The US is closely monitoring Chinese activities that potentially threaten American assets in space as debris rapidly accumulates in low Earth orbit, the head of United States military operations in space said Friday. Commander of US Space Command Army Gen. James Dickinson also cheered the overwhelming passage in the United Nations of a resolution that countries not conduct direct-ascent antisatellite tests that create vast fields of space debris, which endanger satellites and space stations. Of the four countries that have conducted such ASAT tests, the United States was the only one that voted in favour, while China and Russia voted no and India abstained. We can't continue to contribute to the debris that we find in the space domain," Dickinson said in a telephone news conference with reporters in Asia. Most of that debris lies in crucial low Earth orbit, which has become congested, competitive and contested, he said. Even tiny shards of metal can pose a danger and the number of
China will be sending a three-person crew to its space station, which is nearing completion, and also announced on Monday plans for a manned mission to the Moon amid intensifying competition with the US. The Shenzhou-15 crewed spaceship will be launched from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre in northwest China on Tuesday, the China Manned Space Agency (CMSA) announced. The spaceship will take three astronauts -- Fei Junlong, Deng Qingming, and Zhang Lu -- to carry out the spaceflight mission. Fei will be the commander of the mission, Ji Qiming, assistant to the director of the CMSA, told the media. The crew will stay in orbit for about six months, a period in which the construction of the low-orbit space station is expected to be completed. The launch will be carried out with a Long March-2F carrier rocket, which will be filled with propellant soon, Ji said. After entering the orbit, the Shenzhou-15 spaceship will make a fast, automated rendezvous and dock with the front port o
The rocket, Long March 5B, was used to send the final part of the Tiangong space station called Mengtian to the space station
It was the first time the Chinese astronauts had entered the lab module in orbit
China will launch a satellite in 2028 to test wireless power transmission technology from space to the ground
The significant feature of China's under-construction space station is its two robotic arms, especially the long one over which the US has previously expressed concern
The Shenzhou-14 spacecraft carrying astronauts Chen Dong, Liu Yang and Cai Xuzhe, was lifted off from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China
China will launch three astronauts on a spacecraft Sunday to work on the final stages of construction of the nation's first orbital outpost
The Shenzhou XIV, which will carry three astronauts in June for a six-month mission to Tiangong, was moved to the launchpad at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in Inner Mongolia on Sunday
Three Chinese astronauts returned to Earth safely on Saturday after spending six months aboard China's new space station, doubling the previous stay of the country's longest single flight in space.
Three Chinese astronauts on board the Shenzhou-13, have entered the space station core module Tianhe on Saturday, the country's space agency said
Given multi-fold advances in technology, the Tiangong is likely to be more efficient than the ISS in many respects. This was evident in the crew transfer
China on Thursday successfully launched its crewed spacecraft, sending three astronauts to its space station's core module Tianhe for a three-month mission
A three-man crew of astronauts will blast off in June for a three-month mission on China's new space station, according to a space official who was the country's first astronaut in orbit
China postponed a supply mission to its new space station Thursday for unspecified technical reasons
A China National Space Administration (CNSA) lander from the Tianwen-1, which has been in orbit since February, touched down on Utopia Planitia, a large plain in the northern hemisphere of Mars
China on Thursday launched the core module for its first permanent space station that will host astronauts long-term. The Tianhe, or Heavenly Harmony," module blasted into space atop a Long March 5B rocket from the Wenchang Launch Center on the southern island province of Hainan, marking another major advance for the country's space exploration program that has chalked up a series of accomplishments in recent months. The launch begins the first of 11 missions necessary to construct and provision the station and send up a three-person crew by the end of next year. The astronauts will live on the station for six months at a time. China's space programme has also recently brought back the first new lunar samples in more than 40 years and expects to land a probe and rover on the surface of Mars later next month.
Tiangong-1 space station might be carrying a highly toxic and corrosive fuel called hydrazine on board