Latest Chinese space program Stories

China to launch first natural disaster monitoring satellite BEIJING, Sept.3 (Xinhua) -- China will launch the first of eight satellites to monitor environment and natural disasters from the country's north Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center this week, according to the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC). The satellite "Environment 1", an optical satellite, will be sent into orbit by a Long March 2C carrier. It will monitor most of the country and send back data daily,...

Text of "Reply by Russian Foreign Ministry official representative A.A. Nesterenko to a question from the mass media concerning the test of the space carrier rocket Safir by Iran", published on the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs website on 19 August [Question] Quoting an official representative of the government of Iran, Iranian news agencies have reported that Iran has carried out a successful test of the Safir satellite carrier rocket in which a satellite probe was placed into...

China's solar-powered lunar probe satellite Chang'e 1 stood the test of a partial eclipse on Sunday as scientists altered its orbit and temporarily turning off some facilities. Based on the signals sent by the satellite after the eclipse, the Chang'e 1 was operating as expected, Monday's Beijing News quoted Liu Junze, of the Beijing Aerospace Control Center (BACC), as saying. The ground control center changed the orbit of the satellite to shorten the time it was out of direct sunlight to 168...

China to build world-class space industry in seven years BEIJING, July 25 (Xinhua) -- China aims to attain the world level in space technology development by building a comprehensive aerospace industry by 2015, the country's Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASTC) said here on Friday. According to a blueprint released by the state-owned company, CASTC was to set up four more scientific research and production bases including Tianjin, Inner Mongolia and Hainan. The move would...

Text of report in English by official Chinese news agency Xinhua (New China News Agency) [Xinhua: "1st Ld: China's Shenzhou VII Shuttle Shipped To Jiuquan for Octoberlaunch Mission"] BEIJING, July 10 (Xinhua) - China's third manned spaceship, Shenzhou VII, set to launch in October, reached the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre in the northwestern Gansu Province on Thursday, a source with the launch centre said. The space shuttle was transported to the launch centre by air from Beijing early...

Text of report in English by official Chinese news agency Xinhua (New China News Agency) [Xinhua: "China Makes Breakthrough in Developing Next-Generation Long March rocket"] BEIJING, July 3 (Xinhua) - China has made a breakthrough in developing its next generation of space-launch vehicle Long March V, which is scheduled for operation by 2014, said sources with the nation's launch vehicle academy. Significant progress has been made on the rocket engine and the building of a production...

The research team that developed Shenzhou VII, China's third manned space launch, will start final testing after arriving at a north-western satellite launch centre in a few days, said a space mission official here on Tuesday. The research and development team of the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corp. (CASC) will set out for the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre in early July, said Zhang Bainan, chief designer of Shenzhou VII. He said the spacecraft passed inspections by CASC and an...

Text of report in English by official Chinese news agency Xinhua (New China News Agency) JIUQUAN, Northwest China, June 28 (Xinhua) - Fei Junlong and Nie Haisheng, the crew of Shenzhou spacecraft 6, carried the Olympic flame Saturday in the torch relay at the "Dongfeng Space City" in northwest China's Gansu province. A total of 22 bearers took part in the relay in the satellite launch base as most of which were top experts in China's spaceflight programme. Fei, 43, and Nie, 44, had been...

AMSTERDAM, June 25 /PRNewswire/ -- Emergya Wind Technologies NV ("EWT" or "the Company"), the Dutch wind turbine supplier, announced today that it has established a local marketing and sales company in the People's Republic of China through a joint venture with the Chinese Academy of Launch Technology ("CALT"). CALT is China's largest and most important organization for the research, development and production of launching technologies. CALT has been active as a developer and operator of...

BEIJING (AP) - China's space program has defended a photo of the moon's surface taken by its lunar probe as authentic, dismissing critics who suggested it had been copied from a similar image captured by a U.S. orbiter.China last week presented the first picture taken by its Chang'e 1 lunar probe at a gala ceremony attended by Premier Wen Jiabao, part of the ruling Communist Party's program of using the space program to instill national pride.However, critics posting on Chinese-language...