China Accuses US of Unsafe Space Conduct After Near-Miss With Elon Musk’s Starlink

Beijing on Tuesday accused the United States of irresponsible and unsafe conduct in space over two “close encounters” between the Chinese space station and satellites operated by Elon Musk‘s SpaceX.   Tiangong, China’s new space station, had to maneuver to avoid colliding with one Starlink satellite in July and with another in October, according to … Read more

Spacewalking Chinese astronauts add camera to Tiangong space station module

China’s Shenzhou 13 astronauts ventured outside the orbiting Tianhe module on Sunday and installed a new panoramic camera for monitoring the space station. Rookie astronaut Ye Guangfu opened the hatch of the Tianhe airlock on Dec. 26 at 5:44 a.m. EST (1044 GMT, 6:44 p.m. Beijing time) and reported feeling well shortly after exiting. He … Read more

Comet Leonard shines amid aurora and meteor shower in stunning footage by Chinese spacecraft

A small space telescope launched by a Chinese space resources company captured an epic shot of the brightest comet of the year on the backdrop of an aurora and passing meteors. Yangwang 1, a small satellite belonging to Chinese space resources company Origin Space, took the image while Comet Leonard was making its closest approach … Read more

Chinese Kuaizhou-1A rocket fails after launch, 2 satellites lost

A Kuaizhou-1A solid rocket by Chinese commercial company Expace failed to make it to orbit Tuesday (Dec. 14), taking two commercial satellites with it during its demise. The rocket launched from the China National Space Administration‘s Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in the Gobi Desert at 9 p.m. EST (0200 GMT or 10 a.m. local time … Read more

Europe’s Mars orbiter relays data from Chinese rover back to Earth

The European Space Agency’s Mars Express collected data from China’s Zhurong Mars rover and successfully sent it to Earth following a series of experimental communications tests. The Zhurong rover was designed only to communicate with its companion orbiter, Tianwen 1; however, the rover has long outlived its planned mission and the orbiter is no longer … Read more