China

ESA’s Integral space telescope detected an extremely bright and long-lasting gamma-ray burst (GRB) on the 9th of October. GRB are the outpouring of energy from exploding stars or from the collision of two super-dense neutron stars. The blast has been named GRB 221009A is probably one of the brightest GRB ever detected according to Mirko Piersanti, lead author of the team publishing the results on the 14th of November. The nearest rival is ten times weaker. This GRB took place in a galaxy almost 2 billion light-years away, yet it still had enough energy to affect the Earth. 

In this Space Café Radio - SpaceWatch.Global publisher Torsten Kriening spoke with Neutron Star Systems (NSS) CEO Manuel La Rosa Betancourt, CTO Dr. Michael Winter, and Investor Relationship Manager Robin Lebeau before the Space Tech Expo Europe in Bremen. 

China has successfully launched its Shenzhou-17 mission, carrying three astronauts to its Tiangong space station for a six-month-long mission. The flight crew comprised astronauts Tang Hongbo, Tang Shengjie and Jiang Xinlin, with Tang Hongbo serving as the commander aboard the Long March 2F Yaoqiu 17 rocket.

The National Academy of Sciences of Belarus (NASB) and the China National Space Administration have signed a joint declaration on cooperation on the International Lunar Research Station (ILRS) program. The signature, reported by the Belarusian Telegraph Agency, saw the Chairman of the Presidium of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus, Vladimir Gusakov, and the Administrator of the China National Space Administration, Zhang Kejian, sign the document for both parties. 

China has begun the construction of an ultra-low orbit satellite constellation, according to the developer China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation (CASIC). CASIC disclosed this on Wednesday at the 9th China (International) Commercial Aerospace Forum in Wuhan, central China's Hubei Province, according to the local media. The constellation will reportedly comprise 300 communications and remote-sensing satellites orbiting the globe, providing a global ultrafast response capability within 15 minutes.

On the 5th and 6th of June 2023, the Financial Time’s held its second Investing In Space conference. Similarly to last year, it was held in a hybrid form. The first day online, the second day live from London. Titled “Balancing Optimism with Realism”, the two-day summit hosted a selection of investors, innovators, government, and end-users for analyses of the opportunities of space.

China launched three astronauts to its Tiangong space station on Tuesday, putting a civilian into orbit for the first time as it pursues plans to send a crewed mission to the Moon by the end of the decade, according to Times of India. 

Black Ops is our bi-monthly appointment with space geopolitics. This new series sees as visitor guest Dr. Namrata Goswami in dialogue with chief editor Dr. Emma Gatti

After the GLOC 2023 in Oslo, the SpaceWatch.Global team, Dr. Emma Gatti, Remco Timmermans and Torsten Kriening used the unique opportunity to talk with CGTV Space Reporter Wu Lei.

The Space Arbitration Association, supported by SpaceWatch.Global is featuring a new event series: Space Arbitration Regionally. The second event will take place on 30 May 2023 at 2 pm CEST and 8 am ET and focus on Asia.