Mission Reports

China launched two test payloads Tuesday for a planned constellation of internet satellites, a step that could lead to launches of thousands more Chinese spacecraft to match similar commercial networks already being deployed by SpaceX and OneWeb.

Chinese astronauts Nie Haisheng and Liu Boming accomplished a nearly six-hour spacewalk Friday outside the core module of the country’s new space station, installing a coolant pump and lifting a panoramic camera on the exterior of the complex.

China launched a Long March 4B rocket Wednesday carrying two Tianhui radar mapping satellites into orbit more than 300 miles in altitude.

The launch of a miniature trailblazer probe for NASA’s planned Gateway lunar space station has been moved from Rocket Lab’s new launch pad in Virginia to the company’s spaceport in New Zealand, officials recently announced.

Airbus’s Pléiades Neo 4 Earth observation satellite, three tech demo CubeSats sponsored by the European Space Agency, and a commercial nanosatellite owned by a French startup company launched at 9:47 p.m. EDT Monday (0147 GMT Tuesday) aboard a Vega rocket from French Guiana.