An uncrewed spacecraft landed in China’s Inner Mongolia region Monday after nearly 13 days in orbit carrying an array of microgravity research experiments, including a groundbreaking investigation that showed mammal embryos can develop in space, Chinese state media reported.
The unpiloted Shijian 10 spacecraft launched from a spaceport in northwestern China on Tuesday with a suite of microgravity research experiments developed by Chinese, European and Japanese scientists.
A new addition to China’s Beidou navigation network launched Monday on top of a Long March 3C rocket, which injected the satellite into an orbit more than 13,000 miles above Earth several hours later.
Cape Canaveral was the departure point for more space launches in 2015 than in any year since 2003, with 17 takeoffs by Atlas, Falcon and Delta rockets hoisting U.S. military satellites, commercial payloads and cargo for the International Space Station.
China launched a high-altitude satellite Monday fitted with a powerful telescope to collect nearly continuous imagery of the Asia-Pacific from geostationary orbit, an apparently unique capability that could help track foreign naval activity, according to Chinese news reports.
China launched the first in a series of planned space science probes Thursday, putting a satellite into orbit to study high-energy cosmic rays for signals that could hint at hypothesized clumps of dark matter that have eluded detection for decades.
A Long March 3B rocket driven by four strap-on boosters blasted off Wednesday from the Xichang space base in southwestern China, delivering a communications payload to orbit a half-hour later to likely begin service for the Chinese military.