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China Launches Powerful Jielong-3 Rocket

Residents visit a New Year Goods fair ahead of the Chinese Lunar New Year in Beijing, China on Saturday, Jan. 20, 2024. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)
Residents visit a New Year Goods fair ahead of the Chinese Lunar New Year in Beijing, China on Saturday, Jan. 20, 2024. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)
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China Launches Powerful Jielong-3 Rocket

Residents visit a New Year Goods fair ahead of the Chinese Lunar New Year in Beijing, China on Saturday, Jan. 20, 2024. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)
Residents visit a New Year Goods fair ahead of the Chinese Lunar New Year in Beijing, China on Saturday, Jan. 20, 2024. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)

A small but powerful Chinese rocket capable of sending payloads at competitive costs delivered nine satellites into orbit on Saturday, Chinese state media reported, in what is gearing up to be another busy year for Chinese commercial launches.
The Jielong-3, or Smart Dragon-3, blasted off from a floating barge off the coast of Yangjiang in southern Guangdong province. It was the third launch of the rocket, developed by China Rocket Co, a commercial offshoot of a state-owned launch vehicle manufacturer, since December 2022.
President Xi Jinping has called for the expansion of strategic industries including the commercial space sector, deemed key to building constellations of satellites for communications, remote sensing and navigation.
Also on Saturday, Chinese automaker Geely Holding Group launched 11 satellites to boost its capacity to provide more accurate navigation for autonomous vehicles.
Critical to the construction of commercial satellite networks is China's ability to open more launch windows, expand rocket types to accommodate different payload sizes, lower launch costs, and increase the number of launch sites such as building more spaceports and using sea launch vessels.
Jielong-3 can carry a 1,500 kg (3,300 pounds) payload into a 500-km sun-synchronous orbit. China Rocket Co has previously said the rocket could carry over 20 satellites at a launch cost of under $10,000 per kg - a globally competitive rate for small-lift rockets, Reuters reported.
The cost is similar to the launches of other Chinese small-lift rockets including the Long March 11, but their payload sizes are significantly smaller.
Jielong-3 is comparable to the powerful Lijian-1, which first flew in 2022.
Developed by CAS Space, a Guangzhou-headquartered commercial spinoff of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Lijian-1 can also send a 1,500 kg payload to a 500-km sun-synchronous orbit.
Other commercial companies in the Chinese vehicle launch sector includes Galactic Energy, whose Ceres-1 rocket made its debut flight in November 2020.
Ceres-1 is capable of delivering a 300 kg payload to a 500 km sun-synchronous orbit.
Beijing-based Galactic Energy made at least seven Ceres-1 launches in 2023, up from four in 2020-2022.
Also in the fray is Landspace, whose launch of the Zhuque-2 in 2023 marked the world's first successful payload delivery by a liquid oxygen-methane rocket and a breakthrough in China's use of low-cost liquid propellants.
In the realm of larger rockets, Orienspace in January launched Gravity-1 from a ship off the coast of eastern Shandong province.
The rocket is capable of sending a payload of up to 6,500 kg into low-earth orbit, making it the most powerful launch vehicle developed by a private Chinese enterprise.
A small-lift rocket carries payloads of up to 2,000 kg, while medium ones deliver up to 20,000 kg and heavy rockets can easily carry in excess of 20,000 kg. SpaceX's Falcon Heavy can lift up to 64,000 kg into orbit.

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Mongolia Urges No School Outings after Fatal Bear Attack

A brown bear and her cub play on the road in the outskirts of Sinaia, 140 km north of Bucharest, June 15, 2009. REUTERS/Radu Sigheti/File
A brown bear and her cub play on the road in the outskirts of Sinaia, 140 km north of Bucharest, June 15, 2009. REUTERS/Radu Sigheti/File
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Mongolia Urges No School Outings after Fatal Bear Attack

A brown bear and her cub play on the road in the outskirts of Sinaia, 140 km north of Bucharest, June 15, 2009. REUTERS/Radu Sigheti/File
A brown bear and her cub play on the road in the outskirts of Sinaia, 140 km north of Bucharest, June 15, 2009. REUTERS/Radu Sigheti/File

Mongolia warned schools and kindergartens on Friday to avoid outings to forested and mountainous areas after a fatal bear attack and a sharp rise in sightings of the animals.

So far this year, 754 bear sightings have been recorded across the vast and thinly populated country, 80 percent of which involved cubs or female bears accompanied by cubs, authorities said.

In the capital Ulaanbaatar alone, 24 confirmed sightings have been reported, compared with just two in 2018 and one in 2019.

"Due to bear sightings near populated areas, schools and kindergartens are advised not to organize group autumn trips or outings," the Ministry of Education said in a statement.

"Children should not be allowed to go into forested or mountainous areas alone, and outdoor excursions should be avoided in high-risk areas where bears have been sighted," it added.

The announcement comes after a bear killed a man and seriously maimed a woman this week in their home on the outskirts of Ulaanbaatar, according to AFP.

The man, in his 40s, and a woman in her 50s were attacked on Wednesday night in their home in the Bayanzurkh district, according to the city's environment department chief Munkhbayar M.

A team of 35 rangers, police and thermal imaging drones were deployed to locate and kill the bear.

"The bear was located and neutralized at a site not far from where the fatal incident occurred," an official from the Ministry of Environment and Climate Change told a news conference on Friday.

"Preliminary findings indicate that the bear was a male, approximately six years old and in its prime," said ministry secretary Batbayar Shurenchuluun.

The government has authorized bear hunting in specifically designated areas and launched an investigation to determine what has caused the rise in sightings.

A bear that was hunted and examined in the eastern province of Khentii was found to have no food in its stomach, officials told reporters on Thursday.

As a result, authorities banned in September the harvesting of nuts and berries from mountainous areas for this year.

Japan has also recorded a sharp rise in bear sightings and attacks on humans in recent years, including in the outskirts of towns and cities.

The causes are complex and include variations in food available -- something potentially linked to climate change -- as well as rural depopulation, experts say.

Varieties

Seals and Sea Lions Get Hearing Tested at Australia Zoo

This undated handout photo taken by Curtin University professor and lead researcher Christine Erbe and received on October 9, 2026 shows a sea lion during a hearing test at Taronga Zoo in Sydney. (Photo by Handout / Christine ERBE / AFP)
This undated handout photo taken by Curtin University professor and lead researcher Christine Erbe and received on October 9, 2026 shows a sea lion during a hearing test at Taronga Zoo in Sydney. (Photo by Handout / Christine ERBE / AFP)
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Seals and Sea Lions Get Hearing Tested at Australia Zoo

This undated handout photo taken by Curtin University professor and lead researcher Christine Erbe and received on October 9, 2026 shows a sea lion during a hearing test at Taronga Zoo in Sydney. (Photo by Handout / Christine ERBE / AFP)
This undated handout photo taken by Curtin University professor and lead researcher Christine Erbe and received on October 9, 2026 shows a sea lion during a hearing test at Taronga Zoo in Sydney. (Photo by Handout / Christine ERBE / AFP)

Scientists in Australia trained sea lions and seals to respond to a hearing test for research into how the marine mammals are affected by human-made noise.

Keepers at Sydney's Taronga Zoo trained two sea lions and two fur seals to listen to sounds and press a paddle when they heard a tone.

They were rewarded with fish for the right answers, AFP reported.

"Before we can understand whether a noise is affecting an animal, we need to know whether it can hear that noise in the first place," Curtin University professor and lead researcher Christine Erbe said on Thursday.

"These hearing tests give us that baseline and allow us to start asking how noises from ships, boats, aircraft and coastal construction might affect seals and sea lions."

The peer-reviewed study found the pinnipeds were most sensitive to sounds around 3.2 kilohertz.

"The research is particularly important for the endangered Australian sea lion, which has an estimated population of only about 12,000 animals and relies on hearing for communication, finding food, navigation and detecting threats," Erbe said.

Noise pollution is known to have a major negative impact on wildlife.

A study released in February found it was affecting bird behavior across the globe, disrupting everything from courtship songs to their ability to find food and avoid predators.

Taronga Conservation Society Australia Behavioral Biologist Benjamin Pitcher said the research on sea lions and seals would have real world impact.

"The findings could help inform environmental impact assessments and noise management as shipping, coastal development and offshore industries expand," he said.

"We now know what these animals can hear in air. The next step is to understand how noise affects them underwater, and when it begins to interfere with their behavior or hearing."

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$1,000 for 20 Minutes: New York’s Tourist Pedicabs Spark Outrage

Pedicabs operate throughout tourist-rich areas of New York City — ANGELA WEISS / AFP
Pedicabs operate throughout tourist-rich areas of New York City — ANGELA WEISS / AFP
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$1,000 for 20 Minutes: New York’s Tourist Pedicabs Spark Outrage

Pedicabs operate throughout tourist-rich areas of New York City — ANGELA WEISS / AFP
Pedicabs operate throughout tourist-rich areas of New York City — ANGELA WEISS / AFP

New York lawmakers mulled a bill Wednesday to regulate pedicabs, which swarm touristy areas like Times Square and Central Park and have drawn criticism for overcrowding, excessive noise and extortionate pricing.

The city council is considering a series of measures designed to regulate the three-wheeled vehicles, often adorned in neon lights and blasting music as they shuttle visitors around Manhattan, according to AFP.

The number of pedicabs authorized in New York is capped at 840 but, according to figures shared at a council hearing, around 1,500 are currently operating -- only 330 of which are licensed.

Meanwhile, price gouging can mean unsuspecting tourists can be charged upward of $1,000 for rides that last just 20 minutes.

City Council Member Gale Brewer, who is behind a large part of the proposed measures, said the city received 172 complaints in 2025 related to pedicabs.

“Half, 86, involved overcharging, and another 35 involved unlicensed operators, and there were probably more because often tourists don't complain," she said.

Brewer is pