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andrewjonesspace.bsky.social
Freelance journalist mainly tracking Chinese space activities. Correspondent at SpaceNews, also bylines at Spacedotcom, IEEE Spectrum and more.
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Tianwen-2 update: spacecraft is performing well and is 3 million km from Earth. Image of one of its fully deployed circular solar panels included. www.cnsa.gov.cn/n6758823/n67...

A Long March 6A lifted off from Taiyuan at 2045 UTC June 5, sending the 4th batch of Guowang LEO megaconstellation satellites into orbit. This was China's 33rd orbital launch of 2025. mp.weixin.qq.com/s/e-XatdUAoO...

40 minutes until expected lunar landing. Live stream: www.youtube.com/live/BVSMXQP...

Europe’s far-reaching Space Act nears launch Europe is expected to publish a draft law by the end of June to overhaul the regulation of space services, introducing unified rules for companies operating in or selling to the European market.

We have one month to save @josimarfootball.bsky.social. If you can help, please do. 🙏 josimarfootball.com/2025/06/03/a...

Resilience imaged the Earth from lunar orbit on May 27. Landing attempt at 1917 UTC (3:17 p.m. EDT). x.com/ispace_inc/s...

Looks like a meeting of Shijian-25, launched in January, and Shijian-21, is imminent. Expecting an on-orbit servicing/refuelling test.

Zhuque-3 on the move. A static fire test ahead, with a potential orbital launch attempt in the coming months. m.weibo.cn/detail/51726...

Lunar satellites: the view from Tiandu-2 as it separates from Tiandu-1

White House to withdraw Isaacman nomination to lead NASA The White House is withdrawing the nomination of Jared Isaacman to be administrator of NASA, throwing an agency already reeling from proposed massive budget cuts into further disarray.

NASA budget would cancel dozens of science missions, lay off thousands NASA released more details about its proposed fiscal year 2026 budget May 30, canceling dozens of science missions and cutting thousands of jobs.

Skepticism lingers about cost and business case for IRIS² Despite a surge of interest in Europe in establishing autonomy in space systems, there remains skepticism that one of the biggest efforts along those lines.

NASA's detailed FY 2026 budget documents are now posted: www.nasa.gov/fy-2026-budg...

China’s Astronstone raises early funding for stainless steel rocket with “chopstick” recovery Astronstone, one of China’s newest commercial launch startups, has raised early-stage funding for a stainless steel, reusable launch vehicle modeled on SpaceX’s Starship system.

View of the Moon from Resilience. Landing attempt on June 5.

Tianwen-2 is an exploration mission, but it has been treated with a great deal of secrecy. The launch was not broadcast live, and we have not seen the actual spacecraft (unlike Tianwen-1). We have only a few renders of Tianwen-2, which is now in heliocentric orbit.

Well, it had to happen, I suppose. iSpace of China has plans for something called the Hyperbola-9, which may remind you of another, more familiar launcher. The company has had trouble the the Hyperbola-1 solid rocket, and could launch the kerolox Hyberbola-3 this year.

Chinese launch startup conducts vertical takeoff and splashdown test Chinese rocket maker Sepoch has carried out a first vertical liftoff and splashdown landing ahead of a potential orbital launch attempt later this year.

The 2 metre diameter mirror for the Xuntian space telescope, due to launch and co-orbit with the Tiangong space station in late 2026. m.weibo.cn/detail/51716...

Official video:

Looks like Chinese company Space Epoch just carried out a vertical takeoff and splashdown test. m.weibo.cn/detail/51715...

China launches Tianwen-2 mission to sample near Earth asteroid China launched its second planetary exploration mission Wednesday, sending Tianwen-2 to sample a near Earth asteroid and later survey a main belt comet.

Launch: m.weibo.cn/u/7604660608...

Liftoff of Tianwen-2 at 1731 UTC. weibo.com/7604660608/P...

