Chinese Space Program

According to the China Manned Space Engineering Office, the selection process for the first batch of foreign astronauts in China's manned space program concluded in late April 2026. Two Pakistani candidates, Muhanmad Zeeshan Ali and Khurram Daud, were ultimately selected. Recently, they will come to China as reserve astronauts for training. After completing all the training and passing the assessment, one of them will participate in the flight mission as a payload specialist, becoming the first foreign astronaut to enter the Chinese space station.
 
The CZ-10B rocket is a two-stage tandem configuration, based on the reusable first stage of the CZ-10A rocket. The second stage uses a 5-meter diameter liquid oxygen-methane module and is equipped with a 5.2-meter diameter fairing. It adopts a "three-horizontal" launch and test mode, with the first stage recovered via a sea-based net system. Its LEO payload capacity is no less than 16 tons (in the first-stage recovery state), comparable to the Falcon 9 rocket. Its maiden flight is planned for the first half of 2026, with flight of a reused booster scheduled for November.
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The China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology (CALT) has developed a 5-meter-diameter composite material power module (engine bay-thrust structure).

On April 11, the first 5-meter-diameter composite material power module developed by CALT officially rolled off the production line. This power module is the largest integral composite material module for reusable launch vehicles in China's aerospace field, marking a breakthrough in CALT's manufacturing technology innovation and providing strong support for the smooth progress of major national engineering projects.

Wang Guohui, Secretary of the Party Committee of CALT, along with the chief designers of the project, relevant departments of CALT, and personnel from affiliated units, witnessed the successful completion of the product.

At the production workshop, Wang Guohui fully affirmed the hard work and achievements of the research and development team. He pointed out that the team's work plays a vital supporting role in promoting the high-quality development of China's aerospace industry, and their dedication is worthwhile. He expressed his expectation for the success of subsequent flight missions. He emphasized the need to build on previous work, stay focused on the goals, accelerate the progress of subsequent missions, push the technology to a new level, and continuously take effective measures to steadily achieve large-scale production.

The power module uses composite materials for over 60% of its structure. The wall panels are capable of withstanding a Thousand-ton Axial Compression Load on a lightweight structure and have adaptive adjustment interfaces.

The research and development team adopted a highly parallel and collaborative approach in the development of the power compartment structure, overcoming challenges such as high-precision and high-quality manufacturing of the new large-size composite material overall structure and complex technical status management under a highly parallel and collaborative mode. The first product was completed from scheme design to product delivery in 7 months.
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