Russia and China - getting closer in space
14 January 2015
Sergey Saveliev, Deputy Director of Russia's Federal Space Agency Roscosmos, explains in an interview with "Russia Beyond the Headlines" how Russia intends to cooperate with China in space exploration, on the ISS, in the area of manned space flight and on navigation systems.
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Russian Space Agency: Chinese spaceship docking with ISS highly improbable
13 January 2015
A possibility of a Chinese spaceship docking with the International Space Station looks highly improbable, as is a possible “visit” by a Russian spacecraft to the Chinese space station, Sergei Savelyev, chief of the Russian Space Agency (Roscosmos), said in an interview with the Rossiiskaya Gazeta daily that will be published on Tuesday. “Even if there is consent from all countries participating in the International Space Station programme, there will be a lot of outstanding technical aspects linked with both adjustment of China’s Shenzhou spacecraft and the use of a higher inclination of the International Space Station’s orbit, which the Chinese are not used to. The Chinese partners are building their own space stations and they have already announced when it will be commissioned - the year 2020,” he said.
Service module of China's lunar orbiter enters 127-minute orbit
13 January 2015
The service module of China's unmanned test lunar orbiter entered a 127-minute orbit on Tuesday after three orbital transfers since Sunday. To decelerate the craft enough for it enter its target orbit, the service module conducted three braking maneuvers on Sunday, Monday and Tuesday, the State Administration of Science, Technology and Industry for National Defense (SASTIND) announced.
11 January 2015
The service module of China's unmanned test lunar orbiter successfully decelerated, allowing it to enter an 8-hour orbit on Sunday, according to the Beijing Aerospace Control Center. Following instructions from the center, the service module conducted the braking at around 3 am and entered the 8-hour elliptical moon orbit with a perilune of about 200 km and an apolune of about 5,300 km. The spacecraft has sustained balanced energy and is in a sound condition, according to the center, adding that the center exercised timely and stable control and tracing of the service module and relevant tests had been carried out smoothly.
China's first private spacecraft sets test flight for July
11 January 2015
China's Space Vision released the plans for its first tourist spaceship Jan. 6 and has slated a test flight for the carrier in July, reports China's Tencent news portal. The unnamed tourist passenger spacecraft is anticipated to be able to take its first mission by the end of the year. Jiang Fang, the president of the Beijing-based aerospace technology company, said it has received technical support from multiple space research centers in China for its tourism project.