A representative diagram of the two satellites that performed the feat, maintaining their laser link, with occasional communication with a third. | Image: HiStarlink

[2026-08-04] China in Space — ADA Space (国星宇航) and Zhejiang Lab’s (之江实验室) Three-Body Computing Constellation is arguably the world leader in the field of space-based computing, and as of the end of July, another feat was demonstrated to support its future operation.

Announced on July 29th, it was shared that two satellites of the constellation had maintained a communications link via their optical laser terminals for 192 hours, 8 minutes, and 45 seconds, or just over eight whole days. Additionally, data transmission availability of the link was maintained at 99.99 percent uptime at distances of up to 1,000 kilometers apart.

All of that was done while the two participating satellites completed dozens of trips around Earth in their sun-synchronous orbit with active tasks running, causing tiny vibrations and fluctuating onboard thermal loads. Both also have secondary laser links to communicate with other members of the constellation and ground stations.

Enabling the feat were laser communication terminals from commercial enterprise HiStarlink (氦星光联), who also publicized it, and its close ‘customer-focused’ collaboration to pull it off. Those terminals, a key part of each of the constellation’s satellites, are able to beam data two-ways at speeds of up to 100 gigabits per second.

Prior to the recent feat, HiStarlink has proven laser-based networking across the currently twelve-satellite constellation with zero data loss, and maintained it at distances of between 650 and 1,100 kilometers.

A directable laser communications terminal made by HiStarlink being completed ahead of handing off to a customer. | Image: HiStarlink

Should ADA Space, Zhejiang Lab, and HiStarlink surpass the laser communication duration feat in the future, it will be a major boon for the Three-Body Computing Constellation. With stable and lossless links that are days long, multiple satellites in the constellation can jointly work on a single massive computing task that would be too ‘heavy’ for just one, and new additions can bolster the overall maximum joint compute.

With current plans, compute could be performed by up to 2,800 satellites launched by 2035. At present, ADA Space is expected to be readying the constellation’s second deployment whilst actively considering options for a third to triple current capacity. The first group was placed into orbit in May 2025, and since then the focus has been on fine-tuning the relevant technology and production to scale up properly with lessons learned.

Interest in uses for the Three-Body Computing Constellation have already come from across China despite it being barely a year old, with strategic agreements signed with technology giant Tencent (腾讯) and the Shanghai Meteorological Bureau (上海市气象局), along with support from Alibaba Cloud (阿里云) and technology collaboration with Shanghai Jiao Tong University (上海交通大学). SenseTime (商汤科技) is also exploring having 1,000 satellites based upon the constellations technology.

Meanwhile, the constellations’ closest competitor in China comes from Orbital Chenguang (轨道辰光), who recently had their Chenguang-1 (辰光一号卫星) computing satellite demonstrator launched to prove out necessary technologies for a few large compute spacecraft. The U.S.’ Starcloud is in a similar situation while being their national leader.

Elsewhere in China’s market of orbital laser communications, the technology has been used to talk with a satellite in geostationary space over multiple hours. The past two years have also seen a boom in availability and affordability in commercially made laser communications terminals, in what some would call ‘oversupply’.

Oversupply, huh? I think we've all heard that term by now. You know what comes afterwards.

I'm not going to persistently post about anything related to satellites here, or I'd end up posting car commercials. This is historic, though.

[2026-07-15] Inside China Business — Intelligence analysts note dramatic, and sudden, advances in Iranian missile and drone capabilities.

During last year’s war on Iran, IDF and American forces successfully “spoofed” Iranian drones and missiles, which relied on GPS navigation systems.

But after that conflict, Iran switched to Beidou, a Chinese satnav system that cannot be jammed by Western militaries.

Beidou is also more accurate than GPS in most of the world, including in the Persian Gulf region.

Iranian drones and missiles are now threading through air defenses, and taking down critical, high-value targets across the Gulf States, who also rely on GPS.

Ironically, China’s motivation to build the Beidou system began over thirty years ago, when the Pentagon switched off GPS to a Chinese container ship bound for Iran.

By 2020, Beidou leapt past GPS in coverage and accuracy in most of the world.

