On the 15TH January 2026, 1201 Hours Hong- Kong SAR – Beijing time CNSA –China National Space Administration, China, People’s Republic of China . …. At 12:01 PM Beijing time on January 15, 2026, China successfully launched the Algeria Remote Sensing Satellite-3A into orbit using a Long March-2C carrier rocket from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center. The launch mission was a complete success. This satellite will primarily be used for land planning and disaster prevention and mitigation. This mission marked the 626th flight of the Long March series carrier rockets.
The Algeria Remote Sensing Satellite-3A was developed by the Fifth Academy of China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC).
CASC Great Wall Engineering Co., Ltd., as the general contractor, delivered two optical remote sensing satellites to the Algeria Remote Sensing Satellite System project under the contract signed with the Algerian Space Agency in July 2023, while also providing the ground system and related training and support services.
The Algeria Remote Sensing Satellite System project represents another collaboration between China and Algeria in the aerospace field, following the delivery of the Algeria-1 communications satellite. It is an important manifestation of the comprehensive strategic partnership between China and Algeria and a vivid example of deepening cooperation under the Belt and Road Initiative
On CNSA –China National Space Administration …. ChangZheng Long March 8A flight rocket …. At Hainan Commercial Space Launch Center. Wenchang, Hainan Province, China, People’s Republic of China At 2325 Beijing time…. At 23:25 on January 13, the Long March 8A carrier rocket ignited and lifted off from the Hainan Commercial Space Launch Site, successfully sending 18 low-Earth orbit satellites for satellite internet into their predetermined orbits. The launch mission was a complete success.
Another Success! #Long March 8A Rocket Successfully Launches 18 Low-Earth Orbit Satellites for Satellite Internet…
The 18 low-Earth orbit satellites were developed by the Fifth Academy of China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC). The Long March 8A rocket, developed by the First Academy of CASC, is a two-and-a-half-stage liquid-propellant carrier rocket independently developed by China.
This launch was the 625th launch of the Long March series of carrier rockets.
At 2216 Hours Hong Kong SAR- Beijing Time 13th January 2026 , China- People’s Republic of China- CNSA –China National Space Administration Successfully launched Chang Zheng – Long March 6A yao 27 Carrier Rocket ignited and took off at the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center Shanxi Province..
[A Great Start to 2026! my country, China, People’s Republic of China Successfully Launches Yaogan-50 01 Satellite]
At 22:16 Beijing time on January 13, 2026, my country successfully launched the Yaogan-50 01 satellite into its predetermined orbit using a Long March-6A carrier rocket from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center. The launch mission was a complete success. This satellite will primarily be used for land surveys, crop yield estimation, and disaster prevention and mitigation.
subsequently sending the Yaogan-50 01 satellite into its predetermined orbit. This marked a complete success for the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation’s first space launch mission of 2026, a strong start to the year’s space launches.
Both the rocket and satellite were developed by the Eighth Academy of China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation. The Yaogan-50 01 satellite will be mainly used for land surveys, crop yield estimation, and disaster prevention and mitigation. The Long March 6A rocket is China’s first solid-liquid coupled launch vehicle, with a two-and-a-half-stage configuration, meeting diverse and intensive launch requirements for single and multiple satellites in series, parallel, stacked, wall-mounted, and mounted configurations. It has a payload capacity of no less than 4.5 tons to a 700-kilometer sun-synchronous orbit.
This mission marked the 624th flight of the Long March series of carrier rockets.
Beijing Zhongke Aerospace Exploration Technology Co., Ltd. is the first domestic aerospace enterprise with mixed ownership, and it is also the target enterprise that Oriental Aerospace Port focuses on introducing. Relying on the scientific research strength and resource advantages of the Institute of Mechanics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Aerospace Flight Technology Center of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, China Aerospace Science and Technology has been committed to the research and development and integration of space technology and aerospace vehicles as a platform for the transformation of major national scientific research projects, as well as the transformation and provision of technological achievements. Aerospace launch service. The Lijian-1 rocket project also adds a brand-new name card to the Oriental Space Port, which will surely promote the construction of the Oriental Space Port to take a solid step forward.
