In another landmark achievement for the country’s young space program, China has officially deployed the world’s first lobster-eye telescope into orbit. Known as the ‘Einstein Probe’, the advanced satellite observatory can detect far-off cosmic phenomena, including black holes and neutron stars. A Long March 2C liquid fuel rocket successfully launched the Einstein Probe from the…
Chinese state-run media has announced the launch of what it describes as the world’s deepest laboratory. Located in the country’s mountainous Sichuan province, the subterranean facility is more than 2 400 metres underground. After three years of extensive expansions by Tsinghua University and Yalong River Hydropower Development Company, the China Jinping Underground Laboratory’s remote location…
Chinese authorities have announced the initial completion of the country’s long-awaited high-orbit satellite communications network. In what is being touted as a potential competitor to Elon Musk’s Starlink internet constellation, the Chinese equivalent promises to offer high-speed internet services to the country’s more than 1.4 billion inhabitants. The satellite communications network would provide services to…
Chinese aerospace firm, iSpace, has reportedly tested their first full-scale reusable rocket in what is a landmark moment for the country’s space programme. The Beijing-based company successfully conducted “hop tests” with its Hyperbola-2Y rocket in the Gobi Desert, paving the way for further experimentation on the firm’s larger Hyperbola-3 rocket systems as soon as 2025,…
Chinese astronomers have told state media that they are working on a prototype version of the Xuntian space telescope to rival the Hubble telescope. The 2.5 gigapixel ultra-violet optical observatory will reportedly have a field of view 300-350 times wider than the NASA-engineered Hubble telescope and will reportedly be operational as soon as 2024. Xuntian,…
China has revealed plans to establish a second satellite “mega constellation” to provide high-speed broadband internet services aimed at competing with Elon Musk’s Starlink network. The constellation, reportedly called ‘G60 Starlink’, will consist of up to 12 000 satellites settled in low earth orbit, according to Chinese state media. When completed, G60 will join the…
A Chinese start-up has successfully inserted an experimental communications satellite into orbit. Developed by Beijing-based firm, GalaxySpace, Lingxi-03 features an ultra-thin, flexible solar wing and is testing key technologies for China’s planned 13 000 satellite constellation in what will be China’s answer to Elon Musk’s Starlink. The satellite was launched into orbit at the end…
Scientists in China claim to have built a 12-story facility that can replicate the weightlessness experienced in outer space. China has prioritised space exploration in its latest five-year plan and the newly constructed Microgravity Experiment Facility with Electromagnetic Launch (MEFEL) will allow researchers to rack-up much needed time in low-gravity conditions, at a fraction of…
Egypt has announced receiving two Chinese-developed satellites for its newly-created space programme. The country joins a growing list of African and Middle Eastern nations, including Namibia, Zambia and Djibouti, looking to establish a presence in space. The prototypes were delivered to the Egyptian Space Agency’s Satellite Assembly Integration and Test Centre (AIT) in Space City,…
Chinese aerospace chiefs are considering deploying a helicopter in the country’s latest effort to retrieve samples from one of our closest planetary neighbours, Mars. The Tianwen-3 Mars mission is expected to go ahead sometime near 2028. It promises to be the Chinese National Space Agency’s (CNSA) most complex endeavour to date, requiring the launch of…