Closing scene, Xizang

Resources and links:

“Breathing Fire” After Yinhe Embarrassment, China’s Pledge To Counter U.S. GPS Reaches Key Milestone https://www.eurasiantimes.com/gps-an-embarrassment-like-the-yinhe-incident/

The GPS Blackout That Changed Everything for China https://www.bastillepost.com/global/article/5927187-the-gps-blackout-that-changed-everything-for-china

Iran turns to China’s BeiDou satellites to outfox Israeli anti-drone electronic warfare defences https://www.intellinews.com/iran-turns-to-china-s-beidou-satellites-to-outfox-israeli-anti-drone-electronic-warfare-defences-430349/

Could Iran be using China’s highly accurate BeiDou navigation system? https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2026/3/11/could-iran-be-using-chinas-highly-accurate-beidou-navigation-system

China’s Push for Satellite Cooperation in the Middle East https://www.washingtoninstitute.org/policy-analysis/chinas-push-satellite-cooperation-middle-east

In 165 countries, China's Beidou eclipses American GPS https://asia.nikkei.com/spotlight/century-of-data/in-165-countries-china-s-beidou-eclipses-american-gps

伊朗副部长：正在探索从GPS切换到中国北斗系统 https://m.guancha.cn/internation/2025_07_31_784997.shtml

Gulf Countries Confront Questions About Relying on U.S. for Protection https://www.nytimes.com/2026/06/15/world/middleeast/gulf-iran-war-us.html

Iran reportedly destroys $300M US missile defence radar in Jordan https://www.trtworld.com/article/6ddaf3c21548

How Iran Devastated an American Naval Base—and Caused a U.S. Recalculation https://www.wsj.com/world/middle-east/iran-u

[2026-08-03] @ChinaScience@twitter.com: The experiment aims to cultivate, for the first time, two consecutive generations of rice in orbit, enabling scientists to investigate how prolonged exposure to microgravity influences the crop’s genetic stability.

The Moon as seen by China’s Tianwen-2 asteroid sample return mission as it left Earth in July 2025. | Image: China National Space Administration

[2026-08-01] China in Space — As early as August 24th, China will begin its Chang’e 7 robotic Moon mission to search for lunar water ice at our closest celestial neighbour’s south pole. In preparation for it, the Long March 5 launch vehicle for delivering it towards a ninety-day polar lunar orbit is undergoing preparations at the Wenchang Space Launch Site, and the spacecraft itself is well into final tests.

As part of late work to prepare for the mission’s scientific task, Chang’e 7’s two dozen instruments have been installed across its orbiter, lander, rover, and hopper. A handful of those are from seven nations and international partners to support the water ice search, explore other questions about the Moon, and fulfill technology development goals.

So, which countries are on board, and to do what?

The only non-nation-state member as an instrument provider for Chang’e 7 is the International Lunar Observatory Association, who have its ILO-C. Work on the instrument was jointly led by the Hawaii-headquartered organization and the University of Hong Kong’s (香港大学 / 香港大學) Laboratory for Space Research, with additional efforts from across the U.S., China, Thailand and Indonesia.

ILO-C, as one of the leading organizations name suggests, is a small astronomical observatory equipped with a Sony IMX253 sCMOS sensor. Once brought to the lunar surface, the instrument will begin capturing images of the celestial sky in the visible and ultraviolet wavelengths every three seconds. Expected imaging targets include parts of the Milky Way galaxy and surrounding parts of the universe, available as the Moon rotates. Observations with ILO-C are expected to take place for about a lunar day, which is up to two Earth weeks.

Alongside the observatory is the Russian Academy of Sciences’ ‘PmL-Ch7’ suite, consisting of a lunar dust detector and a Langmuir probe. Through being installed on the lander, the instruments are set to investigate the Moon’s thin exosphere particles of plasma and dust, along with its interaction with solar winds and radiation. The dust detector will determine the size and speed of exosphere material when they hit specially-configured sensors, while the Langmuir probe picks up the temperature and density of nearby plasma. ‘PmL-Ch7’ is an improved version of a failed instrument that was onboard the failed Luna-25, and may be a part of further lunar exosphere research performed by the proposed Luna-27 pair.

The last instrument being brought to the surface is a laser retroreflector array made by Italy’s Laboratori Nazionali di Frascati. That array requires no power from the lander and will remain usable so long as a line of sight to Earth is possible due to it consisting of a set of mirrors designed to bounce light back to our planet for high-precision measurements of distance. Assuming Chang’e 7 touches down successfully, the retroreflector would be the first to be placed in the lunar south pole, following another Italian-made one that was first on the Moon’s far side.

ILO-C and Pml-Ch7 before being handed over for integration with Chang'e 7. | Image: International Lunar Observatory Association / Russian Academy of Sciences (click to expand)

While collaborating with China for the Chang’e 7 mission, the Bahrain Space Agency and the Egyptian Space Agency are working together on a camera instrument dubbed ‘LunaHcam’. As the mission’s orbiter loops around the Moon in polar orbit, the instrument aims to capture high-resolution hyperspectral images of the surface, with frequent passes of both of the lunar poles. Those images will then be used to identify surface materials, like water ice, and other minerals that could support long-term exploration.

