Published on: 2026-04-18
Source: People’s Republic of China in Russian –
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Beijing, April 18 /Xinhua/ — In 2026, China will conduct intensive space missions, including the approach of “Tianwen-2” to a target asteroid and its observation, the China National Space Administration (CNSA) announced on Friday.
China will also carry out pilot space missions, including “Shenzhou-23”, conduct flight tests of reusable rockets, and promote the high-quality development of the commercial space sector, reported Deputy Director of the CNSA Department of System Engineering Liu Yunfen at a press conference dedicated to the upcoming China Space Day.
Looking back at the past year, it can be noted that China has taken confident steps in space exploration. In 2025, the country carried out 92 space launches, which is 35 percent more than in 2024, said Liu Yunfeng.
According to his report, the probe “Tianwen-2” was successfully launched and entered a transfer orbit to the asteroid 2016HO3, beginning China’s first mission to study an asteroid and return samples. Meanwhile, the “Tianwen-1” mission continued global and regional studies of Mars, and 3.5 terabytes of scientific data are already becoming publicly available to scientists worldwide.
In the manned space industry, China has successfully completed four launches and two return missions, including the country’s first emergency launch. Preparation for the manned lunar program continues steadily, said Liu Yunfeng.
China has also accelerated the large-scale implementation of the BeiDou satellite navigation system in key industries and the public consumption sector. The successful launch of the “Ziyuan-3-04” satellite has further strengthened China’s capabilities in the field of stereoscopic Earth observation.
The development of the Chinese satellite internet system has accelerated in all directions, and large-scale production lines for the deployment of satellite constellations are rapidly advancing, he said.
100 consecutive successful launches of the “Long March-2D” carrier rockets were carried out, making this type of carrier rocket the second to reach the milestone of 100 launches. At the same time, the reusable carrier rockets “ZQ-3” and “Long March-12A” successfully completed their first test flights.
Lü Yunfen also spoke about events that will take place in the city of Chengdu, the administrative center of Sichuan province / Southwest China, in honor of China’s Cosmonautics Day, celebrated annually on April 24. Planned are opening ceremonies, exhibitions, cultural forums, and others.
This year, the Chinese Space Conference will be held from April 23 to 25 and will include the main forum and more than 20 academic sessions. From April 24 to May 5, a scientific and popular exhibition will take place in Chengdu, showcasing achievements in the fields of space technologies, space science, applications of space technology, and the commercial aerospace industry.
Since 2016, April 24 in China has been celebrated as Cosmonautics Day, commemorating the launch of its first satellite “Dongfanghong-1” into space on April 24, 1970. -0-
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