Starting in 2011, China will be among the elite few nations who can lay claim to haivng their own operational space stations. Named the Tiangong-1 (天宫-1) module, it will be China’s first foray into functional space stations. more ›

In exciting news for us girls, China is allegedly planning to send their first women astronauts into space next year. The China Manned Space Engineering Office has said it will fly two more spacecraft out past the stratosphere next year to improve rendevous and docking technologies, and one of those pilots may be a woman. Both women astronauts currently in China's space program used to be pilots from the People's Liberation Army Air Force. There's a "women holding up half the sky" joke in here somewhere, but I'll leave it to someone else to make it. more ›

How disappointing! To be honest, one of the pavilions I was looking forward to before the Expo opened was the Space Pavilion. Sure, the description on the Expo website was a little vague - I had no idea what "The Origin of Dreams" was supposed to convey - but there was going to be a "Spacewalk" they promised. I figured, with the many strides the space industry has made in China over the past few years, they'd have something pretty awesome to show. Unfortunately, the two pieces of news I've seen about the pavilion have managed to dash my hopes. more ›

Uh oh. It seems that an Indonesian communications satellite launched yesterday from the Xichang launch site in Sichuan province didn't quite make it to its predestined orbit. While the launch made it into space, it failed to ignite in its third stage, and is now floating somewhere where it shouldn't be - a pretty bad deal for a communications satellite. China has been trying to build up its space program, but keeps suffering from setbacks: another satellite, launched in 2007, failed earlier this year after just 18 months in orbit. It would probably be good for the country to learn how to properly launch things - If we know anything about deadlines in China, then their plan to have a moon landing in 2012 means a moon landing in 2012, by hook or crook. We can't help but chew our nails nervously, and be grateful that we're not Chinese astronauts. more ›

• Chinese sex toy market explodes [Sydney Morning Herald] "VIDEO: Chinese sex toy manufacturer, Sweet Secret, trains sales staff ahead of the opening of its first Beijing store."
• More Chinese Astronauts Prefer Volvos [Wired] "Four pioneers in Chinese space exploration have made it their mission to purchase Volvo S80L sedans. That’s one small step for man, one giant sedan for the garage. After returning safely from the Shenzhou 7 space mission, taikonauts Yang Liwei, Zhai Zhigang, Liu Boming and Jing Haipeng purchased matching luxury cars. According to Volvo Cars China, the quartet decided on the Chinese-exclusive S80L for three reasons: the car is safe, built locally, and the “brand image expresses premiumness and is not ostentatious.”"
• Don't Mess With China's Kids [Forbes] "Given China's habit of punishing individuals who protest against the government, it takes a lot of courage-or rage-for comrades to come forward. What gets Chinese people out in the streets demonstrating every time? Forcing parents to abide by a one-child policy, and then letting someone kill the one child to save a buck."

China has begun the preliminary stages for selecting its first female astronauts and will formally announce the selection plan by the end of the year, according to China Daily. more ›