Space Race Showdown, Mars Surprises & a New ‘Mini-Moon’ – Global Space News (Sept 15–16, 2025)
Key Highlights Launches and Mission Updates China’s latest launch: On Sept. 16, China launched a test satellite for its planned satellite-internet network, using a Long March 2C rocket with a Yuanzheng-1S upper stage english.news.cn. Liftoff from Jiuquan at 9:06 a.m. Beijing time was successful, inserting the tech demo satellite into orbit to advance China’s broadband megaconstellation plans. This marked the 595th flight of China’s Long March rocket family english.news.cn, underscoring China’s rapid launch cadence. The mission highlights Beijing’s push into satellite internet – an area of growing strategic importance as China races to build its own Starlink-like network. SpaceX boosts ISS resupply: Over the weekend,