26 May 2021
China and Russia invited each other for participation in the International Lunar Research Station. Furthermore, China and Russia decided to incorporate each others launchers into their respective human space flight programmes, paving the way for an integrated approach to future deep-space exploration. “Both sides have agreed to incorporate Russia’s super-heavy rocket in China’s human space flight missions as well as the other way round – incorporate China’s super-heavy rocket with Russia’s manned spacecraft,” Alexander Bloshenko, Executive Director of Roscosmos said on 24 May, according to Russian state-owned news agency Sputnik. China has not commented on the planned space cooperation with Russia.
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29 May 2021
China plans to launch the Tianzhou 2 cargo spacecraft on 29 May, at around 20:55 BJT (12:55 UTC) from Wenchang Space Launch Centre (LC-201). The Long March 7-Y3 carrier rocket, carrying the Tianzhou 2 cargo spacecraft, is filled with propellant and ready for launch, said CMSA.
Tianzhou spacecraft launched, heads to space station
26 May 2021
Yang Jun, Deputy Director of China's Satellite Navigation System Management Office, said at the 3-day 12th China Satellite Navigation Conference in Nanchang, capital of east China's Jiangxi Province, that the value of industries related to the BeiDou Navigation Satellite System (BDS) is estimated to exceed 1 trillion RMB (about 156.4 billion USD) by 2025. China has fostered a complete and independent industrial chain for developing BDS and has exported BDS-powered products to more than 120 countries and regions, Yang said. He added that based on BDS's performance index in the first half of this year, the system is functioning well with a signal-in-space accuracy of less than 0.5 m.
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Multiple Beidou satellite navigation applications debut in Jiangxi
22 May 2021
China only sent its first human into space in 2003, but since then its technological capabilities have multiplied. But what are the ultimate goals of China’s space programme? And as technologies needed to take humans to Mars are developed, are we about to witness a new ‘Space Race’? Paul Henley of the BBC World Service is joined by a panel of expert guests: Brian Harvey, Kaitlyn Johnson, Dean Cheng, Laura Forczyk and Jill Stuart.
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24 May 2021
The news update on the Chinese space programmes includes the latest developments from the week of 17 - 23 May. Blaine Curcio and Jean Deville report about the first images from Zhurong rover, the completion of the first batch of tests for the Tianhe space station module, SASTIND's new regulations on smallsat manufacturing and they reflect on an opinion piece by Galaxy Space’s Xu Ming on China SatNet.
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22 May 2021
At 10:40 BJT on 22 May, the Zhurong rover set its wheels onto the Martian surface and started planetary exploration. If all continues to go according to plan, the rover can operate for about 3 months - 90 Martian days.
Linli Guo engineer with CAST published on her Twitter account (@guo_linli) the first photos Zhurong took.
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*headline adapted from lyrics by R.E.M. - Man on the Moon