China

A red moon: Will the next ‘Sputnik Moment’ be made in China?

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In late 1957, the US Navy’s Vanguard rocket was primed to launch the world’s first artificial satellite. But, on the morning of Oct. 4, the Soviet Union struck first and lobbed a small metal ball into orbit that Moscow Radio called Sputnik (“Fellow Traveler”). That “Sputnik Moment” had a profound impact on the nascent Space … Read more

China Plans to Retrieve Mars Samples by 2031

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China’s growing presence in space has been undeniable since the turn of the century. Between sending the first “taikonaut” to space in 2003 (Yang Liwei), launching the first Chinese robotic mission to the Moon (Chang’e-1) in 2007, and the deployment of their Tiangong space station between 2021-2022, China has emerged as a major power in … Read more