24 May 2018
China has successfully experimented with its space program's inflatable reentry and descent technology (IRDT), a technology that can allow China to land heavier spacecraft on celestial bodies with thin atmosphere, including the Moon and Mars. The experiment, the first of its kind in China, was conducted by China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC) and successfully validated working principles, working process and multiple key technologies.
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24 May 2018
A remote sensing laboratory was unveiled on Tuesday by China Transport Telecommunications and Information Center (CTTIC) and Airbus Defense and Space. The two sides will cooperate to provide more accurate transport information. Microwave remote sensing is not influenced by weather and visibility.
According to Li Yuanting, senior engineer at the CTTIC, InSAR can monitor the area of 1,500 square kilometers and record tiny changes in the shape of Earth's surface within the area.
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24 May 2018
Decades after the Moon became covered in American flags and footprints, the nearest world in space is becoming strategic again. Recently, China launched a satellite to orbit the L2 Earth-Moon Lagrange point. This is not the first time China has launched something to the Moon, but it’s a harbinger of a space program that seeks to outstrip all international rivals in the decades ahead. Later this year, a Chinese robot lander will touch down on the far side of the Moon, becoming the first spacecraft in history to land there safely. It will deploy a small rover and conduct scientific experiments, including a small biological laboratory. The aforementioned satellite at L2 will serve as a communications relay to Earth, as there is no direct line of sight for radio transmissions from anywhere on Earth to reach the far side of the Moon. Becoming the first nation to land on the far side of the Moon is a grand achievement, but the best is yet to come.
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23 May 2018
China will launch another 11 BeiDou-3 satellites by the end of 2018, adding to its domestic BeiDou Navigation Satellite System (BDS), said an official at an academic conference on 23 May. Addressing the Ninth China Satellite Navigation Conference in Harbin, capital of northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, Wang said the BeiDou system is moving to become a global service provider after offering stable and reliable time and space information for clients in the Asia-Pacific region.
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23 May 2018
Belarus invites China to create a space satellite together, the Chairman of the Presidium of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus (NASB) Vladimir Gusakov told Belarus media on 23 May. He said: “China has a vast space exploration program. The country has more than one satellite for the remote sensing of Earth and for communication. This is why I have a concrete proposal regarding participation in the construction of our satellite and the fulfillment of research projects once the satellite is operational. A Belarusian-Chinese satellite is possible in the future. We are now designing a new satellite together with Russian scientists. But the satellite after this one or maybe in addition to this one may be designed in association with Chinese scientists. It is a broad field for work.”
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21 May 2018
China's lunar relay satellite, launched on 21 May for the Chang'e 4 lunar probe, is carrying the largest communication antenna ever used in deep-space exploration, according to Chinese experts. The launch of the satellite Queqiao, or Magpie Bridge, is a key step for China to realise its goal of sending the Chang'e 4 lunar probe to soft-land on the far side of the Moon.
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