The news page.
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This is where I'll post up news about the Chinese space program as it comes in. I will try to update this page at lest once a week or when news goes in. If you wish to discuss any of the stories I have here. You may do so by just clicking on the message board link below.
China to lunch its next manned mission in September
The space daily web site has confirmed that China will lunch its next manned mission some time in September. Nothing new in the report but it does say that the flight will last up to two week in orbit. The two Chinese astronauts will carry out scientific experiments in the orbital capsule. This will be the first time this has happen. The newer Shenzhou spacecraft is heavier then the last one and can carry up to 440 more weight.
A congressional overview report of the Chinese space program.
The web site spaceref.com has just posted a congressional report on the Chinese space program. The report gives some brief history on the space program. From the first launch of their satellites to the launch of Yang Liwei on October the 15th. The report talks about the Chinese satellite launch industry and its cooperation with other countries and space agencies. The report points out that China has expressed interest in participating in the ISS program. But it’s been the United States that has declined to bring China into the program.
China lays down four scientific goals for lunar exploration.
According to the Peoples daily web site China has laid down four basic steps to their lunar exploration plans. In general the steps are as fallows.
(1) Send a satellite to map the surface of the moon.
(2)Send a robotic probe to explore the surface of the moon.
(3)Perform a sample return. Or return a sample of the moon to the earth.
(4)To focus on the space environment between the earth and the moon.
The story goes on to say that the first launch of their program will take place with in the next three years.
China plans space stations and more.
According to the peoples daily web site China wants it own space station in 10 years. The story goes no to say that China will launch their next manned mission with in the next 2 years. China also has plans to send a probe to the moon with in the next 3 to 5 years.
China could luanch space station some time soon.
Full story here
China says it could start to launch their own space station some time soon. According to this story China has been working on developing the necessary launch facilities to launch space station modules. The story goes on to say that China has been working on the launch facilty sense 93 and finished it in 98. But the story does not give any time tables as to when China may launch them.
The story does go on to say that the modules could weigh as much as 10-tons.
China may launch on the 15th.
According to the Chinese news web site Xihuanet. China well launch their first man into space with in the next few days. No word was given as to the name of the astroaut. but the web site did say that there would be only one man onboard the spacecraft and the flight would only last 90 minutes or just one orbit around the earth.
If all goes well with SZ-#5 then SZ-#6 could launch with in six months.
According to the web site space daily Chinas second launch of their manned spacecraft or Shenzhou #6. Could take place with in the next six months. That is if all goes well with the first launch or Shenzhou #5. The story goes on to say that the SZ-6 flight may carry two men as with SZ-5 it may only carry one man. Below is a quote from the story.
"It is almost sure that only one astronaut will fly in Shenzhou V, but if the flight is completely successful, then I'm pretty sure that at least two astronauts will fly on Shenzhou VI in a flight that could come within six months," Chen said.
China invites Taiwan to take part in the Shenzhou 5 mission.
According to the peoples daily web site. China has extended an offer to let Taiwan to send crop seeds onboard the next Shenzhou flight. Below is a quote from the story.
According to Liu, China's mainland, which is reaching maturity in space breeding of crop seeds, is willing to reinforce cooperation with Taiwan on agricultural sciences in a bid to promote the common development of agricultural technology on both sides of the Taiwan Strait.
Launch date for first manned launch maybe set for mid-October.
Full story here
According to the web site spacedaily the Chinese may launch their first man into space sometime in mid-October. When China dose launch they well be only the third nation to do son. After the USA and Russia.
Update on Chinese moon plans.
According to the people’s daily web site there have been advances made in the Chinese program named Chang’e. The Chang’e program is Chinas plan to send a group probe and satellites to the moon. This will hopefully be fallowed up by manned missions. According to the story the whole program will take 20 years to finish.
Related story:
Space daily
China’s first manned flight is still planned for October.
According to the space daily web site the launch of China’s first man into space is still planned for the month of October. But the exact date is top secret. Also the number of astronauts is not known or withheld. In a earlier story from space daily it was reported that there will be no experiments on the spacecraft.
Progress made on China's Chang’er program below is a quote from the story.
