Tag: China

Is China preparing to return its stranded astronauts in its damaged Shenzhou capsule?

10:00 am

According to reports from China, it appears they are preparing to return the three-person Shenzhou-20 crew on their damaged Shenzhou-20 capsule on November 14, 2025, rather than launch a replacement capsule as had been rumored previously.

China has issued a temporary airspace restriction over Inner Mongolia for 3:20 to 3:50 a.m. Eastern (0820-0850 UTC, or 4:20-4:50 p.m. Beijing time) Nov. 14, according to a Notice to Airmen (NOTAM) published by the Hohhot Flight Information Region under the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC).

The airspace closure notice matches an area covering the Dongfeng landing site, an area in Inner Mongolia roughly 60 to 90 kilometers to the east-southeast of the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, which has been used for all Shenzhou crewed spacecraft returns since 2021.

None of this is confirmed as yet, as China’s state-run press continues to be very secretive about this entire affair. It as yet not released any details about the damage to Shenzhou-20, nor has it been forthcoming with any details about the next steps it plans to take.

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Kazakhstan expanding its access to multiple internet satellite constellations

9:40 am

It appears the Kazakhstan government is making multiple internet satellite constellations available to its citizens in an effort to increase competition and lower costs.

Kazakhstan first engaged with Starlink in 2023, following government frustration over the slow pace of domestic telecom expansion. The project initially connected 2,000 rural schools, and by mid-2024 nearly 1,800 had access to satellite internet.

Authorities briefly considered banning satellite internet services operated from abroad late last year, citing national security concerns, but withdrew the proposal after a public backlash.

Meanwhile, competition in the country’s nascent satellite internet market is heating up. In September 2024, Kazakhstan signed an agreement with Amazon to bring its Project Kuiper satellite network to the country, setting up a future rival to Starlink. Prime Minister Olzhas Bektenov said the move would help improve affordability and service quality. Chinese firm Spacesail Kazakhstan, a subsidiary of Spacesail International, has also registered at the Astana International Financial Centre (AIFC) with $17mn in capital, positioning itself as another potential player in the mega-constellation internet sector.

When Kazakhstan opened Starlink to all its citizens in June 2025, I noted how this deal indicated the country’s move away from Russia. Its willingness now to add Kuiper and Spacesail deals accelerates that move, in numerous ways. It not only wants its citizens to have capabilities that Russia cannot control, it wants to encourage competition to lower costs for those citizens. What a concept!

Like the Ukraine, Kazakhstan is working hard to exceed Russia in technology, in order to make it much harder for its big and very power-hungry neighbor to dominate or even invade it.

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China’s Zhuque-3 reusable rocket now ready for its first launch

9:26 am

According to a report in China’s state-run press today, the Zhuque-3 (ZQ-3] rocket, built by the pseudo-company Landspace, is now cleared for its first launch, though no launch date has yet been announced.

If everything goes according to schedule, the first ZQ 3 will take to the sky in the near future at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwestern China’s Gobi Desert and will attempt to recover its first-stage booster, according to the Beijing-headquartered enterprise.

The rocket is now undergoing technical testing at the Jiuquan spaceport, which has a dedicated launch service tower for the ZQ 3 series.

Though the rocket is methane-fueled, its overall design is a copy of work already done by SpaceX, with a stainless steel first stage with nine engines designed to land vertically after launch and then reused. It is also appears in the lead among about a dozen Chinese pseudo-companies attempting to build reusable rockets.

The Chinese government has recently been pressuring its pseudo-companies to accelerate development. Right now, only three have done any static fire tests, and only one, Landspace, appears ready to launch. There have even been rumors that China might reorganize these fake companies into a government-run operation.

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Three launches since yesterday, with a fourth upcoming today [scrubbed]

9:19 am

The beat goes on: Since yesterday there were three launches globally, two by China and one by SpaceX, with a fourth launch scheduled by Blue Origin only a few hours hence. UPDATE: Blue Origin launch scrubbed due to weather].

First China’s solid-fueled Long March 11 rocket placed three classified military test satellites into orbit, lifting off from an ocean platform off China’s northeastern coast.

