China launches two GPS-type satellites with Long March 3B
The new colonial movement: China yesterday launched two GPS-type satellites with its Long March 3B rocket.
The leaders in the 2018 launch race:
23 China
15 SpaceX
8 Russia
6 ULA
5 Arianespace (Europe)
The national rankings China now leads the U.S. 23 to 22.
Update: With this launch China has set a new national record for launches in a single year.
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The new colonial movement: China yesterday launched two GPS-type satellites with its Long March 3B rocket.
The leaders in the 2018 launch race:
23 China
15 SpaceX
8 Russia
6 ULA
5 Arianespace (Europe)
The national rankings China now leads the U.S. 23 to 22.
Update: With this launch China has set a new national record for launches in a single year.
Readers!
Please consider supporting my work here at Behind the Black. Your support allows me the freedom and ability to analyze objectively the ongoing renaissance in space, as well as the cultural changes -- for good or ill -- that are happening across America. Fourteen years ago I wrote that SLS and Orion were a bad ideas, a waste of money, would be years behind schedule, and better replaced by commercial private enterprise. Only now does it appear that Washington might finally recognize this reality.
In 2020 when the world panicked over COVID I wrote that the 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. Only in the past year have some of our so-called experts in the health field have begun to recognize these facts.
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
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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.
The launch schedule that I looked at shows only three more launches are planned or announced by China, meaning that China will not make their hoped-for 40 launches this year.
https://spaceflightnow.com/launch-schedule/ (As I write this, the launch schedule still shows the 24 August Long March launch as a scheduled launch.)
SpaceX shows 11 more launches scheduled for this year, including two Falcon Heavies and their unmanned Crew Dragon test flight. This means that SpaceX will fall short of their hoped-for 28 launches, but only by two. They seem to be ramping up their launch cadence nicely.
Northrop Grumman (the late Orbital ATK) shows three launches scheduled, and ULA shows four.
If all these scheduled launches happen this year then the final tally for U.S. vs China will be:
U.S. leading China 40 to 26, with China and SpaceX tied at 26 each.
By the way, India, Japan, and New Zealand have more launches scheduled, so they should start to appear on Robert’s leaders list, this fall, as well as Northrop Grumman.
Edward: The Spaceflightnow launch list of future Chinese launches is very incomplete. China does not provide a lot of information about many of its launches. They also tend to concentrate many of their launches in the fall.
I will not be surprised at all if their total is close to 40, despite having only 3 more launches listed for the rest of the year.
Robert,
As with their concentrated launches at the beginning of this year, it would take another increase in launch cadence to get to 40 launches, this year. This should keep the “race” exciting for the rest of the year, as their current launch rate is a little low for reaching their 40-launch goal.
It is too bad that they are a bit secretive with their launch schedule, but it is not surprising.