China launches earth observation satellite for the UAE
China yesterday evening successfully launched an earth observation satellite for the United Arab Emirates (UAE), its Long March 2C rocket lifting off from its Taiyuan spaceport in northeast China.
Though the satellite was apparently built by the National Space Science and Technology Center at the United Arab Emirates University, this launch raises American security questions. Much of the UAE’s training and technology comes from American universities, which suggests that once it arrives in China it can then be stolen by the Chinese. American law forbids any American company or entity from working with China, but it cannot prevent a UAE university or government agency from doing so.
Meanwhile, China’s state-run press made no mention on where the rocket’s lower stages (using very toxic hypergolic fuels) crashed.
The leaders in the 2026 launch race:
99 SpaceX
54 China
11 Rocket Lab (plus two suborbital HASTE launches)
10 Russia
For the third straight year SpaceX leads the entire world combined in total launches, 99 to 91.
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China’s threat
https://www.foreignaffairs.com/china/chinas-smart-authoritarianism
Like Elon, and unlike Bezos or Football schools, China invests in bright people…gives them purpose.
Vanderbilt is about the only school near me where “scholar athlete” isn’t an oxymoron.
And they are harder to beat these days
China also ruthlessly punishes people for stepping out of line, and that hampers their creativity and effectiveness.