Lihong-1 Completes First Suborbital Flight Test
Mission a Complete Success, Recoverable Payload Module Lands Smoothly… At 16:00 on January 12, 2026, the Lihong-1 Y1 spacecraft from CAS Space Technology successfully completed its suborbital flight test mission at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in China. The recoverable payload module successfully landed and was recovered via parachute. The maiden flight carried a microgravity laser additive manufacturing recoverable scientific experimental payload and aerospace radiation-induced mutation rose seeds. This flight test successfully verified the re-entry, atmospheric return, deceleration, and recovery of the recoverable payload module. Simultaneously, it verified the precise landing point control technology for the spacecraft’s sub-stage return, achieving a landing point accuracy of hundreds of meters at a distance of 100 kilometers. This marks the transition of space manufacturing from the “concept verification” stage to the “engineering verification” stage, laying a solid technical foundation for the near future realization of space manufacturing, space experiments, space medicine, and space tourism.
The Lihong-1 (PH-1) maiden flight test spacecraft reached an altitude of approximately 120 kilometers, crossing the Kármán line into space. This spacecraft boasts a series of outstanding advantages, including low launch cost, high flexibility, and support for experimental payload recovery. Primarily designed for applications such as microgravity science experiments and near-space in-situ exploration, it provides scientific experimental payloads with a highly stable, reliable, and versatile experimental environment for over 300 seconds.
This flight test mission primarily verified the high-reliability parachute aerodynamic deceleration technology for the reentry payload capsule and the precise landing point control technology for the spacecraft’s sub-stage return. Specific achievements are as follows:
1. The Lihong-1 reentry payload capsule employed parachute recovery technology. The entire return process involved atmospheric reentry, followed by atmospheric deceleration to subsonic speeds, and then further deceleration using parachutes to ensure the payload capsule’s landing speed met mission requirements. To achieve the high-reliability parachute aerodynamic deceleration technology for the reentry payload capsule, breakthroughs were achieved in high-precision recovery trajectory prediction technology for the parachute deceleration system, refined aerodynamic and dynamic integrated analysis technology for the wide-speed-range parachute system, and reliability modeling and comprehensive performance evaluation technology for the parachute deceleration system. This technology can provide preliminary technical verification for the company’s subsequent Lihong-2 reusable spacecraft’s cluster parachute recovery technology and accumulate valuable experimental data for the reliable deceleration and recovery of manned spacecraft for space tourism. 2. The Lihong-1 flight carried out verification of the precise landing point control technology for the return of the spacecraft’s sub-stage. This technology is one of the core key technologies for achieving vertical return and reusability of rocket sub-stages. Under complex reentry force, thermal environment constraints, and high-dimensional landing terminal constraints, an online real-time trajectory guidance optimization algorithm was used to achieve precise landing point control of the spacecraft’s sub-stage return. The verification results, including the high-precision multi-model real-time trajectory optimization method for strongly nonlinear landing problems, the robust autonomous optimal guidance method for complex disturbances and deviations, and the soft-hard coupling design of the autonomous optimal guidance algorithm and a new high-computing-power onboard guidance computer, can be directly applied to orbital rockets, thus enabling breakthroughs in reusable launch vehicle technology at a lower cost .
[China Releases 2025 Report on Scientific Research and Application Progress of the Chinese Space Station: Stable On-Orbit Operation and Continuous Emerging Application Achievements]
CNSA –China National Space Administration , China, People’s Republic of China On January 8, 2026, the China Manned Space Engineering Office publicly released the 2025 Report on Scientific Research and Application Progress of the Chinese Space Station.