When ‘LunaHcam’ was selected in 2024, both participating space agencies said it was a testament to their present capabilities while being an opportunity to improve the two nations’ technical and scientific talent, as it is set to be the first scientific instrument in lunar space from the Arab world.

Another first onboard Chang’e 7 is the National Astronomical Research Institute of Thailand’s MATCH (Moon Aiming Thai-Chinese Hodoscope), said by government officials to be the inaugural Thai-made instrument in lunar space for developing the relevant talents locally, via knowledge transfer from various Chinese institutions. Aboard the orbiter, MATCH will measure high-energy particles related to space weather and cosmic radiation emitted from the Sun as well as those influenced by the Moon and Earth. Data collected by the instrument could also support forecasting of space weather.

Finally, from Switzerland’s Physical Meteorological Observatory in Davos, host of the World Radiation Centre, there is the Moon-based Dual-channel Earth Radiation Spectrometer attached to the orbiter. That spectrometer, the first of its kind at lunar distance, will observe radiation going to and from Earth’s climate system as a means to measure it. Swiss selection for Chang’e 7 is likely to be for precisely measuring the amount of radiation, as they are the global reference for solar and infrared radiation.

MATCH during a handover ceremony for integration with Chang'e 7 and a high-fidelity render of LunaHcam. | Image: National Astronomical Research Institute of Thailand / Bahrain Space Agency / Egyptian Space Agency (click to expand)

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[2026-07-13] China in Space

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Hardware for the Long March 5 Y11 mission ahead of integration at the Wenchang Space Launch Site in the second quarter of 2026. | Image: China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology

Over two days, July 12th and July 13th, the next Long March 5 launch vehicle set to fly arrived at the Wenchang Space Launch Site, after being trucked from Qinglan Port (清澜港) in Wenchang (文昌市), Hainan (海南) province, and several days of sailing from its production sites in Tianjin (天津)1 and Shanghai (上海市)2 aboard a specialized transport ship.

The newly delivered launch vehicle is set to send the Chang’e 7 robotic Moon mission towards a polar lunar orbit, where it will reside for about ninety days ahead of a landing near the south pole's Shackleton crater. That landing site has been chosen to search for and study water ice.

With the Long March 5 at Wenchang, the China Manned Space Agency3 and the China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology shared:

“Next, the launch vehicle will undergo final assembly and testing at the launch site alongside the Chang’e 7 spacecraft, which arrived earlier. Currently, all systems involved in the mission at the launch site are proceeding with preparations for the Chang’e 7 mission according to schedule.”

If there are any problems with this translation please reach out and correct me.

As noted by the two organizations, the Chang’e 7 spacecraft has been at the launch site for a few months, having been shipped overnight in April. Previous weeks have seen the mission’s orbiter, lander, rover, and hopper undergo final instrument installation and integration with one another. One of those is the U.S.-Hong Kong-led ILO-C astronomical observatory.

Upcoming preparatory processes ahead of launch will see the Long March 5’s first-stage, second-stage, and four boosters individually inspected and tested. They will then be brought together on top of a mobile launch platform. At the same time, the complete Chang’e 7 spacecraft will be encapsulated inside the vehicle’s 5.2-meter-diameter fairing, later being placed atop of the rest of the Long March 5.

Joint testing ahead of a rollout to Launch Complex 101 is expected to take a few weeks to ensure all systems for the launch vehicle and spacecraft are working as designed. Barring the appearance of major issues, Chang’e 7 should be on the launch pad in the second half of August.

The upcoming launch will see the Long March 5 send its third lunar-bound spacecraft towards the Moon, with Chang'e 7 being the payload for its twelfth flight and the nineteenth of the Long March 5 series. The Long March 5 last flew in June with a geostationary satellite.

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Where the China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology produces the first and second stages.

2

Where the Shanghai Academy of Spaceflight Technology manufactures the four boosters.

[2026-07-15] teleSUR

NASA’s illustration shows the Beta Pictoris system with the Beta Pictoris d at the right.

Newly identified gas giant is the faintest exoplanet ever directly imaged from earth.

On Wednesday, the European Southern Observatory (ESO) announced that a team of astronomers discovered an exoplanet, named Beta Pictoris d, located about 63 light-years from Earth.