Next, China’s solid-fueled Kinetica-1 (Lijian-1) rocket placed two “technical satellites” into orbit, lifting off from the “commercial” launchpad at the Jiuquan spaceport in the country’s northwest. As is normal, China’s press provided no information about the satellites, nor where Kinetica-1’s lower stages crashed inside China. The rocket itself is supposedly commercial, but it is built by a government agency, the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

Finally, in the early morning hours today SpaceX placed 29 more Starlink satellites into orbit, its Falcon 9 rocket lifting off from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

The first stage (B1069) completed its 28th flight, landing on a drone ship in the Atlantic. With this launch this booster tied the space shuttle Columbia for the number of reuses by a launch vehicle. As the rankings for the most reused launch vehicles below show, SpaceX now has four boosters close to becoming the most reused rockets ever.

39 Discovery space shuttle
33 Atlantis space shuttle
31 Falcon 9 booster B1067
29 Falcon 9 booster B1071
29 Falcon 9 booster B1063
28 Falcon 9 booster B1069
28 Columbia space shuttle

Sources here and here.

The leaders in the 2025 launch race:

146 SpaceX (a new record)
69 China (a new record)
14 Rocket Lab
13 Russia

SpaceX now leads the rest of the world in successful launches, 146 to 114.

Blue Origin hopes to launch two NASA smallsat Mars orbiters later today from Cape Canaveral, using its New Glenn rocket. That launch is scheduled for 2:35 pm (Eastern). The company will once again attempt to land the first stage on a platform in the Atlantic. I have embedded the live stream below.

UPDATE: Launch scrubbed due to weather. The negotiations with the FAA (see below) now take on greater importance.

This will be the second launch of New Glenn, eleven months after its maiden flight in January. As has been the company’s culture for the past decade, it has moved very slowly from that first launch to this second. This pace however must accelerate soon, as Blue Origin has a 27-launch contract with Amazon to launch part of its Kuiper satellites. Amazon only has 154 satellites in orbit, and needs to get about 1,600 in place by July 2016 to meet the requirements of its FCC license. It also has launch contracts with ULA (46 launches, three of which have been completed) and ArianeGroup’s Ariane-6 (18 launches), but neither can on their own launch enough to do the job.

One last note: For this launch, Blue Origin is trying to arrange an exemption from the FAA’s curfew on day launches that begins tomorrow, in case some issue causes a scrub today. No word as yet on whether the FAA will agree.
» Read more

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China’s Tianwen-1 Mars orbiter snaps fuzzy picture of interstellar comet 3I/Atlas

9:22 am

Comet 3I/Atlas, as seen by China's Tianwen-1 Mars orbiter
Click for original image.

Chinese engineers have successfully taken a picture of interstellar comet 3I/Atlas as it passed its closest to point to Mars, about 19 million miles away, using their Tianwen-1 Mars orbiter.

The Tianwen-1 team began preparing for the observation in early September. After repeated simulations and feasibility assessments, they determined to use the high-resolution camera on the orbiter and designed optimal imaging strategies, ultimately achieving successful observation.

That image is to the right. Based on the fuzziness of the surrounding stars, the camera was not able to get a perfect focus during the observations. The main take-away is that the images once again prove 3I/Atlas is a comet not unlike those from our own solar system.

The mainstream press and some untrustworthy press-seeking scientists have tried to make a big deal about any interesting data point that has been observed from Comet 3I/Atlas, trying to claim it is some weird alien object of momentous importance. It is not. It is like every other solar system comet, though like those comets it is unique in its own way.

The big discovery here is how similar it is from solar system comets, suggesting that the processes that created our solar system are somewhat common throughout the galaxy.

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China delays return of Shenzhou 20 crew due to possible capsule damage from “space debris”

11:02 pm

Shenzhou-16 after undocking in 2023
Shenzhou-16 after undocking in 2023. Click for source.

In a very brief statement today by China’s state-run press, it announced the planned return on November 6, 2025 of the Shenzhou-20 crew that has just completed their six month mission on the Tiangong-3 space station has been delayed indefinitely due to “a suspected impact from tiny space debris” on their Shenzhou capsule.

According to the statement “impact analysis and risk assessment are under way.”

A new crew arrived at the station on October 31, 2025 on the Shenzhou 21-capsule, and after a few days transition were to take over operations while the crew of Shenzhou-20 returned home.

