Latest news with #SpaceNews
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First Post
3 days ago
- Science
- First Post
China launches mission to retrieve asteroid samples
China has launched its Tianwen-2 spacecraft to collect samples from the asteroid 469219 Kamoʻoalewa and to return them by 2027. read more China has launched the Tianwen-2 spacecraft on a mission to collect samples from the asteroid 469219 Kamoʻoalewa, with plans to return them to Earth by 2027. (Photo: Space News) China on Wednesday embarked on its first mission to retrieve samples from a nearby asteroid with the nighttime launch of its Tianwen-2 spacecraft, a robotic probe that could make the fast-growing space power the third nation to fetch pristine asteroid rocks. China's Long March 3B rocket lifted off around 1:31 a.m. local time from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center carrying the Tianwen-2 spacecraft, which over the next year will approach the small near-Earth asteroid named 469219 Kamoʻoalewa, some 10 million miles away. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Chinese state media Xinhua confirmed the launch of Tianwen-2 and dubbed it a 'complete success.' Tianwen-2 is scheduled to arrive at the asteroid in July 2026 and shoot a capsule packed with rocks back to Earth for a landing in November 2027. The mission is the latest example of China's swiftly expanding space programs, a streak of cosmic achievements in recent years that includes landing robots on the far side of the moon, running its own national space station in orbit and investing heavily in plans to send humans to the lunar surface by 2030. Japan's Hayabusa that fetched samples from a small asteroid in 2010 marked the world's first such mission. Japan did it again in 2019 with its Ryugu mission, followed by the first U.S. asteroid retrieval mission, OSIRIS-REx, that brought back samples from the Bennu asteroid in 2020. Kamoʻoalewa, the target asteroid for Tianwen-2, is known as a quasi-satellite of Earth, a close celestial neighbor that has orbited the sun for roughly a century, according to NASA. Its size is anywhere between 120 feet (40 meters) and 300 feet (100 meters). (Except headline, this story has not been edited by Firstpost staff) STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD
Yahoo
21-05-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Giant 'white streak' appears over multiple US states as Chinese rocket dumps experimental fuel in space
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. A massive streak of white, aurora-like light recently appeared in the night sky above several U.S. states after a Chinese rocket released half a dozen satellites into orbit. The light show was triggered when the rocket dumped a new type of fuel into space before reentering the atmosphere, experts say. The luminous streak appeared at around 1:24 a.m. ET on Saturday (May 17), hanging in the air for around 10 minutes before eventually fading away. It was photographed in at least seven states — Colorado, Idaho, Utah, Missouri, Nebraska, Washington and New Mexico — but may have been visible even further afield, according to Photographer Mike Lewinski snapped stunning shots of the streak from Crestone, Colorado (see above) and also managed to capture timelapse footage of the entire event. Meanwhile, photographer Jay Shaffer took a striking long-exposure photo of the streak in Taos County, New Mexico (see below). In some places, the streak appeared alongside auroras that emerged during a G2-class geomagnetic storm, which was triggered earlier in the night when a cloud of charged particles ejected by the sun, known as a coronal mass ejection, slammed into Earth's magnetic field. As a result, many people who witnessed the streak assumed it was the aurora-like phenomenon known as STEVE, which creates long colored ribbons of light in the night sky. However, what people actually saw was the aftermath of one of China's Zhuque-2E rockets, which launched from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China at around 12:12 a.m. ET, according to Space News. The rocket released six satellites, each carrying various scientific instruments, before it burned up in Earth's upper atmosphere upon reentry. Related: 10 bizarre phenomena that lit up the sky (and their scientific explanations) There was initially some confusion about exactly how the rocket created the stunning light show. "The white streak may have been a de-orbit burn, or perhaps a circularization burn for the deploying satellites," representatives wrote. Others thought it may have been light from the rocket's second stage burning up in our skies, while some people suggested that it may have been an "ionospheric hole," created when rocket fuel reacts with chemicals in the upper atmosphere, triggering streaking aurora-like lights. However, Jonathan McDowell, an astronomer at the Harvard and Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics who tracks satellite launches and reentries, later revealed on the social platform X that it was caused by a "fuel dump" at an altitude of around 155 miles (250 kilometers) before the rocket de-orbited. The ejected fuel, which trailed behind the rocket, froze into a ribbon of tiny frozen crystals that then reflected sunlight toward Earth's surface, making it shine in the night sky. Similar light shows often occur when SpaceX's Falcon 9 rockets dump their fuel before re-entering the atmosphere. In these cases, the spacecraft is normally spinning as it dumps the fuel, creating luminous whirlpools of light. Recent examples of these structures, nicknamed SpaceX spirals, include a luminous vortex spotted above the U.K. in March, a "horned" spiral that appeared over mainland Europe in May 2024 and a distant swirl visible from Hawaii in January 2023, among others. The Zhuque-2E rocket is a single-use orbital launch vehicle created by Chinese company LandSpace. It stands at around 160 feet (50 meters) tall and can launch up to 13,200 pounds (6,000 kilograms) of payloads into low-Earth orbit (LEO) — the region of space up to 1,200 miles (2,000 km) above Earth's surface, where the majority of Earth-orbiting satellites operate. Unlike most rockets, which use hydrogen or kerosene-based fuels, Zhuque-2E uses a special hybrid of liquid oxygen and liquid methane, known as "methalox." RELATED STORIES —Chinese scientists reveal plans for near-invisible stealth missiles that could 'redefine modern warfare' —China's secretive new 'Thousands Sails' satellites are an astronomer's nightmare, 1st observations reveal —Chinese astronauts make rocket fuel and oxygen in space using 1st-of-its-kind 'artificial photosynthesis' In July 2023, the rocket's predecessor, Zhuque-2, became the first methane-fueled rocket to reach LEO, beating the likes of SpaceX, which also uses methalox fuels in its gigantic Starship rocket but is yet to successfully get the spacecraft into a full orbital flight. China has now successfully launched four methane-powered rockets into space. Methane is a desirable fuel source for rockets because it is easier to store and burns cleaner than hydrogen or kerosene. It can also potentially be produced on other planets, such as Mars, which makes it ideal for solar system exploration.
Scottish Sun
19-05-2025
- Science
- Scottish Sun
China begins assembling AI supercomputer in SPACE made of thousands of satellites circling Earth that talk using lasers
The network can reportedly share 30 terabytes worth of storage between them - that's enough storage for 20,000 HD movies SKY NET China begins assembling AI supercomputer in SPACE made of thousands of satellites circling Earth that talk using lasers Click to share on X/Twitter (Opens in new window) Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) CHINA has reportedly begun assembling an AI supercomputer in space, which will eventually consist of 2,800 satellites in Earth's orbit. ADA Space, based in Chengdu, sent the first 12 satellites of its mammoth network last week, Space News reported. Sign up for Scottish Sun newsletter Sign up 2 The satellites were launched aboard a Long March 2D rocket on 14 May, from Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre in northwest China Credit: China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation These satellites are able to process the data they collect locally, rather than beaming it to stations on Earth to compute, according to ADA. Data stored onboard satellites is sent down to Earth in batches - but some of this information can get lost during transmission. Beyond being slow, "less than 10 per cent" of satellite data makes it to Earth due to things limited bandwidth and ground station availability, according to the South China Morning Post. Part of ADA's 'Star Compute' project, the satellites are reportedly in-built with super-fast AI processors that can communicate with sister satellites at up to 100GB per second using lasers. READ MORE ON SPACE COSMIC Mystery object sends 'pulsing' signal from inside our galaxy like nothing ever seen That is much faster than traditional satellites. The network can also share 30 terabytes worth of storage between them, Space News added. For context, that's enough storage for 20,000 HD movies, or 10 years of continuous video recording on a single hard drive. The 12 satellites that were launched last week carry scientific payloads, including a special tool for picking up brief cosmic phenomena such as gamma-ray bursts, called a X-ray polarisation detector. But they can also be used to create 3D digital twin data for purposes like emergency response, gaming, and tourism, ADA Space said in its announcement. Watch China's bizarre new plans for lunar base race with egg habitation domes that can resist moonquakes ADA Space announced it would collaborate with Zhejiang Lab on the satellite constellation last summer. The satellites were launched aboard a Long March 2D rocket on 14 May, from Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre in northwest China.
The Sun
19-05-2025
- Science
- The Sun
China begins assembling AI supercomputer in SPACE made of thousands of satellites circling Earth that talk using lasers
CHINA has reportedly begun assembling an AI supercomputer in space, which will eventually consist of 2,800 satellites in Earth's orbit. ADA Space, based in Chengdu, sent the first 12 satellites of its mammoth network last week, Space News reported. 2 These satellites are able to process the data they collect locally, rather than beaming it to stations on Earth to compute, according to ADA. Data stored onboard satellites is sent down to Earth in batches - but some of this information can get lost during transmission. Beyond being slow, "less than 10 per cent" of satellite data makes it to Earth due to things limited bandwidth and ground station availability, according to the South China Morning Post. Part of ADA's 'Star Compute' project, the satellites are reportedly in-built with super-fast AI processors that can communicate with sister satellites at up to 100GB per second using lasers. That is much faster than traditional satellites. The network can also share 30 terabytes worth of storage between them, Space News added. For context, that's enough storage for 20,000 HD movies, or 10 years of continuous video recording on a single hard drive. The 12 satellites that were launched last week carry scientific payloads, including a special tool for picking up brief cosmic phenomena such as gamma-ray bursts, called a X-ray polarisation detector. But they can also be used to create 3D digital twin data for purposes like emergency response, gaming, and tourism, ADA Space said in its announcement. Watch China's bizarre new plans for lunar base race with egg habitation domes that can resist moonquakes ADA Space announced it would collaborate with Zhejiang Lab on the satellite constellation last summer. The satellites were launched aboard a Long March 2D rocket on 14 May, from Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre in northwest China. 2
India Today
19-05-2025
- Science
- India Today
China is building a supercomputer in space, sends first satellites that will be part of it
China is building the world's first orbital supercomputer network and it has taken the first step towards the same by launching 12 AI-powered satellites into low Earth orbit. The launch is part of the Three-Body Computing Constellation, which the country is planning to develop. This computing constellation will function as a space-based data processing network capable of computing vast amounts of information directly in orbit, without relying on any Earth-based to a report by Space News, the satellites were launched via a Long March 2D rocket from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre in northwest China on 14 May. The space supercomputer has been developed by Chinese start-up ADA Space in collaboration with Zhejiang Lab and the Neijiang High-Tech Zone. The first 12 satellites represent the initial phase of a larger 'Star-Compute Programme' that aims to eventually deploy 2,800 interconnected satellites in supercomputer for AI processingReportedly, this constellation of supercomputers not only collects data but also processes it. Each satellite is equipped with an 8-billion-parameter AI model capable of performing 744 tera operations per second (TOPS). Together, the fleet of 12 satellites delivers a combined computing capacity of 5 peta operations per second (POPS), with China planning to scale this to 1,000 POPS as the network expands. In comparison, a high-end AI PC like a Microsoft Copilot system only handles about 40 TOPS, meaning this orbital supercomputer is far more powerful than most Earth-based to reports, one of the biggest advantages of this system is going to be its ability to process data directly in space instead of sending it all back to Earth. The satellites use ultra-fast laser communication to transmit data at speeds up to 100 Gbps — fast enough to send huge datasets in seconds. They also share 30 terabytes of storage, allowing them to handle complex tasks like analysing satellite imagery, climate data, or even generating 3D digital twin models of cities and landscapes. By processing data in orbit, the space supercomputer can avoid the bottlenecks of expensive Earth-based data transfers which are also slow due to limited ground station major benefit is energy efficiency. Unlike traditional data centers, which consume massive amounts of electricity and require complex cooling systems, these satellites run on solar power and dissipate heat naturally into space. This makes the space supercomputer constellation much more environmentally friendly, reducing both energy costs and carbon emissions.'Orbital data centres can use solar power and radiate their heat to space, reducing energy needs and the carbon footprint,' McDowell, a space historian and astronomer at Harvard University, told South China Morning Post. According to experts, supercomputers in space are the future and could revolutionise fields like disaster response, urban planning, and even gaming by providing real-time, high-resolution simulations without straining Earth's infrastructure.
