https://spacewatch.global/tag/change-6/ AN INDEPENDENT PERSPECTIVE ON SPACE Thu, 31 Jul 2025 10:51:56 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=7.0 https://spacewatch.global/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/SpaceWatchGlobal-Sign-90x90.png https://spacewatch.global/tag/change-6/ 32 32 https://spacewatch.global/2025/07/iaf-announces-recipients-of-2025-iaf-world-space-award/ Thu, 31 Jul 2025 06:00:00 +0000 https://spacewatch.global/?p=66564 The International Astronautical Federation (IAF) announced the recipients of its most prestigious award: the IAF World Space Award 2025.]]> https://spacewatch.global/2024/12/spacewatchgl-opinion-moonrise-or-moonfall-assessing-lunar-policy-trends-and-futures-in-a-changing-landscape/ Thu, 05 Dec 2024 09:00:00 +0000 https://spacewatch.global/?p=62655 Written by Sam Jardine and Dr. Antonino Salmeri

With six lunar missions launched this year - the most since 1969 - it is clear the Moon is no longer a distant prospect. Our closest celestial neighborhood is fastly becoming a multi-faceted and politically complex arena for human activity, hopefully collaborative, potentially contested. To capture key trends in 2024, at the Lunar Policy Platform we have surveyed of lunar stakeholders from across the globe in private, public, scientific, and academic spheres. Based on the feedback received, and our own expert assessment, we found three key trends for lunar policy have emerged from 2024: ]]> https://spacewatch.global/2024/10/spacewatchgl-chinas-quest-for-space-technology-dominance/ Thu, 31 Oct 2024 09:00:00 +0000 https://spacewatch.global/?p=61961 Written by Namrata Goswami

China has designated space technology as a key strategic long-term asset. These aspects are visible by the amount of time, top Chinese leaders invest in China’s space program. Chinese President and General Secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Xi Jinping met with the representatives of space scientists and engineers of the Chang’e 6 Lunar mission on September 23, 2024. ]]> https://spacewatch.global/2024/10/spacewatchgl-opinion-bridging-worlds-unveiling-chinas-space-sector/ Thu, 10 Oct 2024 08:00:00 +0000 https://spacewatch.global/?p=61587 Written by Dr. Farid Gamgami,

