China Long March 4C rocket launches satellite
According to China’s state-run press, the country launched an “earth observation” satellite today using its Long March 4C rocket.
The satellite is part of a series of similar satellites launched by civilian agencies ostensibly for civilian use. The rocket was launched from an interior spaceport. No word on whether its first stage carried grid fins or parachutes to control its landing in the interior of China, or whether it crashed near habitable areas.
The leaders in the 2021 launch race:
30 China
21 SpaceX
13 Russia
4 Northrop Grumman
The U.S. lead over China in the national rankings has now narrowed to 32 to 30.
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According to China’s state-run press, the country launched an “earth observation” satellite today using its Long March 4C rocket.
The satellite is part of a series of similar satellites launched by civilian agencies ostensibly for civilian use. The rocket was launched from an interior spaceport. No word on whether its first stage carried grid fins or parachutes to control its landing in the interior of China, or whether it crashed near habitable areas.
The leaders in the 2021 launch race:
30 China
21 SpaceX
13 Russia
4 Northrop Grumman
The U.S. lead over China in the national rankings has now narrowed to 32 to 30.
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
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.
Not sure if y’all are as geeky as me, but I’ve take up the hobby of searching the early evening me early morning sky’s for the objects like boosters, satellites and the space stations. This is a great site for following that stuff and there are numerous visible objects each day. In particular, I’ve noticed the Chinese space station – Tiangong – appearing a bit brighter recently. I’m guessing as it grows larger and adds reflective surface, that trend will continue.
https://www.heavens-above.com/?lat=33.9562&lng=-83.988&loc=Lawrenceville&alt=344&tz=EST
If you use the site, just set it up for your last/lon. Pretty straightforward if even I can set it.
Welcome to the hobby Gary! That is a good site.
I have been observing since 1986. I use to have to call the National Space Society hotline for the visible times for Salyut-7 and later Mir. I later subscribed to a service that sent the keplers by floppy disk for my Commodore-64. This was the hobby that got me into Amateur Radio, since I wanted to not only see, but hear the objects in the sky.