With launch numbers 63 and 64 just before the end of this year, China finishes its most successful spaceflight year yet. Another Gaofen-11 launched from Taiyuan on a Chang Zheng 4B on Dec. 27 at 07:37 UTC, before the year was closed with the Shiyan 10-02 payload aboard a Chang Zheng 3B on Dec. 29 at 04:43 UTC, launching from the very busy Xichang Satellite Launch Center. The Gaofen launch especially is an exemplar of their past year in spaceflight. Remote sensing satellites were a common sight on Chinese rockets in 2022, but it was also a year of commercial launches and significant expansions of the Tiangong Space Station. The last Chinese launch of the year. (Credit: CNSA) The Tiangong Space Station was the central focus of the Chinese space program in 2022. In July 2022, the Wentian module launched successfully to the station and docked just 13 hours later. And only a few months later, on Halloween, the Mengtian module did the same and concluded the phase one assembly of the Tiangong Station. See AlsoChinese Launchers SectionNSF StoreL2 Historical SectionClick here to Join L2 This year also marked the beginning of constant habitation of the station, as China will…
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China to launch new station modules and collaborate with Europe on science missions in 2023
