China places 1st satellite of year into orbit
Launch kicks off what's expected to be busy year ahead for space sector
China Daily has learned that 2025 will also be a busy year for the country's space sector.
The country's second interplanetary expedition, the Tianwen 2 robotic mission, is expected to be launched in summer to embark on a long journey toward an asteroid called 2016 HO3, the smallest and closest quasi-satellite to Earth, to retrieve samples from there and then bring them back to Earth.
Meanwhile, several new types of rockets developed by State-owned and private enterprises are scheduled to perform their maiden flights this year.
CAS Space, a Beijing-based rocket maker owned by the Chinese Academy of Sciences, plans to conduct the first flight of Kinetica 2, its new medium-lift, liquid-fuel rocket model, in September.
LandSpace, a leading private rocket maker in China, said the debut mission of its reusable rocket model ZQ 3 is set to take place this year. Another private industry pacesetter, Space Pioneer, aims to perform the maiden launch of the TL 3 model before the year's end.
