06 December 2020
In one of the 11 steps to bring 2 kg of Moon samples back to Earth, the ascender of China's Chang'e 5 lunar probe has docked with the orbiter module and is ready to return. Not long after the docking completed, the engineers at China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation (COSIC) revealed the technologies they had developed for the Chang'e 5 mission.
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06 December 2020
A Gaofen 14 satellite was launched by a Long March-3B carrier rocket from the Xichang Satellite Launch Centre in southwest China's Sichuan Province, on 6 December 2020 at 11:58 BJT. The satellite is tasked with obtaining high-definition stereoscopic images of the globe that can be used to generate large-scale digital topographic maps, digital orthophoto maps and other products.
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02 December 2020
SpaceNews published a commentary by Louis D. Friedman of The Planetary Society in which he advocates closer international cooperation in deep-space exploration, including China: "Each nation’s current lunar and Mars programs would continue on their current course, but could be gradually enhanced with international cooperation while serving the bigger context of human activity on the moon and Mars. Those expecting commercial development and other private ventures on the moon will find Earth’s nearest neighbor large enough to accommodate lots of interests. China’s presence is not uncertain - they are doing that anyway. The scale and the reality of lunar development can only be enhanced by coordination and cooperation."
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03 December 2020
On 3 December, at 23:10 BJT, the Chang'e 5 ascend stage, containing the lunar samples, took off from the surface of the Moon. The 3.000 N engine worked for 6 min and placed the ascend unit into lunar orbit. There, it is expected to complete unmanned rendezvous and docking with the orbiter-return section.
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reporting by Our Space
05 December 2020
The next major maneuver for China's Chang'e 5 robotic mission will be an orbital rendezvous and docking between the probe's ascender and re-entry capsule. Previous rendezvous and docking by Chinese spacecraft occurred in low-Earth orbit hundreds of kilometers above Earth with assistance from navigation satellites, but this time it will take place in lunar orbit nearly 380,000 km away without any external guidance.
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03 December 2020
China plans to launch a new Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) imaging satellite for monitoring Arctic shipping routes. Jointly developed by scientists from Guangzhou-based Sun Yat-sen University and the China Academy of Space Technology, the satellite has been designed to be put in 2022 in a sun-synchronous orbit at an altitude of 720 km and to generate high-quality SAR satellite imagery with 50-meter resolution and 300 km width.
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