China launches core module of space station
Posted: Sun, May 2, 2021, 10:53 AM ET (1453 GMT)
China launched the core module of its space station Wednesday night. A Long March 5B heavy-lift rocket lifted off from the coastal Wenchang spaceport at 11:23 pm EDT (0323 GMT Thursday), deploying the Tianhe module into low Earth orbit. Tianhe, or "harmony of the heavens," is now expected to raise its orbit to around 370 kilometers above the Earth. The uncrewed Tianzhou-2 cargo spacecraft is scheduled to rendezvous and dock with Tianhe in mid-late May, ahead of the visit of three astronauts aboard Shenzhou-12 in June. Those will be the first of 11 launches across 2021 and 2022 to build the planned 66-ton, three-module orbital outpost.
China launched the core module of its space station Wednesday night. A Long March 5B heavy-lift rocket lifted off from the coastal Wenchang spaceport at 11:23 pm EDT (0323 GMT Thursday), deploying the Tianhe module into low Earth orbit. Tianhe, or "harmony of the heavens," is now expected to raise its orbit to around 370 kilometers above the Earth. The uncrewed Tianzhou-2 cargo spacecraft is scheduled to rendezvous and dock with Tianhe in mid-late May, ahead of the visit of three astronauts aboard Shenzhou-12 in June. Those will be the first of 11 launches across 2021 and 2022 to build the planned 66-ton, three-module orbital outpost.| <<previous article | next article>> |
|
news in brief
|
|
Space Force picks 14 companies for GEO surveillance program
Posted: Sat, Apr 11 10:34 AM ET (1434 GMT) |
|
news links
|
|
Sunday, April 19
310th Space Wing honors key members of its history ahead of inactivation
Colorado Springs Gazette — 11:00 am ET (1500 GMT) Huntsville delegation heads to DC for key talks with NASA and U.S. Space Command leaders
WZDX-TV Huntsville, AL — 10:59 am ET (1459 GMT) Future military satellite will need operational surprise
Colorado Springs Gazette — 10:58 am ET (1458 GMT) Blue Origin Launches New Glenn, Suffers Issue Deploying Craft
Bloomberg News — 10:54 am ET (1454 GMT) Blue Origin successfully re-uses a New Glenn rocket for the first time ever
TechCrunch — 10:52 am ET (1452 GMT) |
