Latest news with #ChinaMannedSpaceAgency


Time of India
17-07-2025
- Science
- Time of India
Was that a jellyfish in the sky? China's Tianzhou-9 stuns with glowing rocket cloud. Watch video
What Did Tianzhou-9 Deliver? Live Events Two upgraded EVA (spacewalk) suits with enhanced durability, capable of supporting up to 20 spacewalks over four years. A core-muscle training device to help astronauts combat muscle atrophy during long stays in microgravity. A brain organoid-on-a-chip experiment, designed to study human brain cell behavior and the blood-brain barrier in space. Nanocarrier drug delivery systems, materials science experiments, and equipment for aerospace medical research. Why This Mission Matters What's Next? (You can now subscribe to our (You can now subscribe to our Economic Times WhatsApp channel On July 16, 2025, China launched its Tianzhou-9 cargo spacecraft aboard a Long March-7 Y10 rocket, leaving behind a mesmerizing, jellyfish-like cloud in the sky that quickly went viral on social Tianzhou-9 successfully docked with the Tiangong space station just over three hours after liftoff, delivering up to 7.2 tonnes of supplies—including food, oxygen, scientific instruments, and cutting-edge equipment. The China Manned Space Agency (CMSA) confirmed that the cargo ship completed its docking at 8:52 a.m., following a rapid autonomous rendezvous with the station's Tianhe core mission is the fourth resupply operation since Tiangong entered its application and development phase, underscoring China's growing capability in maintaining a self-sufficient orbital total, Tianzhou-9 carried over 1.5 tonnes of food, featuring 190 menu items—including more than 90 side dishes—to improve life aboard the station. It also delivered nearly 780 kilograms of scientific payloads, ranging from biomedical tools to long-term experiment the crucial payloads were:As the International Space Station (ISS) approaches retirement in 2030, China's Tiangong is rapidly emerging as the next-generation orbital lab. Built with three modules—Tianhe, Wentian, and Mengtian—it is already conducting a wide range of scientific, medical, and technological space program has advanced significantly despite being excluded from ISS cooperation due to U.S. restrictions. The nation's consistent success in spacecraft docking, human habitation, and autonomous operations is a testament to its goal of becoming a top-tier spacefaring is set to launch the Shenzhou-21 crewed mission later this year, which will rotate the current crew and continue ongoing research aboard Tiangong. China is also planning a crewed missions to the Moon before 2030, for which Tianzhou and Shenzhou missions serve as critical stepping stones.


South China Morning Post
15-07-2025
- Science
- South China Morning Post
China's Tianzhou-9 cargo craft launches for Tiangong space station resupply mission
Read more about this: China said it successfully launched its Tianzhou-9 cargo spacecraft on July 15, 2025. The spacecraft is delivering 6.5 tonnes of supplies for the orbiting Tiangong Space Station. The Long March-7 Y10 rocket carrying the spacecraft lifted off at 5.34am from the Wenchang Spacecraft Launch Site in China's southern island province of Hainan, according to the China Manned Space Agency. The Tianzhou-9 separated from the rocket and entered its designated orbit about 10 minutes after blast-off.


