20 April 2021
Blaine Curcio of Orbital Gateway Consulting and Jean Deville of The China Aerospace Blog are reporting for SpaceWatch.Global on China's main space events of the last week. This time the two experts cover 3 important topics of last week: 1. CASIC Institute tests spaceplane propulsion technology; 2. China’s “Double One Hundred” goal (sending a space mission 100 AU away from Earth on the 100th anniversary of the PRC); and 3. Report on China’s Aerospace Manufacturing Capabilities. Like always: this is an highly interesting read!!!
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20 April 2021
Space-tracking ship Yuanwang 5 departed from a port in east China's Jiangsu Province on 20 April for a maritime monitoring mission in the Pacific Ocean. Before this voyage, the crew members have examined onboard facilities and replenished their supplies for the upcoming mission, after the ship returned from a mission on 29 March.
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20 April 2021
China's Hongyan satellite constellation which will become part of China's "new infrastructure" project, might undergo major changes. "As we understand, relevant Chinese authorities are making overall planning about China's satellite constellation construction including the Hongyan and Hongyun projects." said Ge Yujun, President of China Spacesat Co Ltd. "...While giving full play to our traditional advantages, we will strive to grasp the construction of satellite communication space-based systems," Ge said.
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16 April 2021
China has completed an upgrade of the ground system for its first-generation relay satellite, Tianlian 1, according to the Beijing Space Information Transmission Centre. The 4-year upgrade was successfully completed following maintenance downtime for the Tianlian 1-02 relay satellite's ground system. The upgrade enables the country to operate its two generations of relay satellite systems, Tianlian 1 and Tianlian 2-1, in an integrated manner and marks a major advance in the space-based tracking, telemetry and control (TT&C). It also greatly enhances the reliability of the relay satellite systems, as well as their maintainable and automatic natures.
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19 April 2021
China will announce the name of its first Mars rover at the opening ceremony of China's Space Day, which falls on 24 April, according to the China National Space Administration (CNSA). This year, Nanjing, the capital city of east China's Jiangsu Province, will host the main events.
The global campaign of naming the rover kicked off last July. Netizens in China and abroad were invited to vote for their favorite among 10 candidates from 20 January to 28 February. In March 2021, three possible names emerged, with "Zhurong," a fire god in ancient Chinese mythology, topping the list.
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15 April 2021
The crewed spacecraft and carrier rocket for the Shenzhou-12 space mission have arrived at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre in northwest China. Both are now undergoing final assembly and testing at the launch site. The taikonauts for the Shenzhou-12 human space flight mission are participating in intensive training before launch. All facilities at the launch site are in good condition, and all systems that will be involved in the mission are undergoing preparations according to plan.
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