#HELSINKI — #China’s latest crew of three astronauts arrived at the Tiangong space station Thursday following launch from Jiuquan spaceport in the Gobi Desert.

The Shenzhou-18 spacecraft completed rendezvous and docking with Tiangong’s radial docking port at 3:32 p.m. Eastern (1932 UTC), April 25, China’s human spaceflight agency announced shortly after the event.

The Shenzhou-18 astronauts—commander Ye Guangfu and rookies Li Cong and Li Guangsu—will soon be greeted aboard Tiangong by the Shenzhou-17 crew upon opening of the hatch.

#HELSINKI — #China is on target to reach its goal of putting its astronauts on the moon before the end of the decade, according to the country’s human spaceflight agency.

Officials with the China Manned Space Engineering Office (CMSEO) provided a rare update on the crewed lunar program during a press conference at Jiuquan spaceport April 24.

“The program development for major flight products, including the Long March 10 rocket, the Mengzhou crew spacecraft, the lunar lander Lanyue and the lunar landing suits, are all complete,” said Lin Xiqiang, deputy director of CMSEO. “Their prototype production and tests are in full swing.”

Chinese officials previously announced a plan to put a pair of astronauts on the moon before 2030. Two Long March 10 lunar variant rockets will separately launch Mengzhou and three astronauts and th

#WASHINGTON — The U.S. Space Force in early 2023 floated the idea of establishing a “commercial space reserve” that would allow the military to quickly tap private satellite operators during a conflict.

Gen. Michael Guetlein, vice chief of space operations, said the Space Force is in the midst of figuring out how to establish such a commercial reserve, which will require intricate negotiations with satellite operators to hash out binding agreements.

Speaking April 24 at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, Guetlein said the military’s reliance on private sector contractors during past wars underscores the historical significance of its relationship with industry, and that dynamic that should extend to space operations through the envisioned commercial reserve.

#WASHINGTON — Rocket Lab launched a South Korean smallsat and a #NASA solar sail experiment on the company’s fifth flight of the year April 23.

An #Electron rocket lifted off from Rocket Lab’s Launch Complex 1 in New Zealand at 6:32 p.m. Eastern. Liftoff was delayed nearly 20 minutes because of a problem with ground equipment. The rocket’s kick stage, deployed from the upper stage nine minutes after liftoff, carried out a series of maneuvers to deploy its two payloads into different orbits.

The kick stage first moved into a circular orbit at an altitude of 520 kilometers, deploying the NEONSAT-1 spacecraft about 50 minutes after liftoff. The stage then moved into a 1,000-kilometer orbit before deploying the ACS3 satellite one hour and 45 minutes after liftoff.

#NEONSAT-1, the primary

SAN FRANCISCO – The #European Space Agency has approved major changes in the ClearSpace-1 debris-cleanup mission.

Under the new plan approved by ESA’s Space Safety Programme Board, OHB SE of Bremen, Germany, will provide the satellite bus in addition to leading systems integration and launch. Swiss startup ClearSpace will oversee proximity operations and capture of the mission’s new debris target, ESA’s Project for On-Board Autonomy-1 (PROBA-1) satellite.

Originally, the ClearSpace-1 mission was scheduled to capture a Vega rocket payload adapter, Vespa. In August, the U.S. Space Force’s 18th Space Defense Squadron notified ESA of debris in the vicinity of Vespa, indicating a probable collision

#WASHINGTON — NASA is continuing to refine its response to a decadal survey for biological and physical sciences in space, balancing ambitious science goals with limited budgets.

The decadal survey, released in September, identified 11 key science questions in three themes: adapting to space, living and traveling to space, and probing phenomena hidden by gravity or terrestrial limitations. It also identified two specific major research campaigns for NASA to undertake in those research areas.

In a recent interview, Lisa Carnell, director of NASA’s biological and physical sciences (BPS) division, said the agency is working to analyze and respond to the recommendations in the decadal survey. That includes an ongoing “roadmapping” approach to link programs to key science questions.

#WASHINGTON — #NASA has approved for development a mission to Saturn’s moon Titan despite a cost that has doubled since the agency selected the mission nearly five years ago.

#NASA announced April 16 that the Dragonfly mission had passed its confirmation review. Passing the review allows #Dragonfly, a nuclear-powered rotorcraft that will travel to various locations on Titan to study the moon’s habitability, to move into full-scale development.

The mission went through part of its confirmation review last fall, but the agency said in November that it would defer a final decision on the mission until the spring, after the release of the fiscal year 2025 budget proposal. NASA also announced then that the launch of the mission, previously scheduled for July 2027, had slipped a year to July 2028

#HELSINKI — #China launched its second Yaogan-42 reconnaissance satellite over the weekend, weeks after sending the first such satellite into a similar orbit.

A Long March 2D rocket lifted off from Xichang Satellite Launch Center at 7:45 p.m. Eastern (2334 UTC) April 20. The China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC) announced launch success within the hour.

CASC’s statement revealed the previously undisclosed payload to be the second batch of Yaogan-42 satellites. Yaogan translates to “remote sensing”.

Neither #CASC nor Chinese state media provided any details regarding the satellites. These statements omitted usual general descriptions of Yaogan satellites

#COLORADO SPRINGS — Aside from the usual closing festivities, one final-day highlight of the 39th Space Symposium was a heated debate of sci-fi fandoms.

Moderated by SpaceNews Senior Staff Writer Jeff Foust, the April 11 debate saw Team Star Trek, represented by Redwire Chief Growth Officer Mike Gold and NASA Chief Technologist A.C. Charania, go head-to-head with Team Star Wars, consisting of Jessica Noble, general counsel at iSpace Technologies U.S. and Camille Bergin, better known as The Galactic Gal.

In a contentious decision, former NASA administrator and debate judge Jim Bridenstine awarded the victory to Team Star Wars, despite the audience demonstrating an audible preference for Team Star Trek (well, except for that Leonard Nimoy vs Harrison Ford applause poll).

#WASHINGTON — A surge in demand for small satellites to support national security space programs is exposing weaknesses in the U.S. space industrial base, leading to supply chain issues as the military prioritizes rapid deployment of constellations.

In the latest sign of the strain, defense contractor #L3Harris Technologies has sued one of its suppliers, the #aerospace firm Moog Inc., in federal court, alleging Moog failed to timely deliver critical satellite components and that parts it did provide were defective.

The lawsuit, filed in late March in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida, is the latest flashpoint in the space industry’s struggle to adapt to the military’s shift toward smaller, more affordable satellites, led by the Space Development Agency