India Gazette
15-07-2025
- Business
- India Gazette
Daily World Briefing, July 15
China launches Tianzhou-9 cargo craft to send space station supplies China launched the cargo spacecraft Tianzhou-9 in the early morning on Tuesday to deliver supplies for its orbiting Tiangong space station, according to the China Manned Space Agency (CMSA). The Long March-7 Y10 rocket, carrying Tianzhou-9, blasted off at 5:34 a.m. (Beijing Time) from the Wenchang Spacecraft Launch Site in the southern island province of Hainan, the agency said. After about 10 minutes, Tianzhou-9 separated from the rocket and entered its designated orbit. Its solar panels soon unfolded. The agency declared the launch a complete success. The cargo craft will later conduct the rendezvous and docking with the space station combination. China, India should adhere to good-neighborliness, friendship: Chinese FM Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said Monday that China and India should adhere to the direction of good-neighborliness and friendship, and find a way for mutual respect and trust, peaceful coexistence, common development and win-win cooperation. Wang made the remarks when holding talks with Indian External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar in Beijing. As two major Eastern civilizations and major emerging economies living adjacent to each other, the essence of China-India relations lies in how to live in harmony and achieve mutual success, said Wang, also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee. Trump says U.S. to send weapons to Ukraine through NATO, threatens "severe tariffs" targeting Russia U.S. President Donald Trump said Monday that the United States will send weapons to Ukraine through NATO, and threatened "severe tariffs" targeting Russia if a ceasefire deal is not reached in 50 days. Trump announced an agreement with NATO regarding weapons to assist Ukraine while meeting NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte in the Oval Office. "We are going to be sending them weapons and they're going to be paying for them," said Trump, adding that the United States will manufacture those weapons. "We're going to be doing very severe tariffs if we don't have a deal in 50 days," Trump said of Russia. Over 20 U.S. states sue Trump administration over frozen funds for schools More than 20 U.S. states filed a lawsuit on Monday in a federal court in Rhode Island, demanding that the Trump administration release approximately 6.8 billion U.S. dollars in federal funding for education. According to the lawsuit, the federal funds were originally intended to support the education of migrant farm workers and their children, teacher recruitment and training, English proficiency learning, academic enrichment, after-school and summer programs, as well as adult literacy and job-readiness training. The lawsuit said the government was required to distribute the funds to the states by July 1. Instead, the Education Department notified states on June 30 that it would not be issuing grant awards under those programs by that deadline, citing the change in administration as the reason. Brazilian president announces formation of committee to coordinate trade countermeasures Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva announced Monday the formation of an interministerial committee to coordinate economic and trade countermeasures to protect the country's economy. The move was taken after U.S. President Donald Trump announced a 50 percent tariff on all imports from Brazil starting Aug. 1. The interministerial committee is created through a decree regulating the economic reciprocity law and will be chaired by Vice President Geraldo Alckmin, who is also minister of development, industry, trade and services. The first meeting of the committee will be held on Tuesday, with representatives from the industrial sector in attendance. At least 47 killed in Israeli attacks across Gaza At least 47 Palestinians were killed in Israeli shelling and gunfire across Gaza on Monday, according to Palestinian sources. Mahmoud Basal, spokesperson for the Civil Defense in Gaza, told Xinhua that in central Gaza, five people were killed and four others injured in an Israeli airstrike on a Palestinian gathering in the Bureij refugee camp, and one person was killed in an Israeli airstrike on a water distribution tanker in the al-Nuseirat refugee camp, Three were killed in an Israeli airstrike on an apartment building in the al-Nasr neighborhood, west of Gaza City, and five others were killed in an airstrike on a gathering in the Sheikh Radwan neighborhood, north of the city, Basal said.


South China Morning Post
12-07-2025
- Science
- South China Morning Post
China's Tianzhou-9 cargo craft set for Tiangong space station resupply mission
China's Tianzhou-9 cargo spacecraft is ready for launch to resupply the Tiangong Space Station , according to state news agency Xinhua on Saturday. The cargo spacecraft and a Long March-7 Y10 carrier rocket have been transported to the launch pad at the Wenchang Spacecraft Launch Site on the southern island province of Hainan, according to Xinhua, which cited the China Manned Space Agency. 'The cargo spacecraft will be launched in the near future at an appropriate time,' the space agency said. It said functionality checks and joint tests would proceed as planned, adding that facilities and equipment at the launch site were 'in good condition'. The cargo spacecraft will carry 6.5 tonnes of supplies, including consumables, propellants and equipment for medical and space technology experiments to be performed by astronauts on the Shenzhou-20 and Shenzhou-21 missions, according to state broadcaster CCTV. The supplies also include two sets of domestically developed spacesuits that can be used for 20 spacewalks over four years – an upgrade in lifespan from the previous three years and 15 spacewalks. The astronauts will also receive a set of core muscle training devices designed to help counteract muscle atrophy in microgravity.


