China launches 6th group of 18 satellites for its Spacesail internet constellation
China late yesterday successfully launched the sixth group of 18 satellites for its Spacesail internet constellation, its Long March 6A rocket lifting off from the Taiyuan spaceport in northeast China.
No word on where the rocket’s lower stages crashed inside China. The state-run report however touted proudly how the rocket uses liquid oxygen and kerosene, both of which are “non-toxic and pollution-free”. Apparently it has recognized the bad press it has gotten from crashing stages inside China that use very toxic hypergolic fuels.
The article noted that China plans at least ten launches in 2025 of the Long March 6A, likely as part of building this constellation of more than 1,200 satellites.
The 2025 launch race:
10 SpaceX
5 China
1 Blue Origin
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. from any other book seller, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit.
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 late yesterday successfully launched the sixth group of 18 satellites for its Spacesail internet constellation, its Long March 6A rocket lifting off from the Taiyuan spaceport in northeast China.
No word on where the rocket’s lower stages crashed inside China. The state-run report however touted proudly how the rocket uses liquid oxygen and kerosene, both of which are “non-toxic and pollution-free”. Apparently it has recognized the bad press it has gotten from crashing stages inside China that use very toxic hypergolic fuels.
The article noted that China plans at least ten launches in 2025 of the Long March 6A, likely as part of building this constellation of more than 1,200 satellites.
The 2025 launch race:
10 SpaceX
5 China
1 Blue Origin
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. from any other book seller, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit. 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
Is it my imagination or has this week seen a distinct lack of launches?
Joe: It’s your imagination, possibly because you (and everyone) has been spoiled by SpaceX’s pace. We see a gap of two days as a vast desert, when it really means little.