Edition:
Advertisement
avatar image
TOPIC

Space

Related Topics:
NASA
Space
The latest news, analysis and opinion on Space. In-depth analysis, industry insights and expert opinion.
LATEST China Science NEWS

Did China’s first emperor launch westwards mission to find ‘elixir of life’?

Qin Shi Huang, the first emperor of China, who unified the various warring states into a single empire. Photo: Wikipedia

US students discover Unit 731 horrors, and an American war crime cover-up

18
Visitors look at depiction of human experiments at the Unit 731 museum in Harbin, in northeast China’s Heilongjiang province. The facility was built to conduct research into germ warfare, weapons capabilities and the limits of the human body, rather than for mass extermination. Photo: AFP

Study shows how robots replaced master workers in Chinese military drone factory

7
The robot arm during testing by a research team from the China Academy of Space Technology. Credit: CAST

Chinese teen’s suicide puts crushing academic pressure in the spotlight

videocam
26
Excessive schoolwork and academic pressure are said to be factors in the rising number of youth suicides in China. Photo: Shutterstock

China starts mass production of world’s first non-binary AI chip

videocam
47
The breakthrough overcomes fundamental barriers in traditional computing by merging binary and probability-based logic while sidestepping US chip restrictions. Photo: Shutterstock
MORE China Science NEWS
“Encounters in the Milky Way” is a planetarium show at the American Museum of Natural History in New York. While setting it up, experts noticed something that has changed astronomers’ thinking about an area of outer space. Photo: Instagram/amnh
United States

Planetarium’s discovery about outer solar system shocks astronomers

‘Freak accident’ finding has changed thinking on shape of the Oort Cloud, a theoretical area of deep space believed to be a source of comets.

SpaceX

Trump-Musk clash threatens to ground US space ambitions

videocam
Japan

Japan firm apologises after moon landing mission fails again

videocam
12
Science

Milky Way’s cosmic collision: is it less likely than we thought?

A new study suggests our galaxy’s long-predicted merger with Andromeda is now essentially a coin flip.

An illustration shows a stage in the potential merger between the Milky Way and Andromeda galaxy, as viewed in Earth’s night sky in 3.75 billion years. Photo: Nasa/ESA via Reuters
Donald Trump

Trump to replace his nominee for Nasa head

Original pick Jared Isaacman, a billionaire with ties to Elon Musk’s SpaceX, was only days away from his planned Senate confirmation vote.

videocam
Science

China doubles down on building cutting-edge telescopes in Thailand

13-metre Chiang Mai radio antenna and another being built in southern Thailand expected to aid GPS, climate research and quake forecasting.

videocam
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
SpaceX

Musk sets ambitious 2026 goal for uncrewed Starship Mars voyage

Optimal planetary alignment drives aggressive timeline for SpaceX mission.

Reaching Mars hinges on whether Starship can accomplish a number of challenging technical feats. File photo: Nasa via Reuters
Science

Hunt for elusive ‘Planet Nine’ at edge of solar system offers surprise

Discovery of a possible dwarf planet suggests our cosmic backyard holds many more secrets to uncover.

Science

China plans to arm Tiangong space station with self-defence bots: scientist

Sun Zhibin says robotic thruster could latch onto unidentified object approaching critical Chinese space infrastructure and push it away.

videocam
16
Science

China’s Tianwen-2 lifts off on mission to bring asteroid samples back to Earth

Plan is for spacecraft to first visit 2016 HO3, which could be a fragment of the moon, then start a seven-year journey to comet 311P.

videocam
6
China’s Tianwen-2 probe, atop a Long March-3B carrier rocket, lifts off from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in southwest China’s Sichuan Province, on Thursday. China launched its first asteroid sample-return mission, an endeavour to shed light on the formation and evolution of asteroids and the early solar system. Photo: Xinhua
United States

SpaceX Starship tumbles out of control, breaks apart in latest test setback

SpaceX confirmed spacecraft experienced ‘a rapid unscheduled disassembly’ in ninth test launch.

22
SpaceX’s next-generation Starship spacecraft atop its Super Heavy booster. Photo: Reuters
Music

Strauss’ Blue Danube heading to space for composer’s birthday

European Space Agency will beam the waltz into deep space to mark 200 years since composer’s birth, after it was passed over by Nasa in 1977.

videocam
Style Edit

Style Edit: Omega’s space legacy continues, from Nasa’s Gemini missions to today

In 1965, it became Nasa’s official chronograph for astronauts on manned space missions, thereby launching a legacy now reimagined in a retro-futuristic design that blends heritage and modern mechanics.