We do not know the extent of the damage or even when it was first detected. Depending on the damage, China has several options. First, after review it could decide to return the crew on Shenzhou-20.

Second, it could decide that a fresh replacement capsule needs to be launched. If so, the old crew’s mission might be extended for a few months, as happened to a Soyuz crew on ISS in 2023 because of a leaking coolant system. First Russia launched a new empty capsule to ISS, and then the damaged capsule returned unoccupied. That way a lifeboat was always docked for that stranded crew.

It might also be possible to patch the damage, depending on its size and location.

In every case, the situation should not be critical. I am assuming the station is well stocked at this time, so that a crew of six instead of three could manage there for about three months. I am also assuming China has more Shenzhou capsules in the pipeline and can prepare a new one relatively quickly. Finally, I am also assuming China’s Shenzhou capsules can dock autonomously, as do their unmanned Tianzhou freighters.

And then again, if any of my assumptions are wrong, this situation could become more serious.

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China will launch its upgraded manned Mengzhou-1 capsule in 2026

8:01 am

Mengzhou as of 2023
Mengzhou mock-up from 2023. Click for source.

China this week revealed that it plans the first flight of its new larger Mengzhou-1 manned capsule next year, launching from its coastal Wengchang spaceport on its new Long March 10 rocket.

Mengzhou features a modular design consisting of a return capsule and a service capsule and will operate as the primary link between Earth and the space station.

The first flight of Mengzhou-1 will utilize the Long March-10A rocket from the Wenchang Space Launch Site in Hainan, targeting a docking with the space station’s core module radial port. This debut mission will validate the craft’s systems while transporting environmental monitoring devices, technical payloads, astronaut supplies, and experimental gear for science and technology demonstrations.

Both capsule and rocket are intended as China’s future mainstays for its manned program, both in Earth orbit and beyond. Mengzhou is intended as the manned capsule that will get its astronauts to lunar orbit, where its Lanyue lunar lander will take them to and from the surface. Both will be launched separately by the Long March 10 rocket.

Long March 10 has been in development since 2017, and will have the ability to place 70 tons in low Earth orbit and 27 tons to lunar orbit. It is thus comparable to SLS, but costing far less with its first stage incorporating recovery and reuse. It will also be capable of launching much more frequently and at a much faster pace.

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China launches “remote sensing” satellite, setting a new national record for annual launches

9:26 am

China early today successfully placed what its state-run press described as a “remote sensing satellite” aimed at Earth observations, its Long March 7 rocket lifting off from its Wenchang coastal spaceport.

The only thing that state-run presssaid was the satellite would “primarily [be] used in disaster prevention and relief, land resource surveys, hydrology, meteorology, and other related fields.” As for the launch, this was a coastal launch, with the rocket’s lower stages landing in the ocean.

This launch was the 67th for China in 2025, which breaks the annual record of 66 it set in 2023. As China tends to bunch more launches in the last two months of the year, expect it to add at least ten to this number.

The leaders in the 2025 launch race:

143 SpaceX
67 China (a new record)
13 Russia
13 Rocket Lab

SpaceX still leads the rest of the world in successful launches, 143 to 110.

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China launches three astronauts to its Tiangong-3 space station

9:24 am

China today successfully launched a new crew of three astronauts to its Tiangong-3 space station, its Long March 2F rocket lifting off from its Jiuquan spaceport in northwest China.

No word from China’s state-run press where the rocket’s lower stages, which use very toxic hypergolic fuels, crashed. The Shenzhou capsule is expected to dock with the station later today, which is tomorrow in China.

With this launch, China also tied the record it set in 2023 for the most successful launches in a single year, 66. The leaders in the 2025 launch race:

141 SpaceX
66 China
13 Russia
13 Rocket Lab

SpaceX still leads the rest of the world in successful launches, 141 to 108.

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A slew of propaganda today from China’s state-run press attempts to hide the delays in its manned lunar program

10:27 am

The Tiangong-3 station, as presently configured
The Tiangong-3 station, as presently configured

Generally China’s state-run news agency Xinhua posts no more than one to two short space-related articles per day, with most confined to simply announcing the launch of a rocket.

