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China Will Attempt 30-Plus Launches in 2019, Including Crucial Long March 5 Missions (spacenews.com)

Posted by msmash on from the up-next dept.

New submitter starmanaj shares a report: The main contractor for the Chinese space program is planning more than 30 launches in 2019, with major missions including the crucial return-to-flight of the heavy-lift Long March 5 rocket in July. The China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC), announced Jan. 29 that it would aim to loft more than 50 spacecraft on 30-plus launches this year. Among these will be the third launch on the Long March 5, a 5-meter-diameter, 57-meter-tall heavy-lift launch vehicle which failed in its second flight in July 2017, delaying the Chang'e-5 lunar sample return mission and the construction of the Chinese Space Station. The mission will take place in July at the coastal Wenchang Satellite Launch Center on Hainan island, CASC vice president Yang Baohua said at a Jan. 29 news conference in Beijing, which also saw the release of a "Blue Book of China Aerospace Science and Technology Activities."

4 of 64 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Good for them! by Gavagai80 · · Score: 4, Informative

    I doubt they're going to get 30+ launches done in a year, unless they've been playing things really close to the vest.

    Erm, China launched 37 times last year. How is aiming for 30+ this year any sort of stretch or doubtful thing? They've been "playing things really close to the vest" by launching 37 times and then planning 30 for the following year?

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  2. Re:The Last Communist Holdout Being Space Capable. by Gavagai80 · · Score: 3, Informative

    China has 250+ satellites in orbit already... way more than Russia, way more than any country except the USA. If they really care about you so much, they've known what they want to know for a long time.

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  3. Re:Good for them! by 110010001000 · · Score: 4, Informative

    SpaceX launched 19 last year. China launched 37. SpaceX fanboys are delusional.

  4. Re:How much... by hackertourist · · Score: 3, Informative

    Elon has copylefted nothing with regards to SpaceX. The main source for information is off-the-cuff announcements via Twitter. No papers describing the rocket, much less CAD or source code. This has to do with ITAR legislation (which makes it a crime to publish such information).

    You're thinking of Tesla, which did publish information on the Supercharger design.