Episode 52 of Dongfang Hour China Space News Roundup!
20 September 2021
The 3 topics of this week's reporting by Blaine Curcio and Jean Deville are the return of the Shenzhou 12 crew including its orbital manoeuvres before re-entry, an overview on the activities by commercial space companies like Space Transportation and Orienspace and updates on China's Mars UAV.
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Wenchang - the new engine of commercial aerospace industry
21 September 2021
In April, the National Development and Reform Commission and the Ministry of Commerce jointly announced measures to support the construction of Hainan free trade port and widen market access to several industries, including commercial aerospace. Hainan will be supported in building an open international aerospace city and developing commercial aerospace industrial chains such as satellite remote sensing, Beidou Navigation Satellite System and satellite communication among others. In the future, Wenchang International Aerospace City will build a commercial launch base and a world-class market-oriented launch site system.
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"As long as there is a 50 % chance - I am in!"
18 September 2021
CGTN presents an English-language documentary on the history and development of China's manned space programme - from the beginning. The documentary starts with interviewing Yang Liwei who admits that he was prepared to not survive his space mission. Very frankly he tell the reporter about the joke among taikonauts at that time: "As long as there is a 50 % chance - I am in!", meaning that everybody would have done this flight if he was selected for that mission. And indeed, Yang talks about the cracks in the windows during re-entry... and there was also the issue with the fire alarm during China's first EVA. A highly recommended documentary!
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short cut to the episode with Yang Liwei: What terrified the first taikonaut?
China unveils gravitational-wave research center in Guangdong
27 September 2021
A gravitational-wave research centre under the China National Space Administration (CNSA) was inaugurated on 26 September in Zhuhai, Guangdong Province. It is located at the Zhuhai Campus of Sun Yat-sen University. The centre will develop a series of experimental satellite platforms and payloads to promote China's space gravitational-wave detection. The establishment of the research centre is a boost for the Tianqin programme, initiated by Sun Yat-sen University in 2015 and aiming at the detection of gravitational waves. The Tianqin 1 satellite was launched in December 2019. Two more satellites will follow until 2035.
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