Today however that state-run agency posted a dozen short articles, linked it appeared to the two press conferences held in connection with tomorrow’s launch of a new crew to China’s Tiangong-3 space station.

The list above is not complete, leaving out a few other short propaganda pieces. Some of these stories — such as those directly related to that new crew launch tomorrow — could have easily been folded into one report. They were not, however, in order to create a large number of separate reports, which in turn hides the fact that there is only one news outlet reporting anything from those two press conferences.

Out of this plethora of stories, two news items stand out however. One, China has now agreed to fly a Pakistani to Tiangong-3. Negotiations for that mission began in 2018. Training has now finally begun. China is also moving forward on flying astronauts from Hong Kong and Macao, two places formally run by western powers that China now controls, quite oppressively. Like the Soviet Union, it is using its space program for propaganda stunts to distract those regions from its iron rule.

Second and more important, Chinese officials claim their program to do a manned lunar landing is still on schedule for a 2030 launch.
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Two more launches, by China and SpaceX respectively

9:22 am

The global launch industry added two more launches to its 2025 launch totals since yesterday. First, China launched what its state-run press described as a Earth imaging satellite, its Long March 3B rocket lifting off from its Xichang spaceport in southwest China. No information was released as to where the rocket’s lower stages — using very toxic hypergolic fuels — crashed inside China.

Then early today SpaceX placed another 29 Starlink satellites into orbit, its Falcon 9 rocket lifting off from Cape Canaveral in Florida. The first stage completed its 24th flight, landing on a drone ship in the Atlantic.

With this launch, the U.S. set a new annual record for successful launches, 158, beating the record set in 2024. In both years, the record was almost entirely due to SpaceX and its Falcon 9. Rocket Lab’s numbers continue to rise, suggesting the company is about to finally begin launching more than once a month. All the other American rocket companies, especially ULA, have in the past two years failed to deliver the number of launches promised. All continue to promise big numbers in 2026. We shall see.

The leaders in the 2025 launch race:

139 SpaceX
65 China
13 Russia
13 Rocket Lab

SpaceX now leads the rest of the world in successful launches, 139 to 107.

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October 23, 2025 Quick space links

3:01 pm

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.

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China launches a “communication technology test” satellite

1:21 pm

Using its most powerful rocket, the Long March 5, China today placed in orbit what its state-run press called a “communication technology test satellite”, the rocket lifting off from China’s coastal Wenchang spaceport.

Though the rocket’s flight path over the ocean meant its lower stages would not crash on land, China did warn the Philippines that some of the drop zones were within its fishing regions, and that fishermen should stay out for about an hour this morning.

China’s state-run press provided no details about the satellite. That it needed a very powerful rocket suggests it is some variation of AST SpaceMobile’s very large Bluebird satellites for providing direct phone-to-satellite service. If so, this is just another example of China copying the work of a private company in the west.

The leaders in the 2025 launch race:

136 SpaceX
64 China
13 Russia
13 Rocket Lab

SpaceX still leads the rest of the world in successful launches, 136 to 105.

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Debris from suspected Chinese rocket discovered in western Australia

9:00 am

Though it has not yet been confirmed, a burned tank has been found in western Australia that is thought to come from the fourth stage of China’s solid-fueled Smart Dragon-3 rocket that lifted off from an ocean platform on September 24, 2025.

Suspected space junk that crashed near an iron ore mine in remote WA has been linked to a Chinese rocket launch, as authorities continue to probe the object’s origin. The smoking [sic] piece of debris was found on Saturday about 30 kilometres east of Newman, on a BHP mine access track.

The Australian Transport Safety Bureau and WA Police are investigating, but Flinders University space archaeologist Alice Gorman said she believed the debris was from the fourth stage of a Chinese rocket called Jielong [Smart Dragon].

If that debris is from the September launch, there is no where it was “smoking” when found two days ago. The images of the object simply show it to be well-blackened from its trip. It is also not clear when the object fell to Earth, making pinpointing its source more difficult.

If it is from China’s Smart Dragon-3 rocket, it suggests China has more work to do to keep its rockets’ stages from falling on land. Smart Dragon-3’s launch from an ocean platform just off China’s northeast coast, so one would think the lower stages would all fall in the ocean. In this case it appears the problem is similar to what has happened to some parts of the service module from de-orbiting SpaceX Dragon cargo capsules. The company found that if it allowed the service module to fall on its own, some parts would hit the ground. It has since changed its de-orbit procedures to guarantee this won’t happen any longer.

