14 January 2021
The "Tianhe" core module of the Chinese Space Station CSS and the Tianzhou 2 cargo spacecraft have passed their factory review, China Manned Space Engineering Office (CMSEO) announced on 14 January. As a consequence, the construction project of the country's space station will now enter the implementation phase. Tianhe is planned for launch in spring.
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13 January 2021
Blaine Curcio of Orbital Gateway Consulting and Jean Deville of The China Aerospace Blog are reporting on the events in the first full week of the new year. They are giving details about CASC's launch plans for 2021, CMSA's invitation for tender for cargo transport into space and about the space-ground quantum key distribution experiment recently accomplished by China.
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12 January 2021
Tests on the prototype of China's first space-borne comprehensive solar observation satellite will come close to completion by the end of January, and the spacecraft is expected to be launched by 2022, according to Gan Weimin, Chief Scientist with the programme. The satellite, codenamed Advanced Space-based Solar Observatory or ASO-S, is tasked with conducting long-term continuous solar observation for at least four years, and its main scientific goals include the formation of solar magnetic field, solar flare and titanic blasts known as coronal mass ejections, as well as their relationship in a simultaneous fashion
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11 January 2021
China's Standardization Administration announced 4 BDS (BeiDou Navigation Satellite System) related standards, which were published on its official website on 9 January. The new standards cover the areas of data format, digital map applications, ground-based augmentation systems, and atomic clocks.
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12 January 2021
China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CSAC) has made significant advances in several key technologies for the new engine, which will have a much higher fuel efficiency than those currently in service. The unnamed hydrogen/oxygen engine is expected to eventually replace the YF-77 which currently powers the first stage of China’s Long March CZ-5 family of heavy-lift vehicle rockets. Instead of the YF-77’s gas-generator cycle, the new rocket will use a staged combustion cycle, which increases efficiency by burning through the propellant more thoroughly, but also poses engineering design and build challenges.
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09 January 2021
CASC completed a reliability tests for its CZ-5B high-thrust oxyhydrogen engine on 8 January at its rocket engine test facility in Beijing. The engine type is prepared for the CZ-5B rocket launching the space statio modules with the first CSS module expected for orbiting in spring. The engine ran 500 seconds during the test – the same amount of time of its designed full work cycle. It is the 4th time the engine has been tested with 500 seconds, showing great ability of extending service life, one of the goals of the test. The analysis and inspection will be conducted after the test.
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Link to CNSA YouTube video of testing the CZ-5 YF-77 engine one year ago with views of the test facility in Beijing