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| Science & Technology |
| Chinese satellites complete groundbreaking mission 22,000 miles above Earth |
| 2025-07-10 |
| [FoxNews] China's space program took a major stride this past week as two of its satellites seemingly docked together in what could have been the country's first high-altitude attempt at refueling a satellite while in orbit. The Shijian-21 and Shijian-25 satellites appeared to dock with one another last week more than 20,000 miles above the planet in geosynchronous orbit, in which a satellite's orbital period matches the pace of the Earth's rotation, according to news outlet Ars Technica. While Chinese officials have not recently released any updates about the two satellites, civilian satellite trackers showed Shijian-21 and Shijian-25 moving closer together before becoming indistinguishable from one another, Ars Technica reported. These two satellites docking in geosynchronous orbit could indicate that China has the potential to disable another country's satellite in space, Ars Technica reported. However, the U.S. Space Force has similarly been interested in orbital refueling as military satellites often have limited fuel supplies. The military branch is slated to perform its first-ever refueling of a U.S. military asset in orbit as early as next summer. American officials may have taken note of the apparent docking by China last week, as two of the Space Force's inspector satellites appeared to move closer to Shijian-21 and Shijian-25 following the maneuver, Ars Technica reported. |
| Posted by:Skidmark |
| #2 I see they are taking the Russian approach. Look all the groundbreaking stuff we just did! US: Um.... we did that in the 50s-60s. |
| Posted by: DarthVader 2025-07-10 16:28 |
| #1 I'm not sure why two satellites docking in geostationary orbit in 2025 should be called 'groundbreaking.' Docking spacecraft was achieved in the 1960s, in various orbits including lunar orbits. |
| Posted by: Elmerert Hupens2660 2025-07-10 12:07 |