14 June 2021
In the 37th Episode of Dongfang Hour China, Blaine Curcio and Jean Deville talk about the 6 most important topics of the previous week: 1) iSpace unveils details on the Hyperbola-3; 2) Emergence of launch company Dongfang Space (“Ospace”); 3) Additional pictures from Tianwen-1; 4) Shenzhen publishes Support for Satellite Manufacturing and CZ-2D Launch; 5) CAS Xi’an to Launch Xiamen-1 Satellite; 6) China Announces a MEO Broadband Constellation
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14 June 2021
On 12 June, mission planers decided that Zhurong will continue moving southward to explore the Red Planet. It is hoped that Zhurong might find some interesting geographical features. All 6 science payloads - including the multi-spectral camera, ground-penetrating radar and meteorological sensor - have started operation. Because of favourable weather in the landing area, Zhurong can carry out its tasks at a faster pace than predicted.
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12 June 2021
During a press briefing on 12 June, Xu Hongliang, CNSA's spokesperson said at a press briefing in Beijing that China plans to carry out a NEO sample return mission combined with a main-belt comet exploration around 2025. The Mars sample return mission will be carried out by around 2030. Also, in the recent days CNSA has been cooperating with NASA and ESA regarding the Mars mission data exchange, to ensure the safety of the Tianwen 1 on-orbit satellite, said Xu. Additionally, he mentioned the international cooperation involved in the Tianwen 1 mission.
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11 June 2021
On 11 June, CNSA released new images taken by the Mars rover Zhurong and a drop-off camera. The images include the landing site panorama, Martian landscape and a 'group photo' of the rover with the landing platform. The images were unveiled at a ceremony in Beijing. The 'group photo' of Zhurong and the landing platform was created by a small camera, which was originally attached to the rover's bottom and then placed on the Martian soil when the rover travelled about 10 m to the south of its landing platform.
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