China launches “communications technology test” satellite
China early today successfully launched a “communications technology test” satellite, its Long March 5 rocket lifting off from its coastal Wenchang spaceport.
As is routine for China’s state-run press, little information about the satellite was released, simply saying it will be “used to carry out multi-band and high-speed communication technology validation tests.” That China used its most powerful Long March 5 rocket to launch it suggests it is a hefty satellite possibly placed in geosynchronous orbit. Or maybe it is a variation of AST SpaceMobile’s giant Bluebird satellites used for direct cell phone use.
The leaders in the 2025 launch race:
168 SpaceX
85 China (a new record)
17 Rocket Lab
15 Russia
SpaceX still leads the rest of the world in successful launches, 168 to 141.
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
China early today successfully launched a “communications technology test” satellite, its Long March 5 rocket lifting off from its coastal Wenchang spaceport.
As is routine for China’s state-run press, little information about the satellite was released, simply saying it will be “used to carry out multi-band and high-speed communication technology validation tests.” That China used its most powerful Long March 5 rocket to launch it suggests it is a hefty satellite possibly placed in geosynchronous orbit. Or maybe it is a variation of AST SpaceMobile’s giant Bluebird satellites used for direct cell phone use.
The leaders in the 2025 launch race:
168 SpaceX
85 China (a new record)
17 Rocket Lab
15 Russia
SpaceX still leads the rest of the world in successful launches, 168 to 141.
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

