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China's ambitious plans regarding its missions to the Moon are not new. In January 2019, China had already earned the distinction of being the first country to land a probe on the far side of the Moon, that is the section of the natural satellite that faces away from the Earth. Now, after two years, it appears that China is ready to widen its horizon when it comes to Moon travel and is taking active steps to enable manned landing on the Moon. A brief news report published by the Xiamen University School of Aeronautics and…

China has developed a prototype miniature helicopter for surveillance work on future Mars missions, according to its space science agency, following the historic landing of a robotic rover on the Red Planet a few months ago.The prototype is similar in appearance to the robotic helicopter Ingenuity, developed by NASA for its Perseverance mission this year, according to a photograph posted on the website of China's National Space Science Center on Wednesday.The agency said the helicopter could be a tool for China's…

China has launched a military satellite that will test its “space debris mitigation technology," the state media reported earlier this week. The satellite was launched on Sunday from the Xichang Satellite Launch Centre, Sichuan province, Southwest China. Though only a few details were available about the classified launch, some state media reports said the mission was successful. A video of the launch showed a gigantic rocket blasting off the launch site into a cloud of orange hues against a background of mountains or…

The race for space exploration is heating up with major powers focussing on having a base on the Moon, to help operate beyond the International Space Station (ISS). As the US is realigning its strategy to return humanity to the Moon, China is not far behind. Its scientists have created an “artificial moon” on Earth to test technology and equipment in low gravity. Located in the eastern Jiangsu province, the facility is expected to provide vital research for China's lunar missions. It is likely to be launched soon, though…

An uncrewed Chinese spacecraft has acquired imagery data covering all of Mars, including visuals of its south pole, after circling the planet more than 1,300 times since early last year, state media reported on Wednesday.China's Tianwen-1 successfully reached the Red Planet in February 2021 on the country's inaugural mission there. A robotic rover has since been deployed on the surface as an orbiter surveyed the planet from space.Among the images taken from space were China's first photographs of the Martian south pole,…