The report aims to comprehensively promote the vigorous development of space science, space technology, and space applications. Focusing on areas such as space life sciences and human research, microgravity physics, and new space technologies and applications, it selects 33 representative scientific research and application achievements from scientific and application projects that have completed on-orbit experiments, obtained downlink scientific experimental samples, and achieved analytical results, showcasing related science popularization and cultural activities. This report addresses the concerns and expectations of all sectors of society regarding the construction and development of the Chinese space station, reflects China’s capabilities and innovative spirit in the field of space technology, and plays a positive role in promoting more in-depth space science experimental research, achieving high-level scientific breakthroughs, large-scale application promotion, and multi-dimensional benefit enhancement.
To ensure the quality of the report, the China Manned Space Engineering Office organized over a hundred experts and scholars from various fields to summarize, analyze, and select the best findings. The published results are comprehensive, involving 22 research institutes and 19 universities (including 6 national key laboratories), as well as 3 hospitals and 1 high-tech enterprise, totaling 45 units and 61 research teams. This reflects the collective wisdom and hard work of experts and scholars across all fields of science and application related to the Chinese space station.
Since entering the space station application and development phase, China’s manned space program has successfully completed 6 manned flights, 4 cargo resupply missions, and 5 spacecraft return missions, including its first emergency launch. Six astronaut crews, totaling 18 personnel, have maintained long-term stays in orbit, conducting 13 extravehicular activities (EVAs) and multiple payload EVAs, carrying out numerous extravehicular maintenance missions, setting a new world record for the longest single EVA, and completing the selection of the fourth batch of reserve astronauts, including payload experts from Hong Kong and Macau, as well as the selection and development of a low-cost cargo transportation system. Currently, the Chinese space station is operating stably in orbit and demonstrating its effectiveness.
The space science, applied experiments, and technological tests being conducted on the Chinese Space Station are progressing smoothly and yielding fruitful results, demonstrating a certain degree of cutting-edge sophistication and innovation. Currently, China has planned four major research areas and 32 research themes: space life and human research, microgravity physics, space astronomy and earth science, and new space technologies and applications. As of December 2025, 267 scientific and applied projects have been deployed and implemented in orbit within the three major areas of space life and human research, microgravity physics, and new space technologies and applications.
In 2025, 86 new scientific and applied projects were added to the in-orbit program, carrying approximately 1179 kg of scientific materials, including experimental modules, units, and samples, uplinked to the atmosphere, and approximately 105 kg of space science experimental samples downlinked to the atmosphere, acquiring over 150 TB of scientific data. Over the past year, several significant advancements have been achieved. The first mouse space science experiment on the Chinese space station was successfully completed; the first international study on the biological environment of the space station under submagnetic and microgravity conditions was conducted; a novel magnesium ion binding mode of bacteriophage adenosine triphosphate hydrolase was discovered in in-orbit experiments; a non-invasive intracranial pressure monitoring technology based on transorbital ultrasound measurement of the subarachnoid space of the optic nerve was proposed for the first time internationally; a series of influential scientific discoveries were made regarding the solidification mechanism of high-temperature refractory alloys; the formation mechanism and influencing factors of different phases in multiphase iron-based magnetostrictive alloys were clarified; and the first international in-orbit test of a space station pipeline inspection robot yielded groundbreaking results.
To maximize the benefits of in-orbit scientific research, scientific teams in various fields have focused on major national needs and cutting-edge technologies, producing a series of original, cutting-edge, and innovative results. Preliminary statistics show that over 230 high-level SCI papers were published in 2025, and more than 70 patents were obtained. Through in-depth experimental research and application exploration, some results have been transferred and applied, significantly promoting the rapid development of space science and its applications in China. Space exploration is a never-ending journey. As a national space laboratory, the Chinese Space Station will continue to carry out a series of space science research projects, actively promote science popularization and international cooperation, gather high-level scientific research forces from home and abroad, and comprehensively support the integrated development of China’s space science, space technology and space applications, making significant contributions to accelerating the construction of a science and technology powerhouse and a space powerhouse.