RELATED:

NASA Sets Roman Space Telescope Launch for No Earlier Than Aug. 30

Detected with the Very Large Telescope (VLT), Beta Pictoris d is a gas giant, like Jupiter or Saturn, although it is 2.4 times more massive than the former.

However, compared with the planets that share the Beta Pictoris star in the Beta Pictoris planetary system, known as Beta Pictoris b and Beta Pictoris c, the newly discovered planet is smaller.

Beta Pictoris b and Beta Pictoris c each have a mass about 10 times greater than that of Jupiter, the largest planet in the solar system.

Beta Pictoris d remained hidden from astronomers for years, in part because it is relatively cool and therefore extremely faint compared with its host star. However, years of analyzing images of the Beta Pictoris system led to the detection of Beta Pictoris d, for which direct photographs already existed, although the planet had remained “hidden” in those images.

Young Giant Gas Planet Beta Pictoris b: A Cosmic Mystery That Won't Spill Its Secrets

In the bustling young star system of Beta Pictoris—a mere 23 million years old, like a cosmic toddler—lurks a massive gas giant that's proving surprisingly tight-lipped about its birthplace.… pic.twitter.com/OE5eGA2fAL

— Black Hole (@konstructivizm) July 10, 2026

“Direct imaging, in which the light from an object is captured as in a photograph, only works for planets that are bright enough to appear alongside their much brighter host stars,” the ESO said, referring to the challenge of detecting Beta Pictoris d.

According to Markus Bonse, an ESO astronomer in Germany and co-author of the study on the planet’s discovery, the new planet is 100 times fainter than Beta Pictoris b, the well-known planet in the same system, making it the faintest exoplanet ever directly imaged from Earth.

The planet Beta Pictoris b was photographed almost 18 years ago in one of the most iconic images in astrophysics when ESO produced the first direct image of a planet orbiting another star in the Beta Pictoris system, where scientists had initially only seen a disk of cosmic dust.

Following the discovery of Beta Pictoris b came that of Beta Pictoris c, and, thanks to the use of the VLT’s ERIS instrument, Bonse and his team discovered the existence of Beta Pictoris d.

The ESO describes the instrument as a new technology on the VLT designed to obtain the clearest images of space through spectrographic and infrared technology.

The discovery of Beta Pictoris d was confirmed by another independent study by the space agencies of the United States, Europe and Canada, which used the James Webb Space Telescope.

teleSUR/ JF

Source: EFE

IN THIS ARTICLE

[2026-07-09] China in Space

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The Long March 10B Y1 vehicle lifting off from the Wenchang Commercial Space Launch Site on July 10th 2026. | Image: China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation

For the first time, the Long March 10B blasted off from Commercial Launch Pad 2 at the Wenchang Commercial Space Launch Site at 12:15 pm China Standard Time (04:15 Universal Coordinated Time) on July 10th, heading for an 800-kilometer low Earth orbit as part of a demonstrative flight.

Ascent away from the launch site was as expected, with the seven YF-100K engines providing the thrust needed. Those burned for about two and a half minutes before shutting down for state separation, after which the second-stage’s YF-219 ignited to continue flight into orbit, which was achieved not long after. China Satellite Network Group (中国卫星网络集团有限公司) was shared to have been the customer to deliver an experimental satellite designated ‘CX-26’, possibly related to GuoWang (国网).

Having completed its part of supporting orbital launch, the first-stage booster started to fall back to Earth in a controlled manner, aiming for the recovery drone ship ‘Linghangzhe (领航者)’. Part of that had an atmospheric reentry burn to protect the booster from succumbing to intense thermal stress, where three YF-100K engines ignited briefly, with the added benefit of refining the descent path.

After almost ten minutes of flight, the Long March 10B’s first-stage booster ignited three YF-100K’s for the last time, then swapped to one to slow and position itself onto the tensioned steel wires of ‘Linghangzhe’, where it was successfully caught! That catch took place 430 kilometers downrange and makes the launch vehicle China’s first proven reusable rocket1.

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The Long March 10B Y1 vehicle’s first-stage performing its catch burn (left) and caught onboard ‘Linghangzhe’ (right). | Image: China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation

In a post-flight blog post, the China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology, who manufacture the Long March 10B, shared that its first flight verified its choices for autogenous second-stage pressurization alongside the first-stage’s ability to start its engines multiple times, handle high aerodynamic and thermal stresses, descent to a target location with precision, as well as its recovery scheme. This launch also verified first-stage systems for the Long March 10A, which is shared with the Long March 10B minus system to make it human-rated, according to Rong Yi (容易), an Expert Rocket Designer leading development of the Long March 10 series, while she spoke with the media shortly after launch. The Long March 10A is expected to fly at least once before the year's end too.

