Secure World Foundation: 2026 Global Counterspace Capabilities Report The 2026 report reveals growing global counterspace capabilities and urges public awareness of the risks of space conflict.

Good to see the new Secure World Foundation Global Counterspace Capabilities Report out! Congrats again to @vsamsondc.bsky.social!

www.swfound.org/publications...

NASA Shuts Off Instrument on Voyager 1 to Keep Spacecraft Operating - NASA Science On April 17, engineers at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Southern California sent commands to shut down an instrument aboard Voyager 1 called the

NASA shuts down Low-energy Charged Particles experiment on Voyager 1 to keep the nuclear-powered spacecraft operating, nearly 49 years after launch.
science.nasa.gov/blogs/voyage...

Another of China's long-awaited commercial liquid propellant launchers, Pallas-1, appears finally to be getting close to a debut flight.

A Long March 4C lifted off from Jiuquan at 0410 UTC today from Jiuquan, sending the Daqi-2 greenhouse gas monitoring satellite into orbit. This was China's 24th orbital launch of 2026.
mp.weixin.qq.com/s/nau9nZtvfl...

Again, no advanced warning: Shenzhou-21 astronauts Zhang Lu and Wu Fei completed the mission's 3rd, 5.5-hour long, EVA at 1736 UTC April 16. Mission to be extended by ~1 month due to emergency SZ-22 launch. www.cmse.gov.cn/xwzx/202604/...

Scale test of the cable capture system that will be used at sea to attempt to recover the Long March 10B first stage. Via Vony7 on Weibo.

There's now a NOTAM suggesting the first Long March 10B launch and first stage recovery attempt is scheduled for April 28, with a window extending through April 30.

The key aspect of Chang'e-7 is the hopper/mini-flying probe designed to head into permanently shadowed craters near the lunar south pole and drill for water-ice. Many plans for lunar exploration hinge on the presence of water.

The Chang'e-7 spacecraft arrived at Wenchang spaceport on April 9. The robotic lunar south pole landing mission will be prepared for launch for the second half of 2026, according to CMSEO. mp.weixin.qq.com/s/B8Hh_lCU43...

Now on @sciam.bsky.social: NASA's Artemis II mission may be dominating the headlines, but China's crewed moon program is quietly making major strides toward a human lunar landing by 2030. Who will win this new space race? By @andrewjonesspace.bsky.social.

www.scientificamerican.com/article/how-...

Long March 10B
weibo.com/2780279265/Q...

The debut flight of the Long March 10B--and China's next first stage recovery attempt--is in the post, possibly as soon as the end of the month. Test launch will have implications for China's crewed lunar program too. weibo.com/5616492130/Q...

A Long March 8 lifted off at 1332 UTC today from Hainan commercial spaceport, sending 18 Qianfan/Thousand Sails satellites into orbit. This was the first launch for the constellation this year. mp.weixin.qq.com/s/yuB_k1vt95...

The first Tianlong-3 orbital launch attempt ends in failure. Liftoff reported at 0417 UTC from Jiuquan. No official statement from Space Pioneer yet.

Impressive new NEI of a Chinese spacecraft: this is either AIRSAT-03 or 04 launched by a Kinetica-1 rocket in October 2025.

A Long March 2C with a YZ-1S upper stage lifted off at 0411 UTC today from Jiuquan, days after an apparent scrub, carrying the Shiyan-33 spacecraft into orbit for "scientific experiments in space environment exploration". This was China's 17th orbital launch of 2026.

We had a great presentation with Dimitrios and great questions from the audience - sadly far too many for the time we had! Here's the link to Dimitrios' article on China and great space power status: www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

Test cricket v Bazball. In space.

Until now, China had the only clear plan for a lunar surface base with the steady, methodical ILRS. Now we see NASA committing to rapid scaling up of lunar surface activities. This is all going to be fascinating to watch in many ways. What will be China's response to Moon Base?

A Long March 2C with a YZ-1 upper stage lifted off from Jiuquan within the last half an hour, so news of that launch coming a bit later.

A Jielong-3 solid rocket lifted off from waters off the coast of Shandong at 1549 UTC March 22, successfully sending the CentiSpace-02 group of 10 satellites into orbit. m.spacechina.com/n2014789/n24...

Thanks for the insight! Much appreciated

Thanks! Yeah, it was late at night and checked the wrong databases, didn't find it, and expressed that thought poorly! Seems to fit with previous targets, Aten, tens of metres diameter, but seems poorly characterised, plus the orbit as you note. Hopefully we learn more soon.

The previously announced target was 2015 XF261, and prior to that 2019 VL5. These are small asteroids some tens of metres in diameter. Hopefully an official update soon with a clarified target near-Earth asteroid.

Veteran space official Long Lehao presented some interesting slides at a conference in Shenzhen. This states China's 1st planetary defence test mission is due to launch Dec. 2027 on a CZ-3B, with separate impactor & observer spacecraft. Targeting "2016 WP8" (which may not exist)

Didn't see the usual day-or-two-before heads-up for this, but China's human spaceflight agency announced Shenzhou-21 astronauts Zhang Lu & Wu Fei completed a 7-hour EVA at 1135 UTC today. The usual installation of debris protection devices among the tasks. www.cmse.gov.cn/xwzx/202603/...

A Kuaizhou-11 solid rocket lifted off at 0412 UTC Monday from Jiuquan carrying 8 satellites. It includes Yuxing-3 (06) (Hunan University of Science and Technology Satellite 2) which has a flexible robotic arm. mp.weixin.qq.com/s/Wo-IE-GSUI...

A Long March 6A lifted off at 1322 UTC Sunday (March 15) from Taiyuan carrying the Yaogan-50 (02) satellite. This joins the first Yaogan-50 in a highly retrograde 142 degree inclination orbit. mp.weixin.qq.com/s/9PSbTNj4_S...

Thanks, Ciri.