Galactic Energy preparing for the debut fight of the kerolox Pallas-1 rocket

The nice thing about this update is that NARIT states that Chang'e-7 is scheduled to launch in October 2026, giving us a month for the mission. As it's targeting Shackleton crater at the lunar south pole, the timing may be illumination related.

The National Astronomical Research Institute of Thailand (NARIT) has delivered the CE-7 MATCH (Moon-Aiming Thai-Chinese Hodoscope) payload to China. This comes ahead of China's Chang'e-7 lunar landing mission, due to launch next year.

Another new Chinese launch startup. Space Spark (Hefei Xinghuo Space Technology Co., Ltd), pursuing an electric pump fed engine design. m.weibo.cn/detail/52118...

J'ai fait quelques petits ajouts et corrections.

Separation testing ahead of the Lijian-2/Kinetica-2 launch carrying the Qingzhou prototype cargo spacecraft. mp.weixin.qq.com/s/v176XxzuEb...

It's looking like 2027 for launch of Xuntian/three Chinese space station telescope (a slip from Dec. 2026).

More than a year after the horror show dynamic test, they're back. Successful STATIC fire for Space Pioneer and their Tianlong-3 first stage. m.weibo.cn/detail/52111...

Long March 10: Xu Hongping, rocket series chief commander, says development consists of 4 steps: -- 3-engine test (June 2024) -- 2 X tethered 7-engine hit fires (Aug. & Sept) -- low-altitude flight & recovery test (next) -- orbital flight test www.news.cn/tech/2025081...

China's CGST has returned the favour, using its Jilin-1 sats to image a Maxar Worldview Legion 2 satellite. mp.weixin.qq.com/s/3oGA5_HVKJ...

Second test firing of the Long March 10 test article took place at 0700 UTC at Wenchang today, lasting 320 seconds. Part of the test was assessing secondary ignition capabilities of the 7 parallel first-stage engines.

CAS Space: The Lijian-2/Kinetica-2 rocket has completed full assembly and is undergoing testing. Aiming for test flight in Q4. m.weibo.cn/detail/52093...

Keynote lecture in room Jupiter #EPSCDPS2025: 'Revealing the Secrets of Rocky Exoplanets' by Prof. Lisa Kaltenegger, @cornellupress.bsky.social

Rumours that there's another Long March 10 test article static fire due in the coming days. weibo.com/5616492130/Q...

The CROWN/Apophis mission purposes to use a pathfinder for a set of asteroid surveyor spacecraft, send it to Sun-Earth L1, then flyby Apophis just after the asteroid's close encounter with Earth.

At 1948 UTC today a Jielong-3 solid rocket lifted off from a mobile sea launch platform off the coast of Shandong, successfully sending the 5th group of satellites into orbit for the Geely/Geespace constellation. This was China's 53rd orbital launch of 2025.

A closest approach of NASA space Psyche to the interstellar object 3I/ATLAS happened earlier today, at around 0.301 AU. The agency confirms that Psyche-on its way to study an asteroid-is a part of a campaign to observe & study the comet, so we might learn more in the near future.

U.S. Senate committee hearing currently ongoing on China and the "space race". Mike Gold, having generated laughs about Star Trek, is currently making a case for Gateway. www.commerce.senate.gov/2025/9/there...

Which country returns astronauts to the Moon first this century will be fascinating to watch. But so far only one side frames it as a “race.” China has cast its space ambitions in broader, long-term strategic terms.

Galactic Energy & Piesat have signed a strategic cooperation agreement to use the Ceres-2 solid launch vehicle to launch satellites for Piesat’s Nuwa constellation, with plans to continuously launch multiple satellites starting from the end of 2025. mp.weixin.qq.com/s/yYeVh_UzbY...

An early-stage concept for exploring the global ocean beneath the ice of Enceladus. A mission to Saturn's icy moon could slot right into China's developing deep space exploration roadmap.

On August 13, Sun Yat-sen University's Tianqin laser ranging station bounced a signal off the next‑generation lunar retroreflector, NGLR‑1, on the Blue Ghost lander, picking up a return signal. www.sysu.edu.cn/news/info/21...

Feast your eyes on the latest Chinese launch startup: Arktech plans a 40t to LEO Bingchuan-1/Glacier-1 rocket powered by 200t-thrust FFSC methalox engines and a reusable first stage. mp.weixin.qq.com/s/hGyv5uUUQu...

China eyes Saturn’s icy moon Enceladus in the hunt for habitability www.planetary.org/articles/chi...

Chinese commercial rocket launches international payloads: A CAS Space Kinetica-1 lifted off at 0733 UTC today, carrying 7 satellites into orbit, including the Mexican ThumbSat-1 & 2. Launch #48 for China in 2025. mp.weixin.qq.com/s/y_GYN2N3D_...

China's second launch of the day (47th of 2025): A Long March 6A lifted off at 1415 UTC from Taiyuan, sending the 9th group of Guowang broadband satellites into orbit. It's the fifth Guowang launch in 21 days. mp.weixin.qq.com/s/ivFtiqv01Z...

A Long March 4C lifted off today at 0855 UTC, sending the Shiyan-28B (02) satellite into orbit. The 01 sat launched in July and turned up in 11° LEO. Let's see where 02 turns up. This was China's 46th orbital launch attempt of 2025. mp.weixin.qq.com/s/VM2u3gnMbM...

Long March 10 logo appears to reflect the Earth near the top of the 1 and the Sun in the 0.

Shenzhou-20 astronauts Chen Dong (blue suit) and Wang Jie completed a 6.5-hour spacewalk at 1447 UTC today, inspecting equipment and adding debris shielding to Tiangong. mp.weixin.qq.com/s/bHCI0HjCEk...

Moon rocket static fires and launch failures... it's been a busy day in the realm of Chinese space activities. There might yet be a Shenzhou-20 extravehicular activity...

Landspace confirms the loss of its Zhuque-2E mission, launched today at 0117 UTC. The rocket experienced a flight anomaly, resulting in the failure of the flight test mission. The specific cause is under further analysis and investigation, it said. mp.weixin.qq.com/s/xYlsRfafOR...

China crewed moon landing update: A successful static fire test with seven first stage engines on a short tank was carried out at Wenchang today, China's human spaceflight agency announced. mp.weixin.qq.com/s/os7dgh4260...

Welight has secured tens of millions of yuan in funding. Weiguang-1 rocket is scheduled to make its test flight in 2028 and be recoverable and reusable by 2030. mp.weixin.qq.com/s/ZAKOyr49rc...

Chinese commercial rocket launch coming on Aug. 16 (~0736 UTC) carrying international payloads.

The Shenzhou-20 crew are preparing for their third EVA, China's human spaceflight agency announced a few hours ago. Will take place "in the near future," usually meaning the following day. mp.weixin.qq.com/s/9ELrZX8ttR...

At 0643 UTC today a Long March 5B with a YZ-2 upper stage lifted off from Wenchang, successfully sending the Guowang group 08 satellites into orbit. This was China's 44th orbital launch of 2025 and continues an accelerated cadence for Guowang mp.weixin.qq.com/s/leRWdq4d4l...

NEW: Jack Grealish is an Everton player Picks No 18, following in footsteps of Rooney/Gascoigne Grealish: "I'm over the moon - it's massive for me. As soon as I spoke to the manager, I knew there was only one place that I wanted to go" @theathleticfc.bsky.social www.nytimes.com/athletic/liv...

Ground tests for Ceres-2 progressing well ahead of first launch. mp.weixin.qq.com/s/IocjIC3Y1p...

Long March 10 pathfinder could be ready for a static fire at its new pad at Wenchang. No fly notice issued for 13-15th. m.weibo.cn/detail/51988...

Long March 5/YZ-2 on the way to the pad, with the Long March 10 tower in the background.

Lanyue descent test video. Via: m.weibo.cn/detail/51973...

China has conducted a landing and takeoff test for the Lanyue crewed lunar landing system. mp.weixin.qq.com/s/tWz-hmP-bw...

iSpace of China had unveiled its sea recovery platform for its Hyperbola-3 rocket. It measures 100 in length and is 42m wide. mp.weixin.qq.com/s/z_oZXH9ayB...

A Long March 8A lifted off from Hainan commercial spaceport at 0749 UTC today, sending the Guowang group 06 LEO broadband satellites into orbit. This was China's 40th orbital launch of 2025, days after Guowang group 05. mp.weixin.qq.com/s/jeOXhhn3RY...

Di'er-5 ready for launch. mp.weixin.qq.com/s/YUXQFPKQLR...

Galactic Energy aims for first launches of the Ceres-2 solid rocket and kerosene-lox Pallas-1 (7t to LEO) later this year. They are also working larger Pallas-2 (20t & 58t to LEO). mp.weixin.qq.com/s/2vFLCziZ9p...

The joint European Space Agency (ESA) and Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) SMILE mission to study the Sun–Earth connection is ready for space after a series of tests. Launch in 2026. www.esa.int/Science_Expl...

CALT has conducted a static-dynamic load test for an unspecified launch vehicle, likely to be the Long March 10. mp.weixin.qq.com/s/18Zp1lArIj...

Liftoff