China needs to do the same. Based on its past record, it is not clear it will make any effort to do so.

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The three launches completed today including two major new achievements

12:33 pm

The beat goes on: There were three launches globally today, repeating a pattern we’ve seen several times in the past few weeks, with China completing one launch and SpaceX completing two.

First, China’s solid-fueled Kinetica-1 (Lijian-1) rocket placed three Pakistani satellites into orbit, one of which is what Pakistan’s state-run press claimed was its first multi-spectral environmental satellite. China’s press also provided no information about where Kinetica-1’s lower stages crashed inside China, having launched from its Jiuquan spaceport in the country’s northwest. The rocket itself is supposedly commercial, but it is built by a government agency, the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and the government state-run press illustrated this by making no mention of this agency in reporting the launch.

Next, SpaceX set a new record for the reuse of a Falcon 9 first stage in placing 28 Starlink satellites into orbit, the rocket lifting off from Cape Canaveral in Florida. The first stage, B1067, completed its 31st flight, a new record for a Falcon 9 first stage, landing on a drone ship in the Atlantic. The updated rankings for the most reflights of a rocket:

39 Discovery space shuttle
33 Atlantis space shuttle
31 Falcon 9 booster B1067
29 Falcon 9 booster B1071
28 Columbia space shuttle
28 Falcon 9 booster B1063
27 Falcon 9 booster B1069

Sources here and here.

Finally, less than two hours later, SpaceX launched another 28 Starlink satellites, its Falcon 9 rocket lifting off from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. The first stage completed its 11th flight, landing on a drone ship in the Pacific.

With these two launches, SpaceX has now placed more than 10,000 Starlink satellites into orbit, though a large percentage have been de-orbited over the years as the company has upgraded the satellites. Nonetheless, the number of Starlink satellites presently in orbit far exceeds all the satellites now in orbit for every other planned constellation, combined.

The leaders in the 2025 launch race:

135 SpaceX
63 China
13 Russia
13 Rocket Lab

SpaceX now leads the rest of the world in successful launches, 135 to 104.

In the coming days the global rocket industry will also achieve a number of additional milestones. SpaceX is just two launches short of its record of 137 launches achieved last year, while the U.S. is just three launches short of its own record of 157 launches, also set last year. Similarly, China is just three launches short of its own record of 66 set in 2023.

Globally, the world has presently completed 239 successful launches in 2025, a number only exceeded by the 2024 record of 256. Expect this record also to fall before the end of the year.

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China launches 18 satellites

8:56 am

China today successfully placed 18 more Spacesail or Quifan satellites in orbit, its Long March 6A rocket lifting off from Taiyuan spaceport in northeast China. No word on where the rocket’s lower stages crashed inside China.

This was the sixth launch for this internet satellite constellation, intended to provide Chinese citizens service similar to Starlink, but controlled by the Chinese government. At present it has 119 satellites in orbit, out of a planned 648 in the constellation’s first phase. That phase was supposed to be completed by the end of this year, something that now seems very unlikely. The constellation’s final configuration could have as many as 10,000 satellites.

The leaders in the 2025 launch race:

133 SpaceX
62 China
13 Russia
13 Rocket Lab

SpaceX still leads the rest of the world in successful launches, 133 to 103.

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Three launches since yesterday

9:15 am

The beat goes on. Since yesterday there were three launches, one by China and two by SpaceX.

First, China’s Long March 8A rocket placed the twelfth set of satellites in the Guowang internet constellation, eventually aiming to be 13,000 satellites strong. China’s state-run press did not specify the exact number of satellites. Based on previous launches using the Long March 8A, the number was likely nine, bringing the number of this constellation’s satellites now in orbit to 96.

The launch was from China’s coastal Wenchang spaceport, and had a flight path that dumped the lower stages of the rocket near islands in the Philippines.

