Chang'e 4 probe switches back to dormant mode for its second lunar night
13 February 2019
The lander and the rover of the Chang'e 4 probe have been switched to dormant mode for the second lunar night after working stably during its second lunar day, the China National Space Administration (CNSA) announced on 13 February. The payloads on board including low-frequency radio astronomical instrument, neutron radiation detector, infrared imaging spectrometer and neural atomic detector have been operating smoothly as scheduled. Yutu-2 has driven 120 m. The lander was switched to a dormant mode at 19:00 BJT on 11 February as scheduled, and the rover, Yutu 2, at 20:00 BJT said the CNSA. According to China's Lunar and Deep Space Exploration Center, the rover will be woken up on 28 February and the lander on 1 March.
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China improves Long March-6 rocket for growing commercial launches
11 February 2019
China announced 11 February that it is developing the modified version of the Long March 6 rocket with four additional solid boosters to increase its carrying capacity. The improved medium-left carrier rocket will be sent into space by 2020, according to the Shanghai Academy of Spaceflight Technology under the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASTC), which designed the rocket.
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Space PR and Public Outreach at its best: Arizona State University publishes a series of LRO photos showing the Chang'e 4 landing site with the lander and rover
9 February 2019
The Chang'e 4 rover is now visible to LROC (Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera)! Just beyond the tip of the right arrow is the rover and the lander is to the right of the tip of the left arrow. The image appears blocky because it is enlarged 4x to make it easier to see the two vehicles. North is to the upper right, LROC NAC M1303570617LR [NASA/GSFC/Arizona State University].
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other photos acquired by LROC: Chang'e 3 Lander and Rover From Above
First Look: Chang'e 4
Chang'e 4 Lander Coordinates: The Chang'e 4 spacecraft set down between the two arrows at 45.457°S, 177.589°E, plus or minus 20 meters
On the Farside!
with scroll around function !
Chang'e 3 Lander and Rover From Above: with before/after switch between two LRO photos to clearly indicate the new object on the far side of the Moon
FutureAerospace’s China Commercial Space Investment Report 2018: Highlights
26 January 2019
2018 has been a crazy year for Chinese commercial space, and 2019 promises to be even crazier. iSpace raised 110 million RMB on January 3 [1], Minospace raised an estimated 20 million RMB on January 15 [2] , and as I am writing these lines (26/01/2019), Changguang Satellite (CGSTL) just raised a whooping 250 million RMB in an angel round [3]. This has literally smashed January 2018’s record (283 million RMB raised). Before 2019 goes any further, let’s take some time to reflect on investments in Chinese space tech in 2018.
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