Asia Pacific

Luxembourg, 4 December 2020. – China’s spectacular Moon mission continues: The Chang’e-5 probe left Moon’s surface yesterday with samples of dust and regolith on board, the BBC reported. “Right on cue, at 15:10 GMT, an ascent vehicle lit its engine to head up to a service module that will shepherd …

Luxembourg, 4 December 2020. – Googling the Universe: The Australian Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder (ASKAP), a large telescope operated by Australia’s national science agency, CSIRO, mapped approximately three million galaxies in just 300 hours. The ASKAP survey is “like a Google map of the Universe where most of the millions …

Luxembourg, 2 December 2020. – China successfully landed an uncrewed spacecraft on the Moon while Elon Musk accelerates his timetable to send humans to Mars. China landed its Chang’e-5 probe, which it launched end of November, on the Moon’s surface, Chinese CCTV and international media reported. The mission, named after …

by Raphael Roettgen November’s space financing activity was clearly dominated by the US$500 million round by American rocket company Relativity Space, known for its extensive use of 3D printing in its manufacturing process. The round, which was subscribed by existing and new investors, occurred at at an eye-watering (considering the …

Luxembourg, 1 December 2020. – Ready for the next “Catch of the Day”: the launch firm Rocket Lab published details of its recent “Return to Sender” mission where it recovered the first stage of its Electron rocket after a successful launch. During Electron’s final few kilometers of descent, the large …

by Blaine Curcio and Jean Deville As part of the partnership between SpaceWatch.Global and Orbital Gateway Consulting we have been granted permission to publish selected articles and texts. We are pleased to present “Dongfang China Aerospace News Roundup 22 Nov – 29 Nov 2020”. Hello and welcome to another episode …

by Blaine Curcio The first year of the 2020s has been nothing if not very memorable. A global pandemic, political turmoil, and rapid technological development coming from and also helping to propel these changes. Flying somewhat more under the radar, however, has been the year in Chinese launch. 2020 has …

Luxembourg, 26 November 2020. – On Electron: Japanese Earth-imaging company Synspective will launch its first of 30 StriX satellites on Rocket Lab’s 17th Electron vehicle, its seventh mission of the year, Rocket Lab announced. The Synspective mission is scheduled for lift-off during a 14-day launch window opening on 12 December UTC …

In this week’s Space Cafè WebTalk, Prof. Steven Freeland, Professor of International Law, Western Sydney University, Sydney, Australia talked about the Multifaceted Nature of Space and the Role / Rule of Law. Prof. Steven Freeland talked about: Australia’s initiatives on the commercial space side, National law – what are the important …

by Blaine Curcio and Jean Deville As part of the partnership between SpaceWatch.Global and Orbital Gateway Consulting we have been granted permission to publish selected articles and texts. We are pleased to present “Dongfang China Aerospace News Roundup 16 Nov – 22 Nov 2020”. Hello and welcome to another episode …