AllAfrica
27-06-2025
- Science
- AllAfrica
China steps closer to landing on moon by 2030
China has successfully conducted an escape flight test on its lunar spacecraft Mengzhou, which means 'dream ship' in Mandarin. By 2030, the country plans to send three Chinese astronauts to land on the moon. It was the second zero-altitude escape flight test in 27 years, following the first one conducted by the Shenzhou manned spacecraft in 1998. Zero altitude means the test was performed on the ground instead of high in the air. The launch escape system or tower, powered by solid rocket motors (SRMs), was installed at the tip of the Mengzhou aircraft's return capsule. In an emergency during a launch, the capsule is to be separated from the rocket within two seconds whenever the system detects any abnormal situation. During the test on June 17, the integrated spacecraft and launch escape tower assembly ascended and reached its designated altitude in about 20 seconds. The return capsule separated from the escape tower and landed on the ground with a parachute in two minutes. According to the China Manned Space Agency (CMSA), Mengzhou's escape and rescue subsystems are now centralized in the spacecraft. In Shenzhou's case, the rocket handled the escape functions. 'Mengzhou will become the core manned spacecraft sustaining the application and development of China's space station, manned lunar exploration, and other tasks,' said the CMSA. 'The successful test has laid an important technical foundation for the subsequent human-crewed lunar exploration missions.' The China Aerospace Science and Industry Corp (CASIC) Fourth Academy, the developer of the launch escape tower, said in a statement on June 24 that its team has achieved many breakthroughs in developing SRMs, which use solid propellants to generate thrust. It said such an achievement significantly improved Mengzhou's escape system compared with Shenzhou's. 'For the first time, we were responsible for developing the escape system's server using self-developed sensors and mechanics,' it said on June 24. 'We also developed the software and algorithms to control the SRMs, and used environmentally friendly rocket fuels.' 'We will continue to take practical actions to realize China's dream of sending people to the moon,' it said. In January 2022, the United States imposed sanctions on the CASIC Fourth Academy and accused it of acting contrary to US national security or foreign policy interests. After testing the escape system, CMSA's next key mission is to launch the Long March 10A rocket in 2026. China launched its uncrewed Chang'e 6 spacecraft to the moon in May last year using the Long March 5 rocket. Long March 5, nicknamed 'Fat Five,' has eight YF-100 rocket engines in four boosters, and two YF-77 engines on its first stage. Total thrust is 10,636 kilonewtons (kN). It can lift 25 tons to low Earth orbit (LEO), 14 tons to the geostationary transfer orbit (GTO) and 8 tons to the Earth-moon-transfer orbit, or trans-lunar injection (TLI) trajectory. Such lifting power is not enough to support China's crewed lunar mission. Long March 10 is an upgraded version of Long March 5. It has 14 YF-100 engines in two boosters and seven more on its first stage. The total thrust is 26,250 kN. It can lift 70 tons to LEO and 27 tons to TLI. The China National Space Administration (CNSA) planned to launch the Long March 10 in 2027. However, it said last November that it would launch the Long March 10A in 2026. The Long March 10A is the Long March 10 without two boosters. It can lift 14 tons, or a spacecraft with up to seven people, to LEO, and can be reused. 'The development of our next-generation crewed Long March 10 rocket is on schedule,' said Wang Yue, a researcher at the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corp. 'We have achieved some breakthroughs in developing reusable rockets, and have already started producing the components. According to CNSA's plan, China will launch the Long March 10 thrice between 2027 and 2030. By 2030, the fourth and fifth launches will be a moon lander (Lanyue) and the Mengzhou spacecraft, respectively. None of these rockets will be reused. During the 2030 mission, the spacecraft carrying three astronauts will dock with the lander before landing on the moon. In 2023, CNSA decided to launch the lander and spacecraft separately, as its more powerful Long March 9 rocket will only be available after 2030. Some Chinese commentators said the lunar exploration mission of the Long March 10 will continue to expand after Chinese astronauts' landing on the moon. 'Landing on the moon is only a small part of our country's lunar exploration plan,' a Sichuan-based columnist writes in an article last month. 'We have a much bigger goal – to transform the moon into China's backyard.' 'After our astronauts reach the moon, our people will move and live there sooner or later,' he says. 'We will chat and have entertainment on the moon, treating the place like our backyard.' He says Chinese astronauts will build houses on the moon and frequently travel between the Earth and the moon. He says China will also use its space technology to boost ties with other countries and help send astronauts from different countries to the moon. Ultimately, China will discover how to extract water and make oxygen using resources on the moon. 'Our lunar plan keeps accelerating, while the United States keeps postponing its plan,' he says. 'It is possible that China will beat the US in sending people to the moon in this round of the space race.' On December 19, 1972, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) landed humans on the moon during the Apollo 17 mission. It plans to revisit the Moon in mid-2027 with the Artemis III mission. Two of four astronauts, including the first woman and first person of color, are to land on the Moon's South Pole for a week of scientific exploration. Read: US, China in hot race to put nuclear reactors on the moon