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Chinese officials say they are on track to land the country's first astronauts on the moon by 2030. Officials with the China Manned Space Engineering Office provided an update on the country's lunar exploration plans Wednesday, saying that work was proceeding well on major aspects of the architecture for a crewed lunar landing. That approach involves the launch of two Long March 10 rockets, one carrying the Mengzhou crew spacecraft and the other the lunar lander Lanyue. The spacecraft would rendezvous and dock in lunar orbit before Lanyue takes two astronauts down to the lunar surface, where they would perform a six-hour spacewalk before returning. The crewed lunar landing mission is part of China's broader plans to establish the International Lunar Research Station (ILRS), a crewed and robotic base at the south polar region of the moon. The update came ahead of the launch of the next crew to China's space station, scheduled for this morning. [SpaceNews]
China also announced new partners for the ILRS. Nicaragua formally joined the ILRS initiative, the tenth country to do so, in a signing announced as part of the China-Latin America and Caribbean Countries Space Cooperation Forum this week. The China National Space Administration (CNSA) also reached agreements April 24 with the Asia-Pacific Space Cooperation Organization, headquartered in Beijing, and the Arab Union for Astronomy and Space Sciences. CNSA separately announced new participants in the Chang'e-7 mission to the lunar south pole set for 2026, with Egypt, Bahrain, Italy, Russia, Switzerland, Thailand and the International Lunar Observatory Association contributing payloads to that mission. [SpaceNews]
Russia vetoed a United Nations Security Council resolution Wednesday regarding the placement of nuclear weapons in space. The resolution, drafted by Japan and the United States, reiterated existing prohibitions on nuclear weapons in space and called on countries not to develop such weapons. The resolution came after reports in February that Russia was developing a nuclear anti-satellite weapon. Russia cast the only no vote, with China abstaining and the other 13 members supporting the resolution, but Russia, as a permanent member of the Security Council, is able to veto resolutions. The U.S. and Japan sharply criticized Russia for blocking the resolution. [SpaceNews]
The Space Force is still working on plans for creating a commercial reserve of private space capabilities. Gen. Michael Guetlein, vice chief of space operations, said Wednesday that the Space Force is in the midst of figuring out how to establish such a commercial reserve, which will require intricate negotiations with satellite operators to hash out binding agreements. The Space Force first suggested last year creating a "commercial space reserve" modeled on the Civil Reserve Air Fleet, allowing the Space Force to access commercial satellites in the event of a conflict. [SpaceNews]
| | Footprints on the Moon Begin with L3Harris
For six decades, L3Harris has teamed with NASA to develop technology that's been critical to the evolution of human spaceflight. In fact, our technology has been part of every crewed NASA mission: from Project Mercury to Apollo to the Space Shuttle to the International Space Station era and now beyond – as part of NASA's Artemis campaign. L3Harris' contributions to NASA's Artemis missions include propulsion, communications and launch avionics for NASA's Space Launch System rocket, Orion spacecraft and Gateway lunar space station. Learn more. | | Other News
NASA is projecting a late September launch of a Mars smallsat mission on the first flight of Blue Origin's New Glenn rocket. A NASA official said at a meeting Wednesday that the agency was targeting a Sept. 29 launch of ESCAPADE, a pair of smallsats that will orbit Mars, on New Glenn. That launch would be the first for the rocket. Blue Origin conducted pad tests with a "pathfinder" version of the rocket earlier this year but has not announced a specific date for the vehicle's inaugural launch beyond an expectation that it will take place this year. [SpaceNews]
Two Russian cosmonauts will perform a spacewalk outside the International Space Station today. Oleg Kononenko and Nikolai Chub are set to begin the seven-hour spacewalk at 10:55 a.m. Eastern. The two will install hardware and science experiments on the exterior of the station's Russian segment. [NASA]
A spaceport in the Shetland Islands has received another license from U.K. regulators. The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) announced Thursday that it has issued a range license for SaxaVord Spaceport. That license handles airspace and maritime controls needed for launches from the facility. The CAA issued a license for the spaceport itself last December. SaxaVord Spaceport hopes to host its first launch as soon as this summer. [BBC]
China's Tiangong space station could accommodate space tourists. The deputy director of the China Manned Space Agency said Wednesday that his agency would "quickly examine" allowing astronauts from other countries, including commercial spaceflight participants, to visit Tiangong. The agency didn't provide further details, or a potential schedule, about such missions. [Nikkei]
| | Too Creative or Not Creative Enough?
"My name is John Whitehead, and the joke is that I don't have an affiliation because I'm a creative rocket engineer and there aren't any jobs for creative rocket engineers to work on problems for missions to Mars."
– A participant during an open discussion at a meeting of the Mars Exploration Program Analysis Group Wednesday.
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