China to Launch New Long March 8 Rocket by End Of 2018 | gbtimes
China is aiming to launch a new Long March 8 rocket by the end of 2018 to fill a gap in the country's carrier rocket capabilities and commercial launch prospects, a top space official has said. Li Tongyu, chief of carrier rocket development at the China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology, told
China Daily that the Long March 8 will use engines and other design aspects developed for the recently debuted Long March 5 and Long March 7 rockets.
China Makes Breakthrough in R&D of Heavy-Lift Launch Rocket | ECNS
China has officially started early explorations in the research and development of a heavy-lift launch vehicle. Research and development of the two kinds of high thrust engines is smoothly progressing, said Tan Yonghua, director of the Science and Technology Department, No.6 Research Institute of China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation. Wu Yanhua, the deputy director of China National Space Administration, said China's heavy-lift launch vehicle will be named Long March 9, and its first flight is planned for around 2030.
Foreign Media: China Develops Hypersonic Missiles Against THAAD | China Military
Foreign media reported that China is developing hypersonic weapons with an eye to piercing the missile defense shields of Japan and its East Asian neighbors. Japan's Kyodo News February 26 quoted Canada's Kanwa Defense Review that the Rocket Force of the People's Liberation Army has recently decided on a hypersonic weapon developing program targeting the missile defense system in Japan and China's Taiwan, as well as the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system to be deployed in the Republic of Korea soon.
China's First Woman in Space on Spacewalks, the Chinese Space Station, and Future Female Astronauts | gbtimes
Liu Yang answered questions on the sidelines of the National People's Congress ahead of International Women's Day about China's plans and training for human spaceflight, the upcoming Chinese Space Station, extravehicular activity--EVAs or 'spacewalks'--and the future for female astronauts.
China to Launch 6-8 Latest Navigation Satellites In 2017 | Xinhua News
China plans to launch six to eight BeiDou-3 satellites in 2017, according to a senior designer of the satellite navigation system. It is part of a plan to put 35 BeiDou satellites into space to form an orbiting satellite network and offer worldwide navigation services by 2020, said Yang Yuanxi, deputy chief designer of the BeiDou satellite navigation system.
Small Experimental Satellite Launched by New Chinese Rocket | Spaceflight Now
China debuted a new solid-fueled booster in an unannounced flight that put a small satellite into polar orbit, adding another rocket to the country's growing fleet of lightweight launchers. The KT-2 rocket lifted off at 2353 GMT (6:53 p.m. EST) Thursday from the Jiuquan space center, a military-run base in northwestern China's Gobi Desert, according to a report from the government-owned Xinhua news agency.
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