China continues to expand its space program with 72 launches in 2025

China has been active in expanding its space economy in 2025, with 72 orbital launches in the year. It accounts for a 30 percent increase on the number of launches in 2024.

The country's Tiangong space station continued to be a hive of activity in 2025, with the arrival of the Shenzhou-20 crew in April, ready for their six-month stay.

With this mission, Commander Chen Dong became the first Chinese astronaut to spend over 400 days in space cumulatively, also notching up a space walk record, with six under his belt.

The crew welcomed the Shenzhou-21 mission at the end of October. They celebrated by cooking chicken wings and steak for the first time, using a newly delivered hot air oven. 

Meanwhile, their arrival set another record, with the inclusion of taikonaut Wu Fei who at 32 is the youngest-ever crew member.

But the return to Earth of the Shenzhou-20 crew was delayed by over a week, after space debris hit their vessel, resulting in "tiny cracks" in a small window of their return capsule.

Unlimited solar power in space

China has also been busy with other space developments, including work to develop reusable rockets and launchers, low earth orbit satellites and deep space exploration.

An example of the latter is China's creation of a near-earth asteroid (NEA) defense system. As part of this effort, the Tianwen-2 probe was launched to collect samples from an NEA called Kamo'oalewa.  It's due to arrive in July of 2026, sending a capsule of rocks back to earth in 2027.

This year also saw the launch of 12 satellites into orbit to create an AI supercomputing network known as 'Three-Body Computing Constellation.' 

The eventual aim is to have thousands of computers processing vast amounts of data in orbit, avoiding the delays, data loss and the energy demands needed on Earth. 

Luckily, there is access to unlimited solar power in space.

As the year closes, Chinese space authorities say they are on track for a crewed lunar landing by the end of the decade, while work to build an unmanned lunar base by 2027 continues.

Speaking in April, Wu Weiren, the Chief Designer of China's Lunar Exploration Program said, "The moon serves as a starting point, and the lunar research station will provide a platform for long-term research, experiments and living, paving the way for humanity's journey into deeper space."