The Chinese space programme has today taken a significant step towards its goal of competing with Elon Musk’s company, SpaceX, in the race for dominance of the satellite industry.
The China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation, a state-owned entity, launched a Long March 10B rocket and recovered its lower stage a few minutes later. This crucial step towards reusing parts of the launch vehicle for future missions could signal a breakthrough that Chinese satellite companies have long been awaiting.
SpaceX has revolutionised the sector with its partially reusable Falcon 9 rocket, whose first stage returns vertically to the launch pad after launch. The Falcon 9 enables satellites to be sent into orbit at a steady pace, giving SpaceX a considerable lead. Every day that passed without a Chinese reusable launch vehicle pushed SpaceX a little further ahead of its competitors; the company now has more than 10,000 satellites in orbit and dominates the satellite internet market.
Chinese companies, meanwhile, have so far launched their satellites using single-use rockets, the parts of which fall back to Earth or end up as space debris after each launch. The two Chinese constellations hoping to rival SpaceX’s have, between them, placed just over 400 satellites into orbit.
Six minutes after stage separation, the lower section of the launch vehicle returned vertically to a platform at sea, before descending slowly towards a pad equipped with nets designed to capture the rocket’s components, according to a video broadcast by Chinese state media. This is the world’s first recovery of a launch vehicle using nets, according to the CASC, which built this platform last year and tested it in February.
Developed by the China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology, a subsidiary of CASC, the Long March 10B is part of a series of rockets, some of which are designed for China’s first crewed mission to the Moon, scheduled for 2030. Standing approximately 60 metres tall, it can deliver up to 16 tonnes into low Earth orbit, and its upper stage successfully placed several satellites into orbit during this test flight. The New York Times
Europe
🇷🇺 Russia - 🇺🇦 Ukraine • Russian bombs dropped today on Kramatorsk, a town in eastern Ukraine on the front line, have killed four people, including a teenager, and injured at least nine others, according to the regional governor, who accuses Russia of deliberately targeting civilians. For its part, the Ukrainian army has continued its campaign of deep strikes against Russian energy infrastructure, targeting in particular the Ilsky and Ust-Luga refineries as well as 13 vessels in the Sea of Azov, including 10 oil tankers from the “ghost fleet” transporting fuel to Crimea. According to the Ukrainian commander-in-chief, nearly 700 targets have been struck deep inside Russian territory since the start of the year as part of this “strategy of attrition”. These raids, carried out as part of the “40-day” operation aimed at forcing Moscow to negotiate, are now paralysing Russia’s supply of diesel, prompting it to cut off its exports.
🇪🇸 Spain • The death toll from the wildfires ravaging the province of Almería in Andalusia rose on Friday to at least 12 dead and 23 missing, making it one of the deadliest fires ever recorded in Spain. Most of the victims are believed to be foreign nationals, notably British and Belgian, who died whilst trying to flee by car or on foot despite lockdown restrictions. The fire, which is thought to have been sparked by a fallen power cable landing on dry scrubland near Los Gallardos, has already ravaged around 3,200 hectares and spread 15 kilometres in two hours, fuelled by the wind. Nearly 500 firefighters and military personnel, supported by around 20 aircraft, are still battling the flames.
🇬🇷 Greece • Greek counter-terrorism police today arrested three suspects as part of the investigation into a series of arson attacks targeting homes linked to the ruling New Democracy party in Thessaloniki. The 72-year-old mother of a party candidate died from her burns last week, and four other people were injured. The attackers, whose identities remain unknown, had placed lit gas cylinders outside three buildings.
🇪🇺 Europe • Western Europe experienced its hottest June on record, with an average temperature of 20.74°C – more than 3°C above seasonal norms – according to a report by the European Copernicus observatory. France, Belgium, Spain and the Netherlands recorded 4,700 additional deaths during the June heatwave, which also fuelled forest fires on the Iberian Peninsula and in France and exacerbated the drought.
🇪🇺 European Union • On Thursday in Strasbourg, the European Parliament approved, by 416 votes to 169, the launch of negotiations on the digital euro project, which has been virtually at a standstill for three years. This digital version of the euro, which the ECB hopes to launch in 2029, would provide a European alternative to payment systems managed by predominantly US-based operators such as Visa, Mastercard and PayPal. The European banking sector continues to oppose the project, criticising its cost.
