China launches cislunar CubeSat network with international partners
China's Deep Space Exploration Laboratory has launched an international project to build a three-dimensional satellite network between Earth and the moon to track solar activity and study powerful cosmic explosions. The plan calls for about 30 backpack-sized CubeSats in highly elliptical Earth orbits within the next four years, with partners including Egypt, Indonesia, Senegal, Serbia and Thailand; a separate set of lunar-orbit CubeSats will search for resources. China will supply free instruments and participating countries will jointly design missions, fund their own contributions and share data, aiming to fill observation gaps in cislunar space and improve space weather and gamma-ray burst science.
China will deploy 30 CubeSats into cislunar orbits over four years.
Context
Scientists have long relied on single spacecraft to study cislunar space. China has begun the first phase and expects to finalise spacecraft and instrument designs soon.
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