14 September 2022
Aerospace Propulsion Institute, a subsidiary of CASC's 6th Academy announced on 13 September that for the first time the country has conducted a verification flight test on a domestically developed reusable liquid oxygen kerosene engine. The successful maiden flight test marks a major breakthrough in engine reusability development. In the verification flight test, the engine first served as the main engine in the maiden flight and after being inspected and maintained, successfully supported another repeated flight test. The Xi'an institute did not reveal the thrust of the engine or what launch vehicle was deployed in the flight test. Further details of the test would be released later.
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14 September 2022
Late on 13 September, at 21:18 BJT, China used a modified version of the CZ-7 carrier rocket to launch the Zhongxing 1E telecommunication satellite from the Wenchang Space Launch Centre. It will provide high-quality voice, data, radio and television transmission services.
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Zhongxing 1E launched by tallest rocket of the Long March family
14 September 2022
The 3 SZ-14 taikonauts have completed their first 100 days of their 6 month stay in orbit as they prepare for their 2nd spacewalk outside the Station. CMSA shared several photos of the crew testing spacesuits, displaying food, and doing physical exercises under microgravity conditions on board the core module Tianhe and lab module Wentian. The crew also became the first Chinese people to celebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival in space. Now they are preparing for the next work in the open cosmos.
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A quick view of Wentian, China's space lab
13 September 2022
Latest research on the lunar soil samples brought back by the Chang'e-5 mission conducted by the scientific research team from the Institute of Geochemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, showed that the surface of the lunar soil samples contains high content of water attributed to solar wind implantation. Through the analyses by infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and nanoscale secondary ion mass spectrometry (NanoSIMS), the scientists estimated a minimum of 170 ppm water content attributed with solar wind proton implantation in lunar soils. The results of spectral and microstructural analyses indicate that the formation and storage of solar wind-derived water are affected by exposure time, crystal structure, and mineral composition of the minerals.
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13 September 2022
Secure World Foundation and and Caelus Foundation have released the Sino-US Space Commercialization Dialogues Report, 2019-2021: The First Three Years of Tracking The Two Largest Orbits in Space Commercialization. Since 2019, Secure World Foundation and Caelus Foundation have been engaged in a research and dialogue program focused on the commercial space component of the United States China relationship. This report summarizes activities in this program over the period 2019-2021.
Read the report here.
10 September 2022
China’s Moon exploration plans are moving ahead smoothly, reports Leonard David on his website Inside Outer Space. He writes that Liu Jizhong, Director of the Lunar Exploration and Space Programme Center under China National Space Administration (CNSA), told media about the mission assignment for the Chang’e-6 probe. As a backup of the Chang’e-5 mission, CE-6 will endeavor to retrieve samples from the far side of the Moon and return them to the Earth.
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