🇬🇧 United Kingdom • Andy Burnham, a candidate to succeed the resigning Prime Minister Keir Starmer, has secured the support of more than three-quarters of Labour MPs – 322 out of 403 – just days before the deadline for nominations on 15 July. The 56-year-old former Mayor of Greater Manchester, the only declared candidate, is expected to be confirmed as Labour leader at an extraordinary party conference on 17 July, before moving into Downing Street around 20 July. Having come to power in July 2024, Keir Starmer saw his popularity plummet rapidly, leading to his resignation on 22 June, against a backdrop of the cost-of-living crisis and controversies.
🇩🇪 Germany - 🇸🇪 Sweden • On the sidelines of the NATO summit in Ankara, Germany announced on Wednesday that it wished to strengthen its air defence cooperation with Sweden, particularly regarding unmanned systems, whilst several countries have expressed interest in the Swedish Gripen fighter jet. The United States has also approved the sale of Tomahawk cruise missiles to Germany, which Berlin intends to deploy on its territory to fill “a significant strategic gap” vis-à-vis Russia, according to Chancellor Friedrich Merz. This deployment is to be accompanied by the development of Europe’s own systems, as Europeans currently have no such capability.
🇮🇹 Italy • Two former Italian intelligence officers, arrested on Tuesday on suspicion of spying for Moscow, are accused of passing on information about the Franco-Italian SAMP-T air defence system and the Aster missiles destined for Ukraine, according to the daily newspapers La Repubblica and Il Messaggero.
Asia-Pacific
🇰🇵 North Korea • North Korea will strengthen its nuclear force “both qualitatively and quantitatively” and expand the remit of its military intelligence agency, the official KCNA news agency announced on Thursday. Leader Kim Jong Un stated that only a “powerful army” could guarantee the country’s security.
🇨🇳 China • The death toll from flooding in the Guangxi region of southern China rose on Thursday to 39 dead and nine missing, according to the authorities. The collapse of a dam near the town of Liulan alone caused 26 deaths and left seven people missing. The army has deployed around 2,400 troops, 70 boats and more than 260 vehicles to support the rescue efforts.
🇨🇳 China - 🇯🇵 Japan - 🇵🇭 Philippines - 🇹🇼 Taiwan • Typhoon Bavi, the strongest to hit Taiwan in nearly 40 years, was approaching the island today with winds of around 190 km/h, and is expected to continue on its path towards the Chinese province of Fujian on Saturday evening. Nearly 9,000 people have been evacuated in Taiwan, thousands of military personnel have been mobilised, and numerous schools and flights have been cancelled. In the Philippines, two landslides triggered by the rains have left at least 15 people dead and six missing on the island of Mindanao.
Middle East
🇺🇸 United States - 🇮🇷 Iran - 🇮🇱 Israel • The former Supreme Leader of Iran, Ali Khamenei, who was killed on 28 February in a US-Israeli strike, was buried today in Mashhad at the Imam Reza Shrine, without his son and successor, Mojtaba Khamenei, who has still not appeared in public since he was injured in the attack. The funeral took place against a backdrop of renewed hostilities: the United States struck Iran again this week around the Strait of Hormuz, with raids that left 17 dead and 93 injured according to Iranian authorities, prompting retaliatory strikes against sites in Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain and Jordan. Donald Trump declared the ceasefire “over” whilst leaving the door open to negotiations, whilst millions of Iranians have expressed their thirst for revenge against him and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Tehran today raised the possibility of armed retaliation against Israel, whose Defence Minister Israel Katz said he was prepared to attack Iran “a third time if necessary”.
🇮🇱 Israel - 🇵🇸 Palestine • Air strikes and shelling by the Israeli army left at least nine people dead on Wednesday in the Gaza Strip, including two children aged six and ten, according to Palestinian medical authorities. A missile struck a tent housing displaced people in Khan Younis, killing four people, whilst another strike killed one person near a school in Gaza City.
Africa
🇨🇩 DRC • The Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo has claimed 600 lives out of 1,759 confirmed cases since it was declared on 15 May, according to a WHO report dated 7 July, whilst two deaths out of 20 cases have been recorded in neighbouring Uganda. According to Africa CDC, the African Union’s health agency, this 17th outbreak in the DRC is spreading faster than any previous one. There is neither a vaccine nor an approved treatment for the Bundibugyo variant responsible, but a clinical trial began on 2 July.