The first stage of China's moon exploration program ( "Chang'er I" Project) started on March 1, 2003. It will be carried out in the recent two-three years, the moon probe satellite will be launched, exploring the topography, geomorphology, geologic formation and distribution of resources as well as the space environment between the moon and the earth. On the second stage, China will launch its moon car, achieve the soft landing, patrol and explore on the moon, building the basis for the further moon research. And the third stage, China will launch the small module and moon robot to collect the needed samples and return safely, research the samples and provide the data for the manned moon-landing and the location of China's moon base.
China outlines possible lunar plans.
According to a story from the web site space daily China is drawing up plans for the moon.
Double star going through testing.
According to the web site China.org. China's first space exploration satellite is going through final testing before it’s launch later this year. The first of the satellites will be launched to orbit the earth around the equator and the second will orbit a long the north and south polls. This is being all done in cooperation with European space agency.
Has the count down begun?
According to the web site Space daily .com the countdown for Chinas first manned space flight maybe on. There has been speculation that the first manned launch could take place sometime in October of this year. But with the space shuttle disaster and the hard landing of the Soyuz spacecraft earlier this year from the ISS. The Chinese maybe taking it a little slow to launch their first man into space. But with all this it is still believed the Chinese will launch Shenzhou #5 by the end of this year.
Chinas plans to launch a probe to the planet mars are year’s away.
According to the website the Peoples daily china does have plans to put a probe to the planet mars but does acknowledge that that is years away. The story does touch on Chinas plans to send a probe to the moon in three years. It also reaffirm Chinas desire to take part in other mars missions that are underway.
China well lunch it's first manned flight by the end of this year.
According to the website Space daily the Chinese well lunch their first man into space by the end of this year perhaps sometime in late December. The Chinese may also lunch two or three astronaut into earth orbit. Which would be a first in space history.
China launches their third GPS satellite.
China last Sunday night has successfully launched their third GPS satellite from the Xichang launch center in Sichuan at 00:34 hours or at 12:34 am (Beijing time). According to the peoples daily the satellite was launched on top of a long march 3A rocket. Which makes the 70th successfully launch of the long march rocket series. The story goes on to add that China is only a hand full of nations that can develop and launch their own GPS satellites.
Brazil, China Plan Second Joint Space Launch.
Here is the whole story:
Brazil and China are due to launch a second satellite in September as part of their joint space program to monitor climate and environmental change. The CBERS 2 satellite will be launched from China and will continue the monitoring carried out by the CBERS 1 which was sent into space in 1999 to monitor deforestation in the Amazon jungle, weather patterns and agricultural crops. Brazil, which is Latin America's leading space nation, is contributing one third of the financing to the joint program, which has an estimated total cost of about US$600 million. A statement from the Brazilian Space Agency said China is currently considering the terms of the deal between the two countries, which is planned to include two more remote sensing satellites in coming years. The plan is to gradually transfer production to Brazil for the next two satellites.
China promotes better crops by using space.
According to the web site China.org.cn. China is developing better crops by exposing the plant seeds to the affects of space. By doing this China hopes to promote newer and better crops through mutating the seed with the use of space.
First manned space flight will go on as schedule.
According to the People’s daily web site the launch of Chinas first manned space flight is still on schedule despite the SARS epidemic that is sweeping across China right now. The people’s daily story says China is taking every measure necessary to ensure the safety of their astronauts from the SARS virus.
Related stories:
Space.com
Spacedaily.com
New space race.
Here is a very interesting story about a possible growing space race between China and India. I don’t agree with all the points expressed in the story. But it does make some good points about how China and India are vying to become the two dominant forces through out Asia and the best way for them to slug it out. Would be in outer space such as a good old fashioned space race.
Taikonauts named!
A story from the web site space.com has named many of the Chinese astronauts that have been in training in Russia. For there first up and coming manned space flight that could take place sometime in October or November of this year.
China to launch first lunar satellite in three years.
According to an unnamed official attached to the Chang’e unmanned lunar program. Said that there is a three-stage approach China will take to sending their probes to the moon. One will be just orbital another will land on the moon and the third will bring back samples from the moon.
Chinas shenzhou 4 is doing well
According to the People’s daily the orbital module of Shenzhou #4 is doing well. In fact it has just finished its one hundredth orbit of oceanic observations.
China has revealed the name of their first astronaut.
According to the BBC, China has released the name of the astronaut that maybe the first man that China will launch into space later this year. His name is Chan long.
Mr. Chen long is the one on the left.
China plans to develop a next generation rocket for lunar missions.
According to the Xinhuanet website. If China is has almost all the rockets it need to send probes to the moon. But it still needs bigger stronger rockets to send probes to the moon and then get them back. The story goes on to suggest that with some modification of their march 2-f rocket, which is their manned carrier rocket. It could launch unmanned probe to and from the moon.
China sets coal for civil space flight in ten years.
According to the peoples daily China has set up a ten-year plan to develop a civil space program in the next ten years. The program will be linked to their “Chang’e lunar exploration program”. Chinas plan is in four steps. Here is just one of the steps.
Steps one Develop the needed technologies to carry out the Chang’e project. Which is also divided into three parts. First part of chang’e is to put a satellite in lunar orbit. The second part is to land a probe on the moon. The third part is to perform a sample return mission from the moon.
Here is a related story from China .org
Why should China go to the Moon?
Here is a very good story from the people daily. The story is an interview with Luan Enjie, vice-minister of the Commission of Science, Technology and Industry for National Defense and director of the China National Aerospace Administration (CNAA), who is a member of the 10th CPPCC National Committee, now attending the "two sessions". Some of the areas that the interview touches on are why is China, which is still a developing nation. Wanting to go to the moon?
The interview tries to answer that by saying that the moon has main natural resources like helium-3. According to the story. A gram of gold is about 11 US dollars and a gram of heilum-3 is about 400 US dollars. There are many more reasons as to why China wants to go to the moon. Some of which are technology and international recognition as a major space power.
China planes unmanned mission to the moon with in two and a half years
According to the people’s daily website. Some top Chinese officials have said that China could launch an unmanned probe to the moon with in two and a half years. That is they can get support from the Chinese main government. No firm planes have been lade for a manned mission. But the story does say that China will some day send a man from the earth to the moon.
Here are some related links.
Space daily
Space.com
There maybe only one
According to the website space daily. China may only launch one man into space on their first manned flight. The space daily reaffirms that China may launch sometime in the month of November and it will be a day time launch.
Astronaut safety measures for Shenzhou #5.
Here a good story from the website China.org. The story is regarding many of the safety measures for the launch of Chinas first manned spacecraft. One thing the story does reveal. Is the fact that the launch of SZ-5 will take place during the day. This is important because the last four unmanned launches of the Shenzhou spacecraft have taken place at night. One of the reasons why China did nighttime launches. Was to help them perform better tracking. But for safety reasons the Chinese will go with a more traditional day time launch.
Here is a very good article from Jane's defense weekly.
The article offers up allot of questions about the Chinese space program. For one it offers up the possibility that the orbital module of the Shenzhou #4 is being used as some form of spy satellite. The Jane’s also says that the launch of Chinas Shenzhou 5 manned mission may take place sometime in or around the month of October of this year. One interesting part is Jane does speculate on China plans manned and unmanned missions to the Moon. It gives up a last of rockets that China could use for their unmanned missions. Jane’s says that a manned loop around the Moon could be done by 2010 and unmanned missions could take place with in a few years.
Three to go up.
Xinhuanet story
Space daily story
According to both the Space daily website and the Official Chinese news agency Xinhuanet. China is in the process of selecting the three astronauts that will be the countries first men into space. According to the two stories. The luanch may happen sometime in November. If the weather and the spacecraft are ready to go.
China is training 14 Astronauts for fall launch.
According to the Reuters news agency which was quoting two Chinese news agencies. The Beijing Evening News and the Beijing Daily star. China is training 14 fighter pilots to become Astronauts. Some of who will be launched into space some this fall. According to the story. All the pilots are under the age of 30 and stand about 5 foot 7 inches tall. The pilots have over 1,000 hours of flight time. The story goes on to say that only one or two of the candidates will be launched on the Shenzhou spacecraft some time this fall.
China’s transoceanic aerospace observation system
China has developed a sea based observation system where they can track their manned and unmanned spacecraft in orbit. China has successfully used the system over three times. With their unmanned shenzhou spacecraft and hope to use the system with their manned mission. Which is still planed for this year.