06 April 2020
China has been testing high-tech parachutes to control rocket debris and make space launches safer, according to the China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology (CALT). During the 9 March - launch of a Long March-3B rocket carrying a satellite of the BeiDou Navigation Satellite System, a booster was equipped with parachutes and control devices. After the booster separated from the rocket, the parachutes opened in a sequence to control its attitude and direction, and data of the fall trajectory and landing site were sent to ground control in Xichang, southwest China's Sichuan Province.
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CCTV footage: China records first accurate parachute landing of rocket booster
article by Leonard David: China Tests New Booster Parachute System

06 April 2020
China is expected to launch the last satellite for its BeiDou-3 Navigation Satellite System in May from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in southwest China's Sichuan Province. The new satellite is the 55th satellite of the BeiDou Navigation Satellite System. It arrived at the launch site in Xichang on 4 April, where it will be tested, assembled and fueled before the launch. The BDS family satellite is a geosynchronous Earth orbit satellite.
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China’s new BeiDou navigation satellite enters long-term operation mode - with CCTV footage

09 April 2020
China's launch mission on the Long March-3B carrier rocket carrying a communication satellite of Indonesia, Palapa-N1, suffered a failure on 9 April. The rocket blasted off at 19:46 h Beijing Time from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in southwest China's Sichuan Province. The rocket worked in normal conditions in the first-stage and second-stage. And abnormal conditions happened in the third-stage.
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more detailed report on the SCMP: Chinese Long March-3B rocket fails during launch of Indonesian satellite


 

11 April 2020
Blaine Curcio looks into the impact of the recent launch failure of the Long March-3B rocket - carrying the Palapa-N1 satellite - onto the Chinese satellite export efforts as well as onto the Indonesian satellite communications (satcom) market.
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