9 minutes until launch of Tianwen-2 from Xichang. weibo.com/5616492130/P...

Tianwen-2, replying to Chang'e-6 via its official Weibo account, says its ready for launch. Liftoff in 5 hours, hopefully an unofficial stream pops up. weibo.com/8000932967/P...

CNSA confirms the launch of Tianwen-2 is scheduled for May 29 Beijing time, aligning with airspace closure notices for around 17:30 UTC (1:30 p.m. Eastern) on May 28. www.cnsa.gov.cn/n6758823/n67...

1/n🧵 Another image of Olympus Mons and and why a human nipple is actually taller!!! 🧵 Full size image & info: flic.kr/p/2r6AqLv Processing: Simeon Schmauß @stim3on.bsky.social & Andrea Luck CC BY Raw Data: NASA/JPL/MSSS NASA Mars Global Surveyor 1997-10-20 at 205 km Filters: Red & Blue

Space Pioneer is getting ready to launch the Tianlong-3, nearly a year after the static/dynamic hotfire fiasco. 9 x Tianhuo-12 engines on the first stage, 17-22,000 kg to LEO. m.weibo.cn/detail/51701...

Shenzhou-20 astronauts Chen Dong and Chen Zhongrui completed a roughly 8-hour spacewalk at 0849 UTC today, according to China's human spaceflight agency. mp.weixin.qq.com/s/YEMZ0X3idT...

Nayuta Space has announced plans for the Xuanniao-R, which will use aerodynamic deceleration for second stage reentry, same as Starship. Aiming for a test flight by late 2026. Ambitious timeline, to say the least. mp.weixin.qq.com/s/vHBZ_iQpKR...

The first Shenzhou-20 EVA is due to take place in the "near future" (likely tomorrow), China's human spaceflight agency announced today. mp.weixin.qq.com/s/dpdXE-yGIC...

Liftoff of a Kinetica-1 solid rocket from Jiuquan at 0405 UTC today. 6 sats into orbit: Taijing-3 (04) (optical) & Taijing-4 (02A) (SAR) for Minospace; Xingrui-11, Xingjiyuan-1, Cube-108-001 & Xiguang-1 (02). This is China's 4th launch in 4 days & 30th of 2025. mp.weixin.qq.com/s/MODOWhl5Hw...

Liftoff of a Long March 7A from Wenchang at ~1150 UTC today.

China to launch Tianwen-2 asteroid sampling mission on May 28 HELSINKI — China is set to launch its second Tianwen deep space exploration mission late May, targeting both a near Earth asteroid and a main belt comet. The Tianwen-2 spacecraft is now being integrated with a Long March 3B rocket at…

Webcast for a Ceres-1 sea launch, with launch window opening in around 15 minutes weibo.com/l/wblive/m/s...

Here we go: the Tianwen-2 near Earth asteroid sample return & comet rendezvous mission spacecraft has been transported to the launch area at Xichang spaceport. Launch in late May (28-30).

Landspace launches 6 satellites with enhanced Zhuque-2 rocket Chinese launch startup Landspace sent six satellites into orbit Saturday with the fifth launch of its Zhuque-2 series methane-fueled rocket.

Glad to speak to space journalist @andrewjonesspace.bsky.social about what he's learned of China's plans for retrieving a sample of Venus's atmosphere sometime next decade. A challenging mission. spectrum.ieee.org/china-venus-...

An observation platform has been built overlooking Wenchang national and commercial launch areas. A pad for the Long March 10 rocket for crewed missions is under construction on the left hand side. m.weibo.cn/detail/51665...

This is great. Some big moments and figures, and deep cuts.

There's an expected Long March 3C launch from nighttime Xichang in a few minutes. We might get some kind of an unofficial view here: www.youtube.com/live/Ac0l2p5...

China to launch new modules to Tiangong space station China is preparing to launch new modules to its Tiangong space station to meet growing demands for science and potentially boost international cooperation.