03 February 2021
Tianwen 1 is set to enter Mars' orbit around 10 February. CNSA said in a statement on 3 February afternoon that the spacecraft will conduct a "braking" operation to decelerate its speed to make sure it will be captured by Mars' gravity. As of 04 February morning, Tianwen 1 has flown 196 days in a trajectory toward the Red Planet and has traveled more than 450 million kilometers. It is now around 170 million km away from Earth.
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29 January 2021
Chinese private rocket firm LandSpace confirmed with the Global Times on 29 January that it has accomplished a payload fairing separation test for its self-developed ZQ-2 liquid-propellant carrier rocket, a step toward the maiden liftoff for the much-expected rocket. The test verifies the working performance, sequence and the whole process of the entire separation action of the fairing. The parameters of the separation process meet the design requirements, which proves the level of the separation design and interface coordination, the company said.
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29 January 2021
The 2nd group of China's Yaogan 31 remote sensing satellites were sent into space from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre in northwest China on 29 January at 12:47 BJT.
The satellites were carried by a CZ-4C rocket. It was the 359th flight mission of the Long March carrier rocket series, the launch centre said. Having entered their planned orbits, the satellites will be used for electromagnetic environment surveys and other related technology tests.
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28 January 2021
China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC) has recently disclosed more details on China's space endeavors in 2021, which is expected to see more than 40 launch missions for the Long March rocket family including those tasked for the building of the country's first space station.
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27 January 2021
China's automaker Geely has officially launched its internet satellite project in Qingdao, East China's Shandong Province, with an investment of 4.12 billion RMB (637 million USD), according to media reports. That would make the Chinese automaker in par with Tesla in the adventure into aerospace. The project is located in the Qingdao Shanghe demonstration zone.
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27 January 2021
CASC's CALT has developed two new rocket tank prototypes that can help reduce the weight of rockets and improve launch capabilities. Both prototypes have a diameter of 3.35 m. One is made of aluminum lithium alloy and the other is made of composite materials. The aluminum lithium alloy rocket tank is 15 percent lighter and 30 percent stronger than conventional tanks made of aluminum copper alloy.
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