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Aerospace: Companies

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Aerospace: Companies
Track China’s ambitious aerospace advancements, from the home-grown commercial aircraft to space exploration, and their global impact.
last updated:
12 December, 2024
An employee works on a production line of drones. Photo: AFP
China manufacturing

With more than 10,000 ‘little giants’, China beats 2025 goal amid US tech war

China set a goal of cultivating 10,000 so-called ‘little giant’ firms by 2025 amid increasing tech competition with the US.

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China technology

Chinese drone prepped for mass production as demand for aerial deliveries soars

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China technology

China’s next-gen BeiDou satellite system to ramp up rivalry with US-based GPS

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China airliners

China’s C919 order backlog raises urgency for foreign-part acquisitions

Officials hope to eventually source hi-tech plane components domestically to drive industrial self-sufficiency, but for now overseas producers are essential.

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A C919 single-aisle jet is on display at the Zhuhai air show this week. The Chinese jet relies on LEAP engines from US-French joint-venture CFM International to get airborne. Photo: Frank Chen
China airliners

With China’s C919 flying high, factory visits aim to replicate Boeing’s success

Taking a page out of rivals’ playbooks, China’s Comac wants to turn its Shanghai plane factory into a tourism hotspot.

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China airliners

US, European plane-part giants aspire to power China’s widebody C929 ambitions

China is on a path toward self-sufficiency, but advanced plane parts from overseas remain essential to its aviation dreams.

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US-China relations

China’s space ambitions face ‘huge test’ from Musk presence in Trump White House

Chinese observers say Beijing needs to stick to its own milestones and avoid getting into a race with the US if possible.

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SpaceX CEO Elon Musk on stage at a campaign rally for Donald Trump during the US presidential election campaign. Photo: AFP
China airliners

Explainer | China’s 4 commercial jets unboxed: from the rebranded C909 to a futuristic C939

More details about China’s home-grown passenger planes emerge at Zhuhai air show, with new sales and lofty aviation ambitions on display.

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China airliners

China’s widebody C929 jet lands first buyer at top-flight Zhuhai air show

The home-grown C929, still under development, was the subject of a preliminary purchase agreement at China’s premier air show.

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US-China tech war

Musk’s SpaceX asks Taiwanese suppliers to move production abroad

The US company has requested multiple satellite component manufacturers to produce outside Taiwan, sources say.

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket lifts off from lthe Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. Photo: Reuters
E-commerce

Chinese rocket firm is selling tickets to space on Taobao for US$280,000 each

The suborbital trip, scheduled for 2027, will last around 12 minutes with a maximum height of 150 kilometres.

Deep Blue Aerospace conducted a vertical recovery flight test of its Nebula-1 reusable launch vehicle in Ejin Banner, Inner Mongolia, on September 22, 2024. Photo: Handout
Aerospace: Industry Trends

Chinese aerospace firm offers space tourists US$210,000 rocket rides from 2027

Deep Blue Aerospace sells 2 tickets for a trip it says features at least 5 minutes of weightlessness in outer space.

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China’s C919 passenger plane

C919 tour gives students a glimpse of China’s ‘road to take-off’

Students shown the final assembly of China’s C919 home-grown passenger jet as its manufacturing base in Shanghai.

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China's economic recovery

Why are international airlines cutting flights to China?

Fewer flights to China by Western airlines seen as a reflection of reduced demand for business travel amid economic slowdown.

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Virgin Atlantic is said to be planning to suspend its 25-year-old Shanghai-London Heathrow route from next Saturday. Photo: Reuters
China’s C919 passenger plane

Mentor or rival? China takes notes from Brazilian giant Embraer as C919 soars

Aviation exchanges are expected as President Xi Jinping visits Brazil next month.

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The first C919 owned by China Southern Airlines arrives at Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport in Guangzhou, south China’s Guangdong province. Photo: Xinhua
United States

Boeing’s space and defence chief exits in new CEO’s first executive move

Colbert’s departure is part of a management shake-up as Boeing bids to restore public confidence and repair its battered image.

China’s C919 passenger plane

China’s home-grown C919 reaches new heights with flight to ‘roof of the world’

C919 ‘smoothly landed’ at one of the highest airports in the world in western China on Thursday ahead of a series of ‘research and development test flights’.

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United States

Historic SpaceX private astronaut mission splashes down off Florida

The team had managed to hit a peak altitude of 1400km, the furthest humans have travelled from Earth since the Apollo missions to the Moon.

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Tech entrepreneur Jared Isaacman reacts upon his return to Earth from space on Sunday. Photo: SpaceX via AP
United States

Tech billionaire pulls off first private spacewalk high above Earth

Tech entrepreneur Jared Isaacman is one of several wealthy passengers increasingly plunking down huge sums for rides aboard private rockets.

United States

SpaceX launches billionaire to conduct 1st private spacewalk

Considered one of the riskiest parts of space flight, spacewalks have been done only by professional astronauts – until now.

Tourism

Got US$600,000? Virgin Galactic looks for space tourists in Asia

Virgin Galactic is now discreetly soliciting interest in Asia for its space tourism flights, which will restart on new spaceships in 2026

Virgin Galactic’s VSS Unity takes flight in May 2018. Photo: AFP
United States

Elon Musk plans to send uncrewed Starships to Mars in 2 years

The billionaire said the mission will be unmanned to test the reliability of landing intact on the red planet.

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SpaceX’s mega rocket Starship lifts off from a launch site in Texas in June. Photo: AP
Space

Boeing’s troubled Starliner spaceship lands back on Earth without crew

Starliner’s smooth return was a relief for the aviation giant’s space ambitions after Nasa deemed it too risky to send astronauts home on it.

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International Space Station (ISS)

Nasa explains away strange noise heard by astronaut in Boeing’s Starliner

‘A pulsing sound from a speaker in Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft heard by Nasa astronaut Butch Wilmore … has stopped,’ the space agency said.

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United States

Musk’s SpaceX tightens grip on Nasa by bringing Boeing crew home from ISS

Nasa’s reliance on SpaceX grows as Boeing’s Starliner faces setbacks, highlighting the firm’s dominance in US space missions and satellite launches, while sparking concerns over Musk’s sway on US foreign policy.

Elon Musk, CEO of SpaceX and Tesla. Photo: Reuters
SpaceX

SpaceX delays launch of first-ever private spacewalk mission

Historic launch of Polaris Dawn mission with all-civilian crew is delayed by at least a day to check a ‘ground-side helium leak’.

An artist’s impression of a crew member exiting an open hatch of SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft to perform a spacewalk. Photo: Polaris Programme via X
Space

SpaceX to bring Boeing’s Starliner astronauts home next year, Nasa says

In a blow to Boeing’s space programme, what was expected to be an eight-day mission to the International Space Station will last for months.

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Space

Nasa weighs SpaceX rescue for stranded Boeing Starliner crew

The astronauts may have to be brought home in a rival Crew Dragon capsule in February, in what would be a major embarrassment for Boeing.

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