Artificial intelligence

Chinese scientist behind supercomputer in orbit: ‘Put AI in space’

Space has once again become the frontier of scientific exploration, and AI should be part of it, says Zhejiang Lab director Wang Jian.

4
A Long March 2D rocket carrying a space computing satellite constellation blasts off from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre in northwest China on May 14. Photo: Xinhua
Science

Nasa’s Mars Perseverance snaps a selfie as a Martian dust devil blows by

The composite of 59 images taken by the rover’s robot arm camera took an hour to capture.

videocam
Perseverance takes a selfie on Mars on May 10. Image: Nasa via AP
US-China relations

For China, Golden Dome shows US is ‘obsessed with absolute security’

Foreign ministry says missile defence system ‘violates the principle of peaceful use of outer space’ and risks turning it into battlefield.

videocam
12
Donald Trump

Trump picks ‘Golden Dome’ missile shield to counter China, Russia

US Space Force general will lead the ambitious missile shield programme involving a network of satellites.

videocam
17
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Science

China makes first 5G satellite-to-phone video call. Will it defy TikTok curbs?

Breakthrough enabling streaming video content directly to phones via satellites would face significant regulatory, technology hurdles, experts say.

videocam
20
The technology that allowed a satellite-to-smartphone broadband video call using 5G standards could theoretically enable streaming video content directly to phones via satellites, but it faces significant hurdles. Photo: Shutterstock
Tourism

How much is a trip to space? Virgin Galactic eyes price rise for 2026

Virgin Galactic had been selling seats on its forthcoming Delta spacecraft at about US$600,000 a seat. In 2026, it plans to charge more.

US-China relations

Will satellite dogfights be the final frontier for US-China space rivalry?

Analysts warn of more intense space race as rival powers grappling with low trust and transparency seek both superiority and deterrence.

videocam
9
Science

China launches satellites to build the world’s first supercomputer in orbit

Once complete, the space-based Three-Body Computing Constellation will support real-time, in-orbit data processing.

videocam
40
A Long March-2D carrier rocket with a space computing satellite constellation to form part of the Three-Body constellation blasts off from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre on May 14. Photo: Xinhua
Science

China eyes 300-satellite constellation for ultra-high-resolution surveillance

Chutian project aims to establish 300-satellite network offering continuous global coverage with a range of imaging types.

videocam
6
China’s Chutian-001 experimental satellite has been tested in very low Earth orbit for around a year. Photo: Handout
Science

China-led study finds sign of liquid water in Mars

Scientists using data from Nasa’s InSight lander find mysterious zone they say is best explained by a layer of water-saturated rock.

videocam
Good Schools Guide

Junior astronaut training programmes are sparking interest in space

Hong Kong children have a number of ways they can get involved with international space programmes, which offer them hands-on experiences.

Russia

Soviet-era spacecraft plunges to Earth after 53 years stuck in orbit

The Kosmos 482, sent on a failed mission to Venus, is thought to have come down over the Indian Ocean, though the exact location is unknown.

Experts say some or all of the spacecraft might have survived the descent from orbit, given that Kosmos 482 was built to withstand a landing on Venus, the solar system’s hottest planet. Photo: Shutterstock
US-China relations

China and Russia accuse US of raising nuclear war risk, vow to respond jointly

Statement decries US initiatives including expansion of security alliances, development of ‘Golden Dome’ and sharing of nuclear technology.

videocam
25
Russian Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping at the Kremlin on Thursday, celebrating the 80th anniversary of the defeat of Germany in World War II. Photo: RIA Novosti via AP
Science

China uses powerful radar to search for ice that can make or break moon race

Team used Sanya incoherent scatter radar and FAST telescope for ground-based radar imaging experiment focused on the lunar south pole.

videocam
United States

Elon Musk’s Starbase takes off as SpaceX city wins vote to rename Boca Chica

Virtually all of the inhabitants of the Texas beachfront town are Musk’s SpaceX employees or their family members.

Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Help preserve 120 years of quality journalism.
SUPPORT NOW
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement