3 October 2025
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Latest News
  • [ 24 September 2025 ] Nova outburst in Centaurus News
  • [ 12 September 2025 ] Astronomy Now relaunches digital platform News
  • [ 8 September 2025 ] Potentially habitable planet TRAPPIST-1e displays tentative evidence for an atmosphere News
  • [ 18 August 2025 ] Ten-Year Lease Extension Confirmed at Herstmonceux Observatory News
  • [ 10 August 2025 ] Venus and Jupiter’s bright morning conjunction News
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China

News

China launches robotic mission to orbit, land, and drive on Mars

23 July 2020 Stephen Clark

A heavy-lift Long March 5 rocket propelled China’s first Mars landing mission toward the Red Planet on Thursday after launching from a seaside spaceport on Hainan Island, the second of three international Mars probes expected to depart planet Earth this month.

News

NASA orbiter spots Chinese lander on the Moon

21 February 2019 Stephen Clark

NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter has spotted China’s Chang’e 4 lander and rover on the far side of the Moon in new images, as the Chinese robots explore the floor of Von Kármán crater.

News

Chinese astronomy satellite placed into orbit by Long March rocket

16 June 2017 Stephen Clark

China’s first X-ray astronomy satellite launched Thursday on a mission to survey the Milky Way galaxy for black holes and pulsars, the remnants left behind after a star burns up its nuclear fuel.

News

China sets November launch for lunar sample return mission

25 January 2017 Stephen Clark

China plans to launch a robotic mission to return samples from the lunar surface, the first such mission in four decades, in November on top of the country’s new heavy-lift Long March 5 rocket, according to state media reports.

News

Australian technology runs world’s largest single-dish radio telescope in China

26 September 2016 Astronomy Now

The world’s largest filled single-dish radio telescope launched at the weekend, and it relies on a piece of West Australian innovation. The 500-metre-wide telescope — known as FAST — uses a data system developed at the International Centre for Radio Astronomy in Perth and the European Southern Observatory to manage the huge amounts of data it generates.

News

China aims for landing on Moon’s far side by 2020

22 September 2015 Stephen Clark

A rover and landing platform developed as a backup for China’s Chang’e 3 Moon mission will be repurposed to attempt the first touchdown on the lunar far side by the end of the decade, Chinese officials said.

News

Chinese probe launched on round-trip flight to the Moon

24 October 2014 Stephen Clark

China launched a demonstrator probe Thursday on a round-trip flight around the Moon to test out a heat shield and landing capsule planned for use on a lunar sample return mission in 2017.

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News Headlines

  • Nova outburst in Centaurus
    24 September 2025
  • Astronomy Now relaunches digital platform
    12 September 2025
  • Potentially habitable planet TRAPPIST-1e displays tentative evidence for an atmosphere
    8 September 2025
  • Ten-Year Lease Extension Confirmed at Herstmonceux Observatory
    18 August 2025
  • Graphic showing the close conjunction of Jupiter and Venus with other stars and contellations marked on a dark sky, above a horizon with trees in silhouette.
    Venus and Jupiter’s bright morning conjunction
    10 August 2025
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