🌕 Countdown to China's August 2026 Chang'e 7 Moon Mission: In January 2019, China's Chang'e 4 made history as the first spacecraft to achieve a soft landing on the Moon's far side. Landing inside the ancient South Pole–Aitken Basin, it opened an entirely new chapter in lunar exploration...🧵

A thrilling time line! Japan’s MMX mission launches this month to Phobos, one of Mars’ moons, while China’s Tianwen-3 aims for a 2028 launch. Both missions target Earth sample return in 2031, potentially delivering pristine samples from Mars and Phobos in the same year!

Nobody really knows, that's the nature of them really. But cannot blame China for playing catch up, they lag behind the U.S, who have 454 of them. To China's 270.

Plus a Hyperbola-3 Heavy...

Chinese private aerospace company i-Space has now checked off nearly all critical tests for Hyperbola-3's (SQX-3) ground support systems. The roadmap now points toward a first-stage static fire before year-end, paving the way for a maiden launch and drone ship landing attempt in early 2027.

A thrilling time line! Japan’s MMX mission launches this month to Phobos, one of Mars’ moons, while China’s Tianwen-3 aims for a 2028 launch. Both missions target Earth sample return in 2031, potentially delivering pristine samples from Mars and Phobos in the same year!

🚀 Lift Off! China's The Long March-12 lifted off at 19:27 UTC on 9 October 2026 (03:27 Beijing time on 10 October), from the Hainan Commercial Space Launch Site in Wenchang, China. It successfully deployed the 27th group of low-Earth-orbit internet satellites.

The team believes all three stars formed from the same gas cloud. The most massive became a pulsar after a supernova, while the second became a white dwarf. The distant third star survived largely unaffected. The discovery offers new insights into triple-star evolution.

1/2 Chinese researchers have discovered that a pulsar detected by FAST is part of a primordial triple-star system, according to a study in The Astrophysical Journal Letters. It has two companions: a white dwarf and a still-evolving, Sun-like star.

1/2 China aims to make its space station a global research platform, expanding international cooperation in scientific research, astronaut training, flight opportunities and science education, Yang Liwei said at the 77th International Astronautical Congress in Türkiye.

China’s CAS Space and Guangzhou Laboratory are teaming up to develop space pharmaceutical payloads, targeting a suborbital flight test aboard a reusable spacecraft in 2027.

China plans to carry out the Tianwen-3 mission around 2028 to bring back samples from Mars, as Chinese space scientists eye new frontier in deep space exploration.

China's space station is set to host its first foreign astronaut in the second half of this year. A Pakistani astronaut will join a short-duration mission as a payload specialist, Yang Liwei said at the International Astronautical Congress.

1/2 China aims to make its space station a global research platform, expanding international cooperation in scientific research, astronaut training, flight opportunities and science education, Yang Liwei said at the 77th International Astronautical Congress in Türkiye.

CAS Space plans to fly its first space pharmaceutical payloads aboard the reusable Lihong-2, testing protein and small-molecule drug crystallization and validating pharmaceutical equipment for use in space.

China’s CAS Space and Guangzhou Laboratory are teaming up to develop space pharmaceutical payloads, targeting a suborbital flight test aboard a reusable spacecraft in 2027.

The next Zhuque-2E appears to be preparing for launch at Jiuquan. Following the successful Sept. 15 mission carrying 10 Qianfan satellites, another flight could come as soon as October. The payload and exact launch date remain unconfirmed.

- Launch of the country's first satellite, Dongfanghong-1 - BeiDou Navigation Satellite System that offers global services - Chang'e lunar missions - Tianwen-1 Mars mission - Tiangong space station - Steady advance of crewed lunar exploration project

1/2 October 8, 2026 marks the 70th anniversary of China’s space program, highlighting seven decades of independent innovation, space exploration, and the dedication of generations of scientists and engineers. Key milestones include...