Andrew Jones

China has conducted a landing and takeoff test for the Lanyue crewed lunar landing system.
mp.weixin.qq.com/s/tWz-hmP-bw...

iSpace of China had unveiled its sea recovery platform for its Hyperbola-3 rocket. It measures 100 in length and is 42m wide.
mp.weixin.qq.com/s/z_oZXH9ayB...

A Long March 8A lifted off from Hainan commercial spaceport at 0749 UTC today, sending the Guowang group 06 LEO broadband satellites into orbit. This was China's 40th orbital launch of 2025, days after Guowang group 05. mp.weixin.qq.com/s/jeOXhhn3RY...

Di'er-5 ready for launch. mp.weixin.qq.com/s/YUXQFPKQLR...

Galactic Energy aims for first launches of the Ceres-2 solid rocket and kerosene-lox Pallas-1 (7t to LEO) later this year. They are also working larger Pallas-2 (20t & 58t to LEO).
mp.weixin.qq.com/s/2vFLCziZ9p...

The joint European Space Agency (ESA) and Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) SMILE mission to study the Sun–Earth connection is ready for space after a series of tests. Launch in 2026.
www.esa.int/Science_Expl...

CALT has conducted a static-dynamic load test for an unspecified launch vehicle, likely to be the Long March 10. mp.weixin.qq.com/s/18Zp1lArIj...

Launch declared a full success. Big red screen:

Liftoff

Live: Special coverage of China's Tianzhou-9 cargo spacecraft launch YouTube video by CGTN

Launch of Tianzhou-9 cargo spacecraft to Tiangong space station expected in under 15 minutes on a Long March 7 from Wenchang. Coverage now available here: www.youtube.com/live/2PuO0QA...

Xichang hopes its commercial spaceport will take shape by 2026. By 2030, it aims to achieve an annual launch capacity of 1,000 satellites and a commercial aerospace industry cluster worth 100 billion yuan ($14bn). sc.people.com.cn/n2/2025/0708...

Tianzhou-9: A Long March 7 rocket was rolled out at Wenchang today in preparation for launching the next cargo mission to Tiangong. Launch ~21:40 UTC on July 14 (0540 Beijing time, July 15) mp.weixin.qq.com/s/xgG9X4RLo-...

For clarity: I'm reliably informed that this image, from the Nature issue cover, is in fact rendered from a global photomosaic (Chang'e 1 or LRO), not an image taken by Chang'e-6 itself.

Space Pioneer has completed a static test for a redesigned engine bay for its Tianlong-3 rocket, structural weakness of which was stated as the cause of the infamous dynamic static fire on 30.6 last year. No indication of launch timeframe with this update. mp.weixin.qq.com/s/iUM_KHn8k5...

Outrageous images of China's Shijian-26, an apparent new-gen Earth observation satellite, from Maxar. SSD of 1.9 cm.
www.linkedin.com/posts/susann...

Chang'e-6 samples (CAS).

Test flight of Zero rocket slips to 2027

From Longjiang-2, launched along with the first Queqiao satellite in May 2018. Image taken in February 2019. Wei Mingchuan/HIT.

Image appeared on the current issue of Nature, which features a number of open access articles on Chang'e-6
www.nature.com/nature/volum...

The far side of the Moon and the distant Earth, from the Chang'e-6 lunar sample mission. Credit: Chunlai Li/Jianjun Liu/Wei Yang/GRAS/ NAOC

Gravity-2:
- 70m tall, 4.2m diameter, 5.2m fairing
- 715t liftoff mass, 990t thrust
- 21.5t to LEO / 15t to 500km SSO
- 1st stage reusable ≥30 times

Orienspace’s reusable Gravity-2 rocket has successfully completed a key “three-in-one” integrated hot fire test, laying the groundwork for upcoming propulsion tests and the rocket’s first flight, targeted for around the end of the year. mp.weixin.qq.com/s/EZUR71IjSa...

The Tianzhou-8 cargo spacecraft undocked from Tiangong space station at 0709 UTC today, according to China's human spaceflight agency. Controlled reentry to come in the near future. (This is in preparation for the launch of Tianzhou-9 NET July 14.) mp.weixin.qq.com/s/EZUR71IjSa...

Hard to say. I see presentations with and without the Tianwen-4 Uranus flyby (most recently with, iirc). Depends on if they get going with RTGs in time, enough plutonium, funding, etc, if they want to visit all the planets.

This is just a proposal at the moment. But it appears it could be the next step out into the solar system for China. Neptune and Triton have appeared in Chinese exploration presentations in recent times.

The mission fits into China’s broader deep space plans:
✅ Tianwen-1: Mars orbiter/lander
✅ Tianwen-2: Asteroid sample return launched May 2025
🧪 Tianwen-3: Mars sample return in 2028
🌌 Tianwen-4: Jupiter system + potential Uranus flyby ~2029

Engineers highlight major hurdles:
– Deep-space comms
– Extreme entry conditions
– Radiation shielding
– Thermal protection
– Onboard autonomy for a mission that may last 20+ years

Triton is a top target:
🌀 Orbits in retrograde
🌋 Cryovolcanic activity seen by Voyager 2
🌊 Possible subsurface ocean
👽 Potential habitability
It’s likely a captured Kuiper Belt object and a relic of the early solar system.