Background from SpaceNews, February 23:
The coming Chinese megaconstellation revolution
China’s response to Starlink and OneWeb first became apparent in 2020 in filings for just under 13,000 satellites with the International Telecommunication Union in Geneva. Beijng followed up by designating “satellite internet” a national “new infrastructure” project and establishing the high-level, state-owned China Satellite Network Group in 2021 to oversee the constellation project known as “Guowang.”
News regarding the progress of Guowang has been limited since then. The group signed an agreement with the government of Shanghai to foster the development of commercial space activities and set up two companies in the city of Chongqing as part of the project.
Guowang supersedes two earlier and much smaller LEO communications constellations named Hongyan and Hongyun, planned by China’s main space contractor CASC and its sister defense giant CASIC respectively. It also meant there was no room for similar plans proposed by Chinese commercial space companies.
However, the indications are that China’s emerging commercial space firms will have a large role in the project, both in manufacturing satellites and launching them to orbit....
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And December 6:
China launches internet technology test satellite from sea barge
China launched a new internet technology experiment satellite from a sea platform Tuesday, apparently continuing tests for a low Earth orbit megaconstellation.
The Jielong-3 (Smart Dragon-3) solid rocket lifted off from a mobile sea platform from waters off the coast of Yangjiang, Guangdong province, at 2:24 p.m. Eastern (1924 UTC) Dec. 5. Launch success was declared around two hours after liftoff.
The launch confirmed new solid launch capabilities and longer-range sea launches, providing greater redundancy and flexibility for China’s access to space.
The internet test satellite was tracked by U.S. Space Force space domain awareness in a 904 x 922-kilometer altitude orbit inclined by 86 degrees. Details of the payload have not been disclosed.
It is the third Chinese launch this year which has been carrying satellites described as testing satellite internet technologies. The previous missions were a Long March 2D launch from Xichang in November and a launch from Jiuquan in July....
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Sort of the reverse SpaceX, launching from the barge rather than landing on it.
Landing is hard, it took a while for SpaceX to get the hang of it:
Finally, from Space.com, December 6:
The third flight of SpaceX's giant Starship vehicle may be considerably more ambitious and complex than the first two.
The coming mission could involve a refueling test, according to a recent presentation by Lakiesha Hawkins, deputy associate administrator for NASA's Moon to Mars program office.
Hawkins spoke on Monday (Dec. 4) about the agency's infrastructure and technology programs with a committee of the U.S. National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine. One of her slides noted that SpaceX recently launched the second-ever Starship mission and stated that the company is "moving quickly" toward the third, "which will include a propellant transfer demonstration."
Hawkins did not read those words aloud or discuss the planned refueling trial during the meeting, however, and NASA has since walked the statement back a bit: An agency spokesperson told CNBC that "no final decisions on timing have been made." (You can see Hawkins' presentation here; the highlighted slide appears at the 120-minute mark.)....
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Elon vs China, sort of reminiscent of Malcolm Forbes vs. the Soviet Union in egg collecting:
