China's cargo spacecraft completes second docking with space lab
19 June 2017
China's Tianzhou-1 cargo spacecraft completed its second docking with Tiangong-2 space lab on 19 June at 2:55 p.m. Beijing time, after flying around the space lab. Tianzhou-1 separated from Tiangong-2 in the morning of 19 June and then flew around the space lab, according to the China Manned Space Engineering Office.
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New broadcasting satellite fails to enter preset orbit
19 June 2017
A broadcasting satellite, which was launched aboard the Long March-3B carrier rocket from southwest China's Xichang Satellite Launch Center on 19 June at 12:11 a.m. Beijing time, failed to enter the preset orbit.
The exact reason for the failure of the radio and television broadcasting satellite is under investigation.
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for more information on the Zhongxing-9A (ChinaSat-9A) telecommunication satellite for China Satcom, please, consult the NASASpaceflight.com website ...
Scientists voice expectations of China's new space telescope
16 June 2017
Gou Lijun, a researcher at the National Astronomical Observatories of the CAS, said China missed opportunities for many discoveries as approval of Insight and its development and launch was postponed many times. However, it is the first step for China in the field of X-ray astronomy and learning how to develop and operate a space telescope, Gou said. "Although many advanced X-ray astronomical satellites from other countries are already in orbit, HXMT could still make important discoveries," said Gou. "The universe is full of surprises." Zhang Shuangnan, lead scientist of HXMT, said the launch puts China in the vanguard of international X-ray astronomy with a dozen other X-ray satellites in orbit. This is both an opportunity and a challenge for China. HXMT will both compete and collaborate with other X-ray satellites.
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Chinese scientists successfully beam "entangled" photons from space in landmark experiment
16 June 2017
In "a major technical accomplishment" on quantum communication, Chinese scientists on 15 June reported a successful transmission of "entangled" photon pairs from space to the Earth in efforts to prove that a physical phenomenon once described by Albert Einstein as "spooky" exists at a large distance. A team of Chinese scientists have realized the satellite-based distribution of entangled photon pairs over 1,200 kilometers. The photon pairs were demonstrated to be still entangled after travelling long distances. This satellite-based technology opens up bright prospects for both practical quantum communications and fundamental quantum optics experiments at distances previously inaccessible on the ground, said Pan Jianwei, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. The achievement was made based on the world' s first quantum satellite, Quantum Experiments at Space Scale (QUESS), also dubbed Micius, launched by China on 16 August 2016.
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