A model of Chongqing Liangjiang Star. [Chongqing Morning Post] Elon Musk and his SpaceX company have been household names for a long time. In Southwest China's Chongqing, a private rocket producer, OneSpace Technology Company, is making an answer to SpaceX. OneSpace's first self-designed and built commercial carrier rocket, Chongqing Liangjiang Star, saw its maiden flight finish at 7:33 am on Thursday in a test field in Northwest China. This was the nation's first launch of private carrier rocket. OneSpace said this solid-fuel rocket is designed for suborbital flights in a bid to provide high-altitude research. Entering the space industry always carries high costs, as it is closely related to military and national security, but privately-made carrier rockets will considerably reduce costs, shorten research and development cycles and promote industry development, said Hu Jianxin, a professor at the School of Aerospace Engineering at Chongqing University. With strong control capacity, the rocket can be customized according to user requirements and fly in a variety of complex flight trajectories required for tests. The rocket's biggest strengths are that it is fast, convenient and flexible, Hu said, which allow it to be launched for emergencies such as natural disasters. All the design work was completed by engineers born after 1985. It took them only one year to launch the rocket after the development phase began. wholesale custom wristbandsbracelet montre silicone 14mmcustom rubber wristbands canadanew rubber band braceletscustom sports bracelets
Southwest China's Sichuan province tests a subway with the highest level of automation at its provincial capital Chengdu, Feb 19, 2019. [Photo/Chinanews.com] CHENGDU -- Southwest China's Sichuan province tested a subway with the highest level of automation at its provincial capital Chengdu Tuesday, according to Sichuan Daily. The metro is the country's first Grade-of-Automation 4 (GoA4) subway with eight carriages, said the newspaper. Trains running on the GoA4 system operate automatically at all times, including opening and closing doors, detecting obstacles and handling emergencies, according to the International Association of Public Transport. The extended length allows it to carry up to 3,496 people in one trip, more than the current automated subways running in Beijing and Shanghai. The test model is designed to run at 100 km per hour on Chengdu's metro line 9, a 22-km rail connecting the western and southern parts of the city. A total of 25 such trains will operate on the route when the line is put into use in late 2020, according to the newspaper.