For Hainan International Commercial Aerospace Launch Co Ltd (海南国际商业航天发射有限公司), operator of the launch site, they committed to and accelerated their implementation of liquid methane propellant systems to enable the debut flight, meeting requirements to be loaded with propellant in under four and a half hours. Additionally, the operator dedicated its Commercial Launch Pad 2 teams to preparing for the Long March 10B, allowing for issues that arose, like hydraulic piston failures, to be resolved in a few weeks.

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Physical patches given to launch site staff (left) and the Long March 10B Y1 team (right). | Image: Hainan International Commercial Aerospace Launch Co Ltd / China Long March Rocket Co Ltd

Getting the Long March 10B to fly from the commercial launch site has been a multi-month process, with support hardware being assembled at the start of the year before an inaugural April rollout. April saw the completion of a wet dress rehearsal of the countdown to test the launch vehicle and upgraded site systems, skipping static fires as those were completed elsewhere. The flight was then delayed for a few weeks to replace faulty launch pad components.

With the confidence gained from this flight and a February systems verification, the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation says that the next Long March 10B is planned to fly before the end of the year. That will also have a reusable first-stage, either using a new booster or the one from today after its return to land for inspections and refurbishment.

Today’s mission was the 1st for the Long March 10B vehicle, the 1st flight of the Long March 10 series, and the 657th launch of the Long March launch vehicle series. This was also the 48th launch from China in 2026.

Liftoff and catch footage via 海南商发 and 商业航天发展 on WeChat, 中国的航天 and China航天 on Weibo, and raz_liu on Twitter.

Launch livestream via International Rocket Launches on YouTube.

This section is for those less familiar with China’s Long March series of launch vehicles.

As a commercially focused launch vehicle marketed by China Long March Rocket Co Ltd (中国长征火箭有限公司), the Long March 10B is a two-stage partially reusable rocket fuelled by rocket-grade kerosene and liquid oxygen in its first-stage, with a liquid methane and liquid oxygen utilizing second-stage. It is based on the Long March 10 series from the China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology, but omits additional systems required for redundancy and safety, as it does not carry human passengers.

Currently, the Long March 10B is expected to be able to lift the following:

• 16,000 kilograms to a 200-kilometer orbit with booster reuse

• 11,000 kilograms to a 900-kilometer orbit with booster reuse

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The Long March 10B Y1 vehicle stood at Commercial Launch Pad 2 in the hours before its debut flight on July 10th 2026. | Image: China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation

Enabling ascent out of the atmosphere are seven YF-100K engines, producing 892 tons of thrust, on the first-stage. Continuing flight into orbit is a single YF-219 engine, generating 140 tons of thrust, powering the second-stage.

To facilitate reuse of the first-stage booster, the Long March 10B relights three engines during atmospheric re-entry and then again to shed most of its speed, before swapping down to one engine for fine-tuning of a catch and hovering. Four metal hooks at the top of the first-stage enable a catch by hanging onto tensioned steel wires, moved into position by the recovery drone ship. Four grid fins next to the hooks control the booster during unpowered descent.

Both stages of the Long March 10B are 5 meters in diameter, while the full launch vehicle stands 70.2 meters tall with its long fairing or 63.6 meters tall with its short fairing. Available fairings for it are also 5 meters in diameter. When fully fuelled, the launch vehicle weighs 760,000 kilograms.

So far, the Long March 10B has flown from the Wenchang Commercial Space Launch Site, on the east coast of Hainan province, and is recovered at sea on the autonomous Long March 10 series booster-catching ship ‘Linghangzhe (领航者)’.

The Long March 10B Y1 vehicle being transported to Commercial Launch Pad 2 in April 2026. | Image: Hainan International Commercial Aerospace Launch Co Ltd

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Previously, LandSpace attempted to perform China’s first launch vehicle booster landing with the debut flight of Zhuque-3, coming within seconds of doing so in December 2025. The Shanghai Academy of Spaceflight Technology then followed weeks later with the inaugural Long March 12A mission, but failing not long after atmospheric reentry. It has also flown the Long March 12B to trial select first-stage recovery systems.

Meanwhile, CAS Space has brought its Kinetica-2 into orbit, ahead of it becoming reusable around 2028, and Space Pioneer has attempted to fly Tianlong-3 before making it a partially reusable rocket in a few flights.