19 March 2021
Namrata Goswami analyses for The Diplomat the consequences of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for the joint construction of an autonomous lunar permanent research base, signed by CNSA and Roscosmos. She argues: "China and Russia’s lunar base MoU has changed the alignment structures around space cooperation and sends a clear signal to the United States and the seven other Artemis Accords partners that space is contested. China and Russia are offering avenues for alternate partnership, especially to encourage countries like Saudi Arabia and Turkey to join, both of whom have aspirations to develop their space sector."
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22 March 2021
After working through the 28th lunar day, the Chang'e 4 lunar lander and Yutu 2 rover switched to hibernation mode for the 28th lunar night. The lander was switched to dormant mode on 21 March at 02:00 BJT and the Yutu 2 rover on 20 March at 17:09 BJT. Both craft have been on the far side of the Moon for more than 800 Earth days. Since landing in January 2019, Yutu 2 travelled 682.77 m.
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23 March 2021
Blaine Curcio of Orbital Gateway Consulting and Jean Deville of The China Aerospace Blog are reporting for SpaceWatch.Global on China's main space events of the last week. This time, the two experts focus on the latest news coming out from Changsha-based satellite company Hangsheng Satellite, Starwin's testing of Ka-band phased array antenna, and the colossal round of funding for CASICloud.
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26 March 2021
CNSA published on 26 March 2 Mars images taken by Tianwen 1's mid-resolution camera on 18 March in a distance of 11,000 km from Mars. The images show a crescent Mars with a surface texture features visible. Several mission payloads on the probe have been activated to carry out scientific tasks, as well as observe and analyze the landforms and weather conditions at the optimal landing site, according CNSA's statement.
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