Next, SpaceX placed 21 satellites into orbit for the Pentagon, its Falcon 9 rocket lifting off from Vandenberg in California. This was the second launched by SpaceX for this military communication constellation, dubbed Tranche-1, intended to be 158 satellites total. The first stage completed its seventh flight, landing on a drone ship in the Pacific. The fairing halves completed their third and fourth flights respectively.

Finally, SpaceX launched another 28 Starlink satellites, its Falcon 9 rocket lifting off from Cape Canaveral in Florida. The first stage completed its third flight, landing on a drone ship in the Atlantic.

The leaders in the 2025 launch race:

133 SpaceX
61 China
13 Russia
13 Rocket Lab

SpaceX now leads the rest of the world in successful launches, 133 to 102.

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Three launches in the past day

9:45 am

Even as all eyes focused on SpaceX’s 11th test launch of Starship/Superheavy yesterday, there were three other launches in the past fourteen hours taking place on three different continents by China and two different American companies.

First, China placed a technology test satellite into orbit, its Long March 2D rocket lifting off from its Jiuquan spaceport in northwest China. The only information about the satellite is that it will test “new optical imaging.” No information at all was released on where the rocket’s lower stages, using very toxic hypergolic fuels, crashed inside China.

Next, SpaceX placed 24 of Amazon’s Kuiper satellites into orbit, its Falcon 9 rocket lifting off from Cape Canaveral in Florida. The first stage completed its second flight, landing on a drone ship in the Atlantic.

With this launch, Amazon now has 154 satellites in orbit, out of a planned constellation of about 3,200. Its FCC license requires it to have about 1,600 in orbit by July of ’26, but that goal seems increasingly unlikely to be met. With this launch SpaceX completed its three-launch contract for Amazon. It has contracts with ULA for 46 launches (having so far completed three in 2025), and that company appears ready to launch regularly in the coming months. Amazon’s other launch contracts with Blue Origin’s New Glenn (27 launches) and ArianeGroup’s Ariane-6 (18 launches) however are more uncertain. Neither company has achieved any launches on their contracts, and it is not clear when either company, especially Blue Origin, will ever begin regular launches.

Finally, this morning Rocket Lab placed the seventh radar satellite into orbit for the company Synspective, its Electron rocket lifting off from one of its two launchpads in New Zealand. Rocket Lab has a contract for another twenty Synspective launches over the next few years. The launch also featured a larger fairing that will give the company the ability to launch bigger-sized satellites with Electron.

The leaders in the 2025 launch race, now including yesterday’s Starship/Superheavy launch:

131 SpaceX
60 China
13 Russia
13 Rocket Lab

SpaceX now leads the rest of the world in successful launches, 131 to 101.

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China launches three satellites from ocean platform

1:53 pm

The Chinese pseudo-company Orienspace yesterday successfully placed three satellites into orbit, its solid-fueled Gravity-1 rocket lifting off from an ocean platform off the country’s northeast coast.

This was Orienspace’s second launch, both using its Gravity-1 rocket from the ocean. Of the three satellites, one was an Earth observation satellite, and the other two were part of the pseudo-company Geespace’s Geely constellation of satellites, though it is not clear if these are for its Internet-of-Things (IoT) constellation or for general communications. The IoT constellation already has 64 satellites in orbit out of a planned 240.

Another launch of China’s Long March 8A rocket was supposed to happen yesterday, but there is no indication in China’s state-run that it took place, nor any information about a rescheduled launch date. That state-run press also illustrated the pseudo nature of these Chinese companies by only mentioning Orienspace as an afterthought at the end of the article.

The leaders in the 2025 launch race:

129 SpaceX
59 China
13 Russia
12 Rocket Lab

SpaceX still leads the rest of the world in successful launches, 129 to 99. The company will try again this evening to launch its third mission for Amazon, placing a set of Kuiper satellites into orbit. Weather has scrubbed the past two attempts in the previous few days.

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China launches two “test satellites”

7:46 pm

China earlier today successfully launched two test satellites for “experimental verification of Earth observation technologies, its Long March 2D rocket lifting off from its Xichang space port in southwest China.

No word on where the rocket’s lower stages, using very toxic hypergolic fuels, crashed inside China. The two satellites are part of the Shiyan family of satellites that have done rendezvous and proximity operations as well as surveillance of other satellites in orbit.

The leaders in the 2025 launch race:

126 SpaceX
58 China
13 Russia
12 Rocket Lab

SpaceX still leads the rest of the world in successful launches, 126 to 98.

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China completes two launches

2:01 pm

Since yesterday China successfully completed two launches from two of its interior spaceports.

First, it successfully launched what its state-run press described as a satellite that will “primarily support monitoring and research activities in weather forecasting, atmospheric chemistry and climate change”, its Long March 4C rocket lifting off yesterday from its Jiuquan spaceport in northwest China.

Then today China’s Long March 6A lifted off from its Taiyuan spaceport in north China, placing in orbit the eleventh set of satellites in the Guowang internet constellation, eventually aiming to be 13,000 satellites strong. China’s state-run press did not specify the exact number of satellites. Based on previous launches using the Long March 6A, the number was likely five, bringing the number of this constellation’s satellites now in orbit to 87.

No word on where the the lower stages of both rockets crashed inside China. This is even more critical with the Long March 4C, since it uses very toxic hypergolic fuels that can dissolve your skin if it touches you.

The leaders in the 2025 launch race:

125 SpaceX
57 China
13 Russia
12 Rocket Lab

SpaceX now leads the rest of the world in successful launches, 125 to 97.

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Chinese satellite photographs commercial Maxar satellite

10:41 am

One Jilin-1 image of Maxar satellite
Click for original. More images here.

In what appears to be a tit-for-tat competition, a Chinese reconnaissance satellite, dubbed Jilin-1, has now taken photographs of a commercial Earth imaging satellite owned by Maxar, that the company had previously used to photograph other Chinese satellites.

Chinese commercial remote sensing constellation operator Changguang Satellite Technology (CGST), a spinoff from an arm of the state-owned Chinese Academy of Sciences, published images Sept. 13 of a Maxar Worldview Legion 2 satellite.

The images were taken by CGST’s Jilin-1 remote sensing constellation satellites across a few hours on Sept. 8, from ranges between 40-55 kilometers, showing details of the spacecraft. While part of an expanding Earth observation constellation, Jilin-1 satellites have apparently had their operations adjusted to include Non-Earth Imaging (NEI).

Maxar had earlier published high resolution images of China’s Shijan-26 satellite, being used to test remote sensing and surveillance technologies.

None of this is particular new, though for China the technology is the most advanced it has ever had. Nations have been launching high resolution surveillance satellites since the 1960s. Nor is there anything anyone can do about it. Nations will always do this. If anything, having this ability to observe each other closely will likely reduce tensions and misunderstandings.

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Two launches by China and SpaceX

9:10 am

Both China and SpaceX completed launches today. First, China launched another 11 satellites for its Geely internet-of-things constellation, its Smart Dragon-3 rocket lifting off from a ocean platform off the nation’s eastern coast.

This was the sixth launch for this constellation, bringing the number of satellites in orbit to 64, out of a planned 240. The constellation is designed to provide positioning and communications for trucking and other ground-based businesses.

Next, SpaceX successfully placed three government science satellites into orbit (two for NASA and one for NOAA), its Falcon 9 rocket lifting off from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The first stage completed its second flight, landing on a drone ship in the Atlantic. The two fairings both completed their first flight.

The two NASA satellites were the Interstellar Mapping and Acceleration Probe (IMAP) to study the Sun’s heliosphere at the edge of the solar system and the Carruthers Geocorona Observatory to study the exosphere, the outermost layer of the atmosphere. The NOAA probe, Space Weather Follow On – Lagrange 1 (SWFO-L1), will observe the Sun from one million miles from Earth, providing advance knowledge of strong solar flares and eruptions so that utility companies can shield the electric grid appropriately.

The leaders in the 2025 launch race:

123 SpaceX
55 China
13 Russia
12 Rocket Lab

SpaceX now leads the rest of the world in successful launches, 123 to 94.

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China launches “test satellite for satellite internet technology”

9:25 am

China today successfully launched a satellite for testing “satellite internet technology”, its Long March 2C rocket lifting off from its Jiuquan spaceport in northwest China.

Its state-run press provided no other information about the satellite. Nor did it provide any information about where the rocket’s lower stages — which use toxic hypergolic fuels — crashed inside China.

The leaders in the 2025 launch race:

118 SpaceX
54 China
13 Russia
12 Rocket Lab

SpaceX still leads the rest of the world in successful launches, 118 to 93.

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NASA bans Chinese citizens from its facilities or operations

9:09 am

Earlier this week NASA moved to block Chinese citizens with visas from having access to its facilities as well as its entire operations, citing security concerns.

“NASA has taken internal action pertaining to Chinese nationals, including restricting physical and cybersecurity access to our facilities, materials and network to ensure the security of our work,” NASA press secretary Bethany Stevens said on Wednesday. According to Bloomberg, Chinese nationals had previously been allowed to work as contractors or students contributing to research, although not as staff.

But on 5 September several individuals told the outlet they were suddenly locked out of IT systems and barred from in-person meetings. They spoke on condition of anonymity.

Though both the Chinese press and the leftist news outlet above (The Guardian) whine about this move, it makes great sense, and should have been done years ago. Though I am sure most of these Chinese citizens are not spies, China’s policy has been to consistently use such citizens for spying, and letting such people into NASA operations makes no sense.

Moreover, shouldn’t NASA be hiring Americans first and foremost?

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China launches 11 more satellites for its Geely satellite constellation

8:09 pm

Earlier today China successfully launched 11 more satellites for its Geely satellite constellation, its Smart Dragon-3 rocket lifting off from a launch platform off the eastern coast of China.

Video of the launch can be found here (Hat tip to BtB’s stringer Jay). This was the fifth launch for this constellation, bringing the number of satellites in orbit for this planned 240 satellite constellation to 52. The constellation is designed to provide positioning and communications for trucking and other ground-based businesses.

The leaders in the 2025 launch race:

114 SpaceX
52 China
12 Rocket Lab
11 Russia

SpaceX still leads the rest of the world in successful launches, 114 to 89.

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Two more launches today

3:35 pm

As expected, SpaceX and China completed launches today.

First SpaceX launched another 24 Starlink satellites, its Falcon 9 rocket lifting off from Vandenberg in California. The first stage completed its 20th flight, landing on a drone ship in the Pacitic.

Next, China placed an unspecified “group” of “remote sensing” satellites into orbit, its Long March 6A rocket lifting off from its Taiyuan spaceport in northeast China. No word on where the rocket’s lower stages crashed inside China.

The leaders in the 2025 launch race:

114 SpaceX
51 China
12 Rocket Lab
11 Russia

SpaceX still leads the rest of the world in successful launches, 114 to 88.

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China yesterday completed two launches

9:03 am

China yesterday successfully completed two launches using different rockets from two different spaceports in the country’s interior.

First, its Long March 3C rocket launched a classified technology test satellite, the rocket lifting off from its Xichang spaceport in southwest China. No real information about the satellite was released, though its name, Shiyan, is part of a series of satellites that tests new designs for communications and remote sensing.

Next, the pseudo-company Galactic Energy placed three satellites into orbit, its solid-fueled Ceres-1 rocket lifting off from the Jiuquan spaeport in northwest China. Once again, little information was released about the satellites’ purpose.

With each launch, China’s state-run press also provided no information about where the lowers stages of both rockets landed inside China. This is especially of concern for the Long March 3C, which uses very toxic hypergolic fuels that can dissolve the skin.

The leaders in the 2025 launch race:

113 SpaceX
50 China
12 Rocket Lab
11 Russia

SpaceX still leads the rest of the world in successful launches, 113 to 87.

These numbers should change again by the end of today, with both SpaceX and China planning an additional launch each.

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China launches seven classified satellites

8:45 am

China today successfully placed seven satellites into orbit, its Kinetica-1 (or Lijian-1) rocket lifting off from its Jiuquan spaceport in northwest China.

No word on where the rocket’s lower stages crashed inside China. Its state-run press provided almost no information about the launch, except for trumpeting the fact that it lifted off from the launchpad at Jiuquan that China has built for its pseudo-commercial companies. The rocket itself however is built by pseudo-company CAS Space, which is simply a division created by the government-run Chinese Academy of Sciences.

The leaders in the 2025 launch race:

101 SpaceX
47 China
11 Rocket Lab
9 Russia

SpaceX still leads the rest of the world in successful launches, 101 to 80.

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