April 14, 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.
- China touts Mars program using proposed Long March 9 rocket
China claims the first stage will always be reusable, while the upper stage will be eventually. At the moment however this is all powerpoint presentations, no more.
- Chinese pseudo-company Space Pioneer delays first launch of its Tianlong-3 Falcon-9 copycat rocket until the summer 2025
This same pseudo-company had a test first stage break free and launch itself last year during a static fire test.
- Rocket fairing found on road in Anhui in eastern China
No information about the rocket or launch is provided. To quote: “It may have been accidentally dropped during transportation after recovery. Or maybe it was blown away by the wind from a previous launch months ago?” Since China has said nothing about any attempts to recover fairings, this remains a mystery.
- Telesat amends its FCC licence, reducing its Lightspeed constellation from 1,671 satellites to only 300
The company has not provided an explanation as to why.
Readers!
My annual February birthday fund-raising drive for Behind the Black is now over. Thank you to everyone who donated or subscribed. While not a record-setter, the donations were more than sufficient and slightly above average.
As I have said many times before, I can’t express what it means to me to get such support, especially as no one is required to pay anything to read my work. Thank you all again!
For those readers who like my work here at Behind the Black and haven't contributed so far, please consider donating or subscribing. My analysis of space, politics, and culture, taken from the perspective of an historian, is almost always on the money and ahead of the game. For example, in 2020 I correctly predicted that the COVID panic was unnecessary, that the virus was apparently simply a variation of the flu, that masks were not simply pointless but if worn incorrectly were a health threat, that the lockdowns were a disaster and did nothing to stop the spread of COVID. Every one of those 2020 conclusions has turned out right.
Your help allows me to do this kind of intelligent analysis. I take no advertising or sponsors, so my reporting isn't influenced by donations by established space or drug companies. Instead, I rely entirely on donations and subscriptions from my readers, which gives me the freedom to write what I think, unencumbered by outside influences.
You can support me either by giving a one-time contribution or a regular subscription. There are four ways of doing so:
1. Zelle: This is the only internet method that charges no fees. All you have to do is use the Zelle link at your internet bank and give my name and email address (zimmerman at nasw dot org). What you donate is what I get.
2. Patreon: Go to my website there and pick one of five monthly subscription amounts, or by making a one-time donation.
3. A Paypal Donation or subscription:
4. Donate by check, payable to Robert Zimmerman and mailed to
Behind The Black
c/o Robert Zimmerman
P.O.Box 1262
Cortaro, AZ 85652
You can also support me by buying one of my books, as noted in the boxes interspersed throughout the webpage or shown in the menu above.
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.
- China touts Mars program using proposed Long March 9 rocket
China claims the first stage will always be reusable, while the upper stage will be eventually. At the moment however this is all powerpoint presentations, no more.
- Chinese pseudo-company Space Pioneer delays first launch of its Tianlong-3 Falcon-9 copycat rocket until the summer 2025
This same pseudo-company had a test first stage break free and launch itself last year during a static fire test.
- Rocket fairing found on road in Anhui in eastern China
No information about the rocket or launch is provided. To quote: “It may have been accidentally dropped during transportation after recovery. Or maybe it was blown away by the wind from a previous launch months ago?” Since China has said nothing about any attempts to recover fairings, this remains a mystery.
- Telesat amends its FCC licence, reducing its Lightspeed constellation from 1,671 satellites to only 300
The company has not provided an explanation as to why.
Readers!
My annual February birthday fund-raising drive for Behind the Black is now over. Thank you to everyone who donated or subscribed. While not a record-setter, the donations were more than sufficient and slightly above average.
As I have said many times before, I can’t express what it means to me to get such support, especially as no one is required to pay anything to read my work. Thank you all again!
For those readers who like my work here at Behind the Black and haven't contributed so far, please consider donating or subscribing. My analysis of space, politics, and culture, taken from the perspective of an historian, is almost always on the money and ahead of the game. For example, in 2020 I correctly predicted that the COVID panic was unnecessary, that the virus was apparently simply a variation of the flu, that masks were not simply pointless but if worn incorrectly were a health threat, that the lockdowns were a disaster and did nothing to stop the spread of COVID. Every one of those 2020 conclusions has turned out right.
Your help allows me to do this kind of intelligent analysis. I take no advertising or sponsors, so my reporting isn't influenced by donations by established space or drug companies. Instead, I rely entirely on donations and subscriptions from my readers, which gives me the freedom to write what I think, unencumbered by outside influences.
You can support me either by giving a one-time contribution or a regular subscription. There are four ways of doing so:
1. Zelle: This is the only internet method that charges no fees. All you have to do is use the Zelle link at your internet bank and give my name and email address (zimmerman at nasw dot org). What you donate is what I get.
2. Patreon: Go to my website there and pick one of five monthly subscription amounts, or by making a one-time donation.
3. A Paypal Donation or subscription:
4. Donate by check, payable to Robert Zimmerman and mailed to
Behind The Black
c/o Robert Zimmerman
P.O.Box 1262
Cortaro, AZ 85652
You can also support me by buying one of my books, as noted in the boxes interspersed throughout the webpage or shown in the menu above.
This isn’t a blog idea, just something I ran across just now on X that I know almost everyone here will appreciate, including our kind host.
Jay Nagy, a SpaceX engineer working on Starship, reacted to the news that Falcon 9 booster B1067 just completed its 27th launch and landing:
“I’ll never forget working at ULA and a boss telling me “it might be economically feasible, if they could get them to land and launch 9 or more times, but that won’t happen in your life, kid.”
https://x.com/juicyMcJay/status/1911635756411408702
LOL
I’m watching the US / China trade dispute. China’s economy is already tenuous from fraudulent accounting practices, stolen intellectual property, substandard materials, substandard construction and manufacturing processes… it’s all fake. Unemployment was already ramping up before the tariffs.
The Chinese Communist Party keeps pressing forward using their tired old ideology. Enter Trump. I don’t see this ending well for the CCP. Their space program is their crown jewel but it may go the way of the Soviet Union’s.
Unreliable Launch Activity