Spire Global secures major EUMETSAT contract for satellite weather data
Thursday, 14 December 2023 10:11![](/plugins/content/jlexcomment/assets/icon.png)
![](https://www.spxdaily.com/images-bg/eumetsat-metop-sg-spacecraft-marker-bg.jpg)
Northrop Grumman tests enhanced GMD system in missile defense demonstration
Thursday, 14 December 2023 10:11![](/plugins/content/jlexcomment/assets/icon.png)
![](https://www.spxdaily.com/images-bg/abm-interceptor-test-silo-ground-based-midcourse-defense-gmd-system-bg.jpg)
Hydrosat Secures Contract with NRO for Thermal Imagery Evaluation
Thursday, 14 December 2023 10:11![](/plugins/content/jlexcomment/assets/icon.png)
![](https://www.spxdaily.com/images-bg/hydrosat-logo-bg.jpg)
EUCOM, AFRICOM, Space Force activate new service component command
Thursday, 14 December 2023 10:11![](/plugins/content/jlexcomment/assets/icon.png)
![](https://www.spxdaily.com/images-bg/us-space-force-guardians-eucom-africom-command-activate-bg.jpg)
China's space program: Five things to know
Thursday, 14 December 2023 08:40![](/plugins/content/jlexcomment/assets/icon.png)
![Chang'e-3, which carried a robotic rover, was China's first landing on the Moon. Chang'e-3, which carried a robotic rover, was China's first landing on the Moon](https://scx1.b-cdn.net/csz/news/800a/2023/change-3-which-carried.jpg)
When Chang'e-3 became the first Chinese craft to land on the moon 10 years ago, it kicked off nationwide celebrations—and a decade of major successes for a rapidly accelerating space program.
Since the December 14, 2013 landing, China has built a crewed space station, sent a robotic rover to Mars and become the first nation to make a controlled landing on the far side of the moon.
President Xi Jinping has described building China into a space power as "our eternal dream".
Here are five things to know about this space program:
A slow start
Chinese leader Mao Zedong declared his nation's space ambitions soon after the Soviet Union launched the world's first satellite, Sputnik 1, in 1957.
It took 13 years for China to launch its first satellite Dong Fang Hong, or "The East is Red"—named after the famous Communist revolutionary song it broadcast from orbit.
Amazon seeks dismissal of Project Kuiper launch contract lawsuit
Thursday, 14 December 2023 07:51New instruments for Galileo’s tomorrow
Thursday, 14 December 2023 07:05![](/plugins/content/jlexcomment/assets/icon.png)
![Team in charge of G2 new instruments](https://www.esa.int/var/esa/storage/images/esa_multimedia/images/2023/12/g2_test_user_receiver_team/25364485-3-eng-GB/G2_test_user_receiver_team_card_full.jpg)
Galileo Second Generation is on the way with new and enhanced navigation satellites that will offer novel signals, services and even more precise positioning. But all the work being done to make it happen hinges on this single item at ESA’s Navigation Laboratory at ESTEC. The G2 test user receiver is designed to quantify the improvements the Second Generation will bring compared to current satellite navigation systems and will be used to verify the performance of early receivers processing the first G2 signals in space.
Senators question White House mission authorization proposal
Thursday, 14 December 2023 06:56Demonstrating connectivity’s latest technologies
Thursday, 14 December 2023 06:00![](/plugins/content/jlexcomment/assets/icon.png)
![Artistic impression of ALISIO-1 satellite orbiting Earth](https://www.esa.int/var/esa/storage/images/esa_multimedia/images/2023/12/artistic_impression_of_alisio-1_satellite_orbiting_earth/25361201-1-eng-GB/Artistic_impression_of_ALISIO-1_satellite_orbiting_Earth_card_full.jpg)
A satellite has been launched that will demonstrate the latest technologies for connectivity and for Earth observation. The ALISIO-1 satellite was developed under an ESA Pioneer Partnership Project with satellite manufacturer and operator Open Cosmos, based at Harwell in the UK.
NASA will “baby” TEMPO to extend its life
Wednesday, 13 December 2023 22:49WRC-23 reaches tough compromise on satellite power limit review
Wednesday, 13 December 2023 21:10Why the Space Force needs and deserves greater resources
Wednesday, 13 December 2023 20:00Space Force reorganizes command structure to streamline operations
Wednesday, 13 December 2023 17:16Geminids meteor shower peaks this week under dark skies
Wednesday, 13 December 2023 16:36![](/plugins/content/jlexcomment/assets/icon.png)
![The Geminid meteor shower lights up the night sky above Tybee Island, Ga., early Thursday, Dec. 14, 2017. The year’s best meteor shower, the Geminids, peaks this week, with lucky stargazers seeing as many as one or even two a minute in the darkest spots. The meteors will reach their frenzy Thursday, Dec. 14, 2023. Credit: Will Peebles/Savannah Morning News via AP, File Geminids meteor shower peaks this week under dark skies](https://scx1.b-cdn.net/csz/news/800a/2023/geminids-meteor-shower.jpg)