Living in China and working in the space sector gives me the unique opportunity to look deeply into an ecosystem that is otherwise hidden from most people in the Western world. Hidden, not because of secrecy, but because of a language and cultural barrier that is difficult to understand and overcome from a distance, leading to constant misinterpretation. One of these occasions was the 2nd Tiandu Forum, held from 4 to 6 September in the picturesque UNESCO World Heritage Site of Huangshan. ]]> https://spacewatch.global/2024/06/space-nuggets-26-2024-change-6-makes-history/ Sun, 30 Jun 2024 16:00:25 +0000 https://spacewatch.global/?p=55876 On the occasion of the successful return of the China Chang’e-6 Mission, our editor-in-chief, Dr. Emma Gatti, was featured on the BBC for an exclusive interview. Chang'e-6 successfully returned to Earth with 2 kilos of samples from the far side of the Moon, marking a first in human exploration. However, these samples may not be accessible to the international community for some time.]]> https://spacewatch.global/2024/06/change-6-completes-lunar-rendezvous-in-time-for-home-trip/ Fri, 07 Jun 2024 06:00:41 +0000 https://spacewatch.global/?p=55538 The Chang'e-6 moon probe's ascender module has completed its rendezvous and subsequently docked with the orbiter and returner assembly in the lunar orbit. The lunar samples then transferred to the returner module in preparation for its journey back to the Earth. On June 2, the Chang'e-6 lander and ascender assembly, with the support of the Queqiao-2 relay satellite, successfully landed in the landing area in the South Pole-Aitken Basin on the moon's South Pole.]]> https://spacewatch.global/2024/05/china-launches-change-6-to-the-dark-side-of-the-moon/ Fri, 03 May 2024 06:00:34 +0000 https://spacewatch.global/?p=55018 China has launched its Chang'e 6 mission from the Wenchang Space Launch Center to the far side of the moon. The Chang'e probe will tentatively land in the South Pole-Aitken Basin, with the aim of collecting about two kilograms of lunar samples, including lunar soil and rocks, which it will subsequently try to return back to Earth. ]]> https://spacewatch.global/2022/04/china-to-build-communications-and-navigation-constellation-around-the-moon/ Fri, 29 Apr 2022 06:00:07 +0000 https://spacewatch.global/?p=40693 China is planning to set up a lunar communication and navigation satellite constellation around the Moon to aid future operations on the lunar surface, CNSA said. The China National Space Administration (CNSA) announced that China will take the lead in demonstrating a lunar relay satellite system.]]> https://spacewatch.global/2022/01/china-confirms-building-moon-base-with-russia-by-2035/ Mon, 31 Jan 2022 07:00:58 +0000 https://spacewatch.global/?p=38857 The China National Space Administration (CNSA) has confirmed the country will be joining forces with Russia to build a research Moon base by 2035. The station will rival NASA's Lunar Gateway. Russia and China announced the project in June last year, after signing an intergovernmental memorandum of understanding in March 2021.]]> https://spacewatch.global/2020/01/frances-cnes-signs-space-cooperation-agreement-with-chinese-academy-of-sciences/ Wed, 15 Jan 2020 06:00:48 +0000 https://spacewatch.global/?p=18595 As part of the official visit to China of Frédérique Vidal, the Minister for Higher Education, Research and Innovation, Centre national d’etudes spatiales (CNES) President Jean-Yves Le Gall and Bai Chunli, President of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), signed a framework agreement on space cooperation on 13 January 2020.]]> https://spacewatch.global/2019/11/frances-cnes-discusses-space-exploration-cooperation-at-bremens-space-tech-expo-europe/ Tue, 26 Nov 2019 06:00:11 +0000 https://spacewatch.global/?p=17207 Centre national d'études spatiales (CNES) President Yves Le Gall was at the 3rd Space Tech Expo Europe in Bremen, Germany, where he took part in the plenary of heads of space agencies and the panel session on ‘Space Trans-Atlantic’, both focused chiefly on space exploration, particularly lunar exploration.]]> https://spacewatch.global/2019/11/president-macrons-state-visit-to-china-highlights-sino-french-space-cooperation/ Tue, 12 Nov 2019 06:00:52 +0000 https://spacewatch.global/?p=16974 On 6 November 2019, on the occasion of President Emmanuel Macron’s state visit to the People’s Republic of China, Centre national d'études spatiales (CNES) President Jean-Yves Le Gall and Zhang Kejian, Administrator of the China National Space Administration (CNSA), signed in the presence of Presidents Macron and Xi Jinping a joint statement covering two fields of investigation.]]> https://spacewatch.global/2019/06/china-and-france-hold-twelfth-space-cooperation-meeting-in-shanghai/ Tue, 18 Jun 2019 05:00:04 +0000 https://spacewatch.global/?p=14644 The President of the Centre Centre national d'études spatiales (CNES), Jean-Yves Le Gall, and Zhang Kejian, Administrator of the China National Space Administration (CNSA), chaired the 12th meeting of the French-Chinese space committee in Shanghai on 5 June 2019, devoted to reviewing and developing space cooperation between the two nations.]]> https://spacewatch.global/2019/03/france-and-china-step-up-space-exploration-cooperation-after-xi-state-visit/ Wed, 27 Mar 2019 06:00:26 +0000 https://spacewatch.global/?p=13231 On the occasion of the state visit to France of the President of the People’s Republic of China, the French national space agency, the Centre national d'études spatiales (CNES), and the China National Space Administration (CNSA) have stepped up their cooperation in the fields of planetary exploration and climate action. Space was already central to discussions between the two nations in January last year during the state visit to China of President Emmanuel Macron, a few months before the launch of the French-Chinese CFOSat oceanography satellite, the cornerstone of this partnership.]]>