14 September 2021
Despite the impressive growth of the space sector in many Chinese space cities, the most impressive space cluster, by far, remains the Northern Capital of Beijing.
Beijing is the beating heart of China’s space industry. The core of the city’s space industry is China’s two largest state-owned space companies, namely CASC, and CASIC. In addition to CASC and CASIC, most commercial space companies have either their headquarters, or at a minimum a major office presence in Beijing.
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18 September 2021
The successful completion of the Shenzhou 12 mission on 17 September means the Dongfeng Landing Site is likely to be prioritised over the Siziwang Banner Landing Site to receive returning Chinese astronauts in the future. The return of the Shenzhou 12 crew was the first time Chinese astronauts landed at Dongfeng as all of the nation's previous spaceflights ended at Siziwang. Both are in the Inner Mongolia autonomous region and the distance between them is about 900 km.
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17 September 2021
The Tianhe core module, now in orbit, is 'only' a test module. There is another engineering model on the ground where adjustments and improvements will be made during the course of time. Depending on the state of the current Tianhe module in orbit, the back-up module could replace it or the back-up can serve as the core module of the extended version of the Chinese Space Station. The modular design allows for interesting extensions into a big space structure.
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17 September 2021
After Shenzhou 12's separation from Tianhe on 16 September at 8:56 BJT, the crew completed circumnavigation and radial rendezvous tests at 13:38 BJT the same day, and prepared for the re-entry and landing procedure. The tests successfully verified the radial rendezvous technology, laying an important technical foundation for the following manned missions. The Shenzhou 12 return capsule landed at Dongfeng Site in north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region on 17 September 2021 at 13:34 BJT.
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photo report
18 September 2021
3 Chinese astronauts, the first sent to orbit for China's space station construction, have completed their 3-month mission and returned to Earth safely on 17 September. The return capsule of the Shenzhou 12 manned spaceship, carrying astronauts Nie Haisheng, Liu Boming and Tang Hongbo, touched down at the Dongfeng landing site in north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region at 13:34 BJT.
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16 September 2021
China stands ready to cooperate to further the development of the Beidou Navigation Satellite System, promote the growth of related industries and share outcomes from the system's development, President Xi Jinping said on 16 September. In a letter to congratulate the First International Summit on Beidou Navigation Satellite System Applications, Xi underscored Beijing's commitment to ensure the system benefits the Chinese people as well as people from other nations. He noted that positioning and navigation services have become a key type of new infrastructure with the acceleration of digitalisation globally.
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