Yup, they have launched again!
NASASpaceflight.com: Long March 2C launches Shijian-9 tech demonstrator satellite duo
NASASpaceflight.com: Long March 2C launches Shijian-9 tech demonstrator satellite duo
BEIJING, Oct. 24 (Xinhua) -- China has made breakthroughs in researching spaceflight dynamics, a top scientist said Wednesday.
Progress has been made in spaceflight trajectory computation and analysis, orbital tracking, telemetry and command technologies for deep space probes and spaceflight planning and control, said Tang Geshi, director of the Science and Technology of Aerospace Flight Dynamics Laboratory.
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BEIJING, Oct. 24 (Xinhua) -- China will launch 11 meteorological satellites before 2020 to boost the country's weather monitoring network, according to the country's meteorological satellite development plan (2011-2020) released on Wednesday.
The country will invest a total of 21.7 billion yuan (3.44 billion U.S. dollars) in the sector, including research on new-generation meteorological satellites and the building of ground application systems for meteorological satellites, said Yang Jun, director of the National Satellite Meteorological Center.
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While the original launch of a communication satellite from Xichang last Thursday was delayed due to a leaky valve (it is now scheduled on this Tuesday), the Chinese made it up with a spysat triplet launch from Jiuquan today!
NASASpaceflight.com: Long March 4C launches Yaogan Weixing-16 spy satellite for China
Chinese astronauts are preparing to grow fresh vegetables on Mars and the moon after researchers successfully completed a preliminary test in Beijing, state media reported.
Four kinds of vegetables were grown in an "ecological life support system", a 300 cubic metre cabin which will allow astronauts to develop their own stocks of air, water and food while on space missions, Xinhua news agency said Monday.
The system, which relies on plants and algae, is "expected to be used in extra-terrestrial bases on the moon or Mars", the report said.
Participants in the experiment could "harvest fresh vegetables for meals", Xinhua quoted Deng Yibing, a researcher at Beijing's Chinese Astronaut Research and Training Centre, as saying.
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China aims to establish a large manned space station within the next decade, officials have said, and the latest reports suggest that this outpost could host not only Chinese astronauts, but European spaceflyers as well.
A plan is afoot for China and Europe to cooperate on the venture, which might see the European Space Agency (ESA) building technologies, including a rendezvous and docking system, for the station, in exchange for opportunities for its astronauts to visit the facility.
China plans to have the space station running by 2020. Both the station and China's manned spacecraft Shenzhou could use ESA's International Berthing and Docking Mechanism (IBDM), because of a problem with the Russian system the Chinese have been using until now.
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