China
2012 – China Space Stations
China has a long-term and active project to develop a permanently crewed space station in LEO. The first phase of that project started in 2011 with the launch of an experimental space laboratory named Tiangong-1. The spacecraft, which is 10.4 meters (34.1 feet) long and weighs 8,500 kilograms (18,700 pounds), has 15 cubic meters (530 cubic feet) of habitable volume and is equipped with sleeping stations and exercise gear for visiting crews.
2012 – Galileo
Europe also has made strides in developing its PNT system, Galileo. A joint initiative between the European Commission (EC) and ESA, the Galileo constellation will consist of ## operational satellites and ## in-orbit spares flying in MEO. The initial Galileo constellation is expected to be in place between 2014 and 2016. In October 2012, Europe launched the ## and ## Galileo in-orbit validation (IOV) satellites, joining ## more IOV satellites that were deployed one year earlier. Once activated, this ##-satellite validation fleet, built by Astrium, will demonstrate Galileo’s ability to provide highly precise, three-dimensional positioning.
2012 – BeiDou
Since 2000, China has been building its own PNT system, known as BeiDou. In December 2011, the Chinese government announced that its initial services—location data and SMS messaging—commenced for users within China. The two-way nature of this system allows the Chinese government to track the position of terrestrial BeiDou users, enabling applications such as asset tracking. Basic services to surrounding regions in Asia were scheduled to commence in 2012.
2012 – Bigelow Space Stations
In addition to the ISS and Chinese efforts, there are other plans, of varying degrees of maturity, for other space stations. Bigelow Aerospace has been developing inflatable module technology that can be used for commercial space stations. Two prototype spacecraft, Genesis I and II, were launched in 2006 and 2007, respectively, to demonstrate the technology.
2012 – China Launch, Payload
In 2012, China continued to outpace the United States in number of orbital launches, making ## orbital launch attempts in 2012, all of which were successful. This makes 2012 the second consecutive year in which China has surpassed the United States as the world’s second-most active launch operator, due primarily to China’s accelerating progress in deploying new scientific and communications satellites, and continued steady deployment of its Beidou satellite navigation constellation.
2012 – Orbital Launch Reports and Forecasts
Global launch activity in 2012 was similar to activity during the previous five years in both the total number and the balance between commercial and non-commercial payloads. Throughout 2012, there were ## orbital launch attempts, all but ## of which were fully or partially successful.
2012 – China Launch, Human
In 2003, China became the third nation capable of human spaceflight, with the launch of the Shenzhou 5 mission. Since then, it has flown three additional missions, each one advancing Chinese spaceflight capabilities. So far, all Chinese crewed missions have used the Shenzhou spacecraft, which resembles a larger Russian Soyuz, although the Chinese space program has described the similarity as mostly cosmetic. The Shenzhou spacecraft have entered mass production, moving beyond the status of one-off experimental machines, after the design of Shenzhou 8 was finalized.