On the morning of August 19, LandSpace’s Zhuque-3 Y2 rocket lifted off from the Dongfeng Commercial Space Innovation Test Area. After deploying its second stage and payload into orbit, the rocket’s first stage touched down softly at a recovery site in Gansu province using deployable landing legs. It was China’s first successful land-based recovery of…
cnsa.gov.cn A Chinese private commercial space firm delivered its first complete satellite-plus-ground-system package to a foreign government on Tuesday, orbiting a Thai remote-sensing CubeSat aboard a Long March 6C rocket and establishing a new template for how China’s commercial space sector intends to compete across the developing world. The payload — the Lingzhi-09 Thailand CubeSat,…
Elon Musk’s latest praise for China comes as speculation around a possible Tesla-SpaceX combination puts the automaker’s Shanghai operations under fresh scrutiny. While Musk has dismissed reports of plans to separate Tesla’s China business, the country could still pose regulatory and geopolitical challenges to any future merger. Elon Musk has described China as “awesome” and…
Some may feel a lump in their throats as they watch Hong Kong’s first astronaut, Lai Ka-ying, make history, but few see it as anything more than an inspirational story for our youth. In reality, space, which can feel lofty and far away to pragmatic Hongkongers, could hold the key to our city’s economic future….
Chinese firms have signalled plans to launch more than 200,000 internet satellites, filing submissions with a UN agency just as Beijing accused Elon Musk’s SpaceX of crowding shared orbital resources. A dozen or so submissions from various Chinese satellite players were filed with the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) at the end of last month. The…
We have selected seven stories from this week’s news across Hong Kong, mainland China, the wider Asia region and beyond that resonated with our readers and shed light on topical issues. If you would like to see more of our reporting, please consider subscribing. 1. China builds a record-breaking hypergravity machine to compress space and…
Chinese authorities recently penalised a foreign vessel for illegally using Starlink within Chinese waters. According to a South China Morning Post report, the satellite-based internet service offered by Elon Musk’s SpaceX – is banned in China and is viewed as a national security threat. In fact, the company has not been given licence to operate…
The Long March 12A, China’s first state-owned reusable rocket, made its debut launch on Tuesday morning but the recovery of the first stage was a failure. It was China’s second failed bid this month to return an orbital-class booster, a feat that has so far only been achieved by the US. The reusable rocket, designed…
Elon Musk did not launch a ‘Tesla Pi Phone’ — the viral video is a digitally fabricated hoax, according to a full fact‑check. The Spark That Started the Frenzy A widely shared TikTok-turned-WhatsApp-turned-X video claims Elon Musk unveiled a revolutionary ‘Tesla Pi Phone’ that requires no SIM card or Wi‑Fi—because it allegedly connects directly to…
What Happened: T-Mobile just flipped the switch on a new “Text-to-911” service that works using satellites. This is a huge deal. It’s designed to help you in an emergency when you’re in a remote area with zero cell service. They’ve teamed up with SpaceX’s Starlink to make this happen, and it already covers a massive…