China is set to launch its second Tianwen deep space exploration mission late May, targeting both a near Earth asteroid and a main belt comet.

The Tianwen-2 spacecraft is now being integrated with a Long March 3B rocket at the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in southwest China, the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC) announced May 18, stating launch is scheduled for the end of May.

Airspace closure notices indicate a four-hour-long launch window opening at 12:00 p.m. Eastern (1600-2000 UTC) May 28. Backup launch windows are scheduled for May 29 and 30.

Tianwen-2’s first goal is to collect samples from near-Earth asteroid 469219 Kamoʻoalewa (2016 HO3) and deliver these to Earth around late 2027. A reentry module containing the samples will be released for atmospheric entry, descent and landing, but the main Tianwen-2 spacecraft will use the Earth’s gravity for a swingby, setting it on course for a six-year-voyage to comet 311P/PANSTARRS.

India’s PSLV-C61 mission, intended to deploy the advanced EOS-09 Earth observation satellite, failed minutes after launch Sunday morning due to a suspected flex nozzle malfunction in its third-stage propulsion system, according to initial analysis.

Isro Chairman V Narayanan confirmed the anomaly, stating, “First two stages performed as expected. In the third stage, we observed less chamber pressure. The mission could not be accomplished”.

The third-stage PS3 motor uses a flexible bearing nozzle system to steer the vehicle during its 114-second burn.

Flex nozzles, made of layered elastomeric materials, allow precise thrust vector control without complex hydraulic actuators.

| Scheduled for (UTC) | 2025-05-19, 07:35 | |

|

| | Scheduled for (local) | 2025-05-19, 15:35 (CST) | | Launch provider | Galactic Energy | | Launch vehicle | Ceres-1S | | Launch site | Oriental Spaceport Launch Ship (Area 1), China Coastal Waters | | Payloads | Tianqi-16, 17, 18, and 20 |

Webcasts:

• International Rocket Launches: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=61XEkZWxwEU

Stats:

☑️ 4th Ceres 1S mission this year, 20th overall

Sourced from NextSpaceflight

Until recently, China's entries in the realm of spaceflight patches often lacked the originality found in patches from the West. For example, a series of patches for China's human spaceflight missions used a formulaic design with a circular shape and a mix of red and blue. The patch for China's most recent Shenzhou crew to the country's Tiangong space station last month finally broke the mold with a triangular shape after China's human spaceflight agency put the patch up for a public vote.

But there's a fascinating set of new patches Chinese officials released for a series of launches with top secret satellites over the last two months. These four patches depict Buddhist gods with a sense of artistry and sharp colors that stand apart from China's previous spaceflight emblems, and perhaps—or perhaps not—they can tell us something about the nature of the missions they represent.

Mission info

| Scheduled for (UTC) | 2025-05-18, 00:29 | |

|

| | Scheduled for (local) | 2025-05-19, 05:59 (IST) | | Launch site | First Launch Pad, Satish Dhawan Space Centre, India | | Launch Vehicle | PSLV-XL | | Payloads | EOS-09 (RISAT-1B) | | Payload mass | 1,696.0 kg | | Mission success criteria | Sun-Synchronous Orbit |

Webcasts

| Stream | Link | |

|

| | ISRO | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y63x4kjvAc0 | Space Affairs | none | The Launch Pad | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s3_oy1jK96Y | The Space Devs |

Stats

Sourced from NextSpaceflight:

☑️ 1st PSLV mission this year, 63rd overall

☑️ 2nd ISRO mission this year, 98th overall

Mission details

• ISRO mission page
• NextSpaceflight mission page

EOS-09 (RISAT-1B)

EOS-09, also named RISAT (Radar Imaging Satellite)-1B, is a series of Indian radar imaging reconnaissance satellites built by ISRO. They provide all-weather surveillance using synthetic aperture radars (SAR).

The team had to revive a thruster used for roll control whose heaters had failed in 2004. The tubes of the backup thrusters currently in use are getting clogged and may fail this year.

The delicate operation required turning on the failed thruster and flipping a switch to enable its heater and 🤞

All very tricky and risky operations, performed from 23 light-hours away on 1970’s era hardware.

Via @[email protected]

Original post on mastodon

So what is your opinion on the European companies? Which ones do you think will thrive and why?

It might be a bit early but I've been going over the companies and I cannot form a solid opinion.

AST SpaceMobile plans to launch satellites for its direct-to-smartphone broadband constellation every one to two months starting in July, aiming to begin beta services for AT&T and Verizon in the United States before the end of the year.

Five launches across multiple providers have been contracted over the next six to nine months, the Texas-based venture announced May 12 during earnings results.

India’s GSLV rocket is slated to carry AST SpaceMobile’s first Block 2 BlueBird satellite, which the operator said is scheduled to ship from its Texas facility in June.

Avellan said in November that two Falcon 9 launches would likely follow the initial Indian launch, with later missions using Blue Origin’s New Glenn rockets, whose larger fairings can accommodate up to eight Block 2 satellites per flight.