China Space Conference Main Forum Apr 23–25

China opened its 2026 Space Conference in Chengdu on Wednesday as officials used the gathering to map out a packed year of missions and overseas partnerships. (english.news.cn) The conference runs from April 23 to April 25, with a main forum and more than 20 academic sessions tied to the 11th Space Day of China on April 24. A separate space science and technology exhibition is scheduled in Chengdu from April 24 to May 5. (english.news.cn) The Chinese Society of Astronautics and the China Space Foundation are hosting the event, and the conference notice says the broader program in Chengdu runs through April 26 across the Century City convention complex and Sichuan University. The organizers say the conference series includes more than 30 activities spanning science, industry, public outreach and culture. (csaspace.org.cn) China’s space program is split across three tracks: science missions that study worlds and particles, application satellites that handle services such as communications and Earth observation, and launch systems that carry payloads into orbit. The Chengdu agenda pulls those tracks into one room, with sessions on frontier technology, commercial aerospace and international cooperation. (csaspace.org.cn) Officials used the run-up to the conference to preview what they called “intensive” 2026 missions. China National Space Administration official Liu Yunfeng said Tianwen-2 will make a close approach to its target asteroid in 2026, while crewed Shenzhou flights, the Tianzhou-9 cargo mission and reusable rocket flight tests are also on the schedule. (english.www.gov.cn) Tianwen-2 is China’s first asteroid sample-return mission, launched on May 29, 2025 from Xichang in Sichuan. Its target, near-Earth asteroid 2016 HO3, is a small body that travels with Earth around the Sun, making it a useful laboratory for studying early solar-system material. (english.www.gov.cn) International projects are also central to the Chengdu message. China National Space Administration officials said the China-Europe SMILE satellite is set for launch in 2026, and the European Space Agency says the launch window runs from April 8 to May 7 on a Vega-C rocket from French Guiana. (english.news.cn) (esa.int) SMILE, short for Solar wind Magnetosphere Ionosphere Link Explorer, is designed to watch how charged particles from the Sun hit Earth’s magnetic shield, a bit like filming weather moving across an invisible umbrella. The mission is a joint project between the European Space Agency and the Chinese Academy of Sciences. (esa.int) China is also using this year’s Space Day to widen diplomatic ties around its space program. The China National Space Administration named Brazil as the guest of honor for the 2026 events in Chengdu, alongside a public display of Chang’e-5 and Chang’e-6 lunar samples from the Moon’s near and far sides. (news.cgtn.com) April 24 carries symbolic weight in China’s space calendar because it marks the 1970 launch of Dongfanghong-1, the country’s first satellite, and Beijing made it Space Day in 2016. This year’s conference arrives as China links that anniversary politics to a working agenda of asteroid science, crewed flights and cross-border missions. (english.news.cn)