15 April 2020
China's Hainan plans to launch the Sanya-1 satellite constellation in space in 2021. According to the Hainan Daily, these satellites will become the first remote sensing satellites in the region that will be able to transmit high-resolution images. According to the newspaper, the Sanya-1 satellite group will consist of two vehicles. Currently, they are already under construction. These satellites will be used in agriculture and forestry, the fishing industry and in ocean research.
Sanya-1 spacecraft were developed by Satellite (Zhuhai) Aerospace Technology using technology from Harbin Polytechnic University.
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17 April 2020
The lander and rover of the Chang'e 4 probe have resumed work for the 17th lunar day on the far side of the Moon after "sleeping" during the extremely cold night. The lander woke up at 13:24 h 17 April (Beijing time), and the rover awoke at 20:57 h on 16 April. Both are in normal working order, according to the Lunar Exploration and Space Program Center of the China National Space Administration.
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15 April 2020
The coronavirus pandemic has shown just how essential the internet has become to modern life. Many people confined at home have relied on it to work, socialise and order the things they need for daily life. But it’s also something that only half of the world’s population has access to. Companies in the US and China have been racing to change that by using low Earth orbit (LEO) satellites to drench the world in internet coverage. The hope is to reach areas that land-based cables can’t cover. In trying to catch up with the US, China has ramped up its efforts to become a major satellite internet provider. To accomplish this, state-owned and private companies in China plan to launch thousands of satellites into LEO.
MORE... (Thanks to Blaine Curcio of Orbital Gateway Consulting for bringing this to our attention)
16 April 2020
On 11 April, the MarineTel high-throughput satellite maritime service of Sino satellite Communications Co., Ltd. , a subsidiary of China Satcom was officially launched. Utilizing the resources of ChinaSat-16 satellite, this product can provide high-speed broadband communication services. It will provide higher-quality maritime satellite communication services for different types of ships, and help optimize and upgrade the maritime satellite communication industry.
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16 April 2020
The Chinese commercial launch industry is, above all, crowded. More than a dozen companies have been established since 2014, and while some are focusing on specific elements of the value chain such as rocket engines, more than half are attempting to develop their own rocket. While some are more well-funded than others, and some more technologically advanced, the industry’s nascency means that there is still significant uncertainty as to which launch companies will survive in the Darwinian world of Chinese tech startups.
MORE... (Thanks to Blaine Curcio of Orbital Gateway Consulting for bringing this to our attention)
13 March 2020
According to a statement by the head of U.S. Air Force Air Combat Command, pilots of the elite U-2 spy plane wear watches that receive foreign GNSS signals and provide backup navigation when GPS is jammed. “My U-2 guys fly with a watch now that ties into GPS, but also BeiDou and the Russian [GLONASS] system and the European [Galileo] system so that if somebody jams GPS, they still get the others,” said Gen. James “Mike” Holmes on March 4 at the McAleese Defense Programs Conference in Washington.
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