangbing Hu has developed a system that’s more versatile, quicker and cheaper. The results are published in Nature Synthesis. The project is a collaboration with Prof. Yiguang Ju of Princeton University and Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory. The study’s lead author, Xizheng Wang, a former postdoctoral researcher in Hu’s lab, is a professor at University of California Irvine.”
And lastly,
https://phys.org/news/2025-11-simply-chemical.html
“Scientists have developed a simple, low-cost method to drive key chemical reactions, which could make large-scale drug manufacturing faster, more accessible and affordable. The new study, published today in the journal Nature Synthesis by The University of Manchester, describes how complex light or electricity-mediated methods currently used across modern chemistry could be replaced by those driven by a simpler technology—heat.”
Gee, who knew heating chemicals would result in anything?….groan…let me guess….somebody invented this 200 years ago, wrote it up–and nobody ever bothered to read it.
One last take on in-house expertise—in terms of fighters at least….American space deserves no less
https://www.secretprojects.co.uk/threads/ngad-f-a-xx-general-discussion-and-speculation.45274/page-13#post-847779
“I’m hopeful a truly USG owned MOSA means addressing those problems at the component and subsystem level can be achieved much more rapidly and less painfully than with prior programs.”
“The choice between LM and Boeing was never going to be easy. At least with Boeing, you’ve got a post crisis partner open to new ways and willing to sacrifice to succeed because they have no choice at this point. LM, with the black programs, F-35 and missiles cash cows, simply lacks that sense of urgency.”
“The F/A-XX and the NG vs BA choice obviously has a much different feel and the airframe may answer a very distinct set of questions than F-47.”