It seems that Longxing-2/CZ-12A's 75km VTVL test has failed.
It seems that Longxing-2/CZ-12A's 75km VTVL test has failed.
CASC-SAST's Longxing 2 rocket lifted off as planned at 03:00 UTC on January 19th, amateurs tracked its lift off but lost sight of it.
More than 10 hours later there hasn't been an official update (last time, it came 1h30 later), suggesting that there likely was a failure.
Rumors by insiders say that the 1st and 2nd propulsive phase (Ascent and what is likely either a "boostback" or "reentry" burn) worked but the 3rd propulsive phase didn't.
Shenzhou 20 manned mission (It's so beautiful!!!)China will launch two manned spacecraft and one cargo spacecraft this year, with three mission logos announced to the society.
BEIJING, Jan. 20 (Xinhua) -- China will launch two manned spacecraft, Shenzhou 20 and Shenzhou 21, and a Tianzhou 9 cargo spacecraft this year. The China Manned Space Engineering Office publicly released the mission logos of these three manned spaceflight missions for the public on the 20th.
Since the Shenzhou V mission in 2003, each manned mission has been designed with a mission logo, and from 2023 to the present, each year has been open to the public to collect the mission logo for the current year's manned spaceflight mission.
According to the mission plan, China will launch Shenzhou XX and Shenzhou XXI manned spacecrafts successively from Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center this year, with a flight crew consisting of three astronauts. Among them, Shenzhou XX manned spacecraft will be docked at the radial port of the core module after launch, and Shenzhou XXI manned spacecraft will be docked at the forward port of the core module after launch.
It is reported that during the two manned missions, the main tasks are to implement astronauts' out-of-cabin activities and cargo airlock module out-of-cabin tasks, to continue to carry out space science experiments and technology tests, and to carry out platform management work, astronauts' safeguard-related work, as well as science education and other important activities.
In the second half of this year, China also plans to launch the Tianzhou-9 cargo spacecraft at the Wenchang Space Launch Complex, which will be docked at the backward port of the core module after launch, and will mainly carry out the upward transportation of the astronauts' residency materials, extravehicular suits and other out-of-cabin consumables, maintenance spare parts and propellant to ensure the safe operation of the platform and the various types of loads and samples of the application tasks; and downward transportation of the in-orbit waste materials.
After the full completion of the Chinese space station, the Chinese manned space station project has formally entered the application and development phase, with two manned spacecraft and one to two cargo spacecraft to be launched each year.
I like the style of the first logo. Seems like a nice departure from the usual style, wonder why not use it for the next two missions, seem that one is special.Shenzhou 20 manned mission (It's so beautiful!!!)
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Shenzhou 21 manned mission
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Tianzhou 9 mission.
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