In a low-key mission conducted at 0420 GMT on 29 September, a Chinese Long March-2C (CZ-2C) rocket lifted-off from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center, Sichuan province. The mission is the first Chinese launch after two previous missions suffered anomalies resulting...
Over the weekend of 16-17 September, the Chinese space station, TIANGONG 2, and its attached resupply craft, TIANZHOU 1, completed the third in a series of fuel – and oxidiser – transfers form the freighter to the space station. Following the final fuel...
Every year Seradata publishes its analysis of how well different nations are doing in the “great space race”. In this, we limit our analysis to manned spaceflight and to its two main exploratory targets: a return to the Moon and setting foot on Mars. On the basis of...
The CHINASAT 9A Direct-To-Home (DTH) broadcast satellite reportedly managed to recover itself into the geostationary Earth orbit (GEO) belt by 5 July. It was stranded in a sub-optimal transfer orbit by an under-performing third-stage of a Long March 3B-G2 rocket on 18...
The second launch of the Chinese Long March 5 super-heavy launch vehicle has ended in failure after an anomaly apparently associated with the upper stage. The mission was carrying an experimental communications satellite called SHI JIAN 18. The launch took place from...
An under-performing third-stage of a Long March 3B-G2 rocket has left the Chinasat 9A Direct-To-Home (DTH) broadcast satellite in an incorrect orbit, following its launch from the Xichang Satellite Launch Centre, at 1610 GMT on 18 June. The target orbit was an...
