Yuanwang 7 sails to the Indian Ocean
15 January 2021
China's spacecraft tracking ship Yuanwang 7 is sailing to the Indian Ocean, beginning its first maritime monitoring mission this year. The ship departed from its home port in east China's Jiangsu Province on 15 January.
To ensure the success of the mission, the crew members were brought together and quarantined before the voyage to prevent COVID-19 infection. They have examined facilities and prepared medical supplies.
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CSS core module and cargo spacecraft passed factory review
14 January 2021
The "Tianhe" core module of the Chinese Space Station CSS and the Tianzhou 2 cargo spacecraft have passed their factory review, China Manned Space Engineering Office (CMSEO) announced on 14 January. As a consequence, the construction project of the country's space station will now enter the implementation phase. Tianhe is planned for launch in spring.
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Dongfang Hour - the 15th China Aerospace News Roundup (04 January 2021 - 10 January 2021)
13 January 2021
Blaine Curcio of Orbital Gateway Consulting and Jean Deville of The China Aerospace Blog are reporting on the events in the first full week of the new year. They are giving details about CASC's launch plans for 2021, CMSA's invitation for tender for cargo transport into space and about the space-ground quantum key distribution experiment recently accomplished by China.
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China plans to launch first space-based Sun-observing satellite by 2022
12 January 2021
Tests on the prototype of China's first space-borne comprehensive solar observation satellite will come close to completion by the end of January, and the spacecraft is expected to be launched by 2022, according to Gan Weimin, Chief Scientist with the programme. The satellite, codenamed Advanced Space-based Solar Observatory or ASO-S, is tasked with conducting long-term continuous solar observation for at least four years, and its main scientific goals include the formation of solar magnetic field, solar flare and titanic blasts known as coronal mass ejections, as well as their relationship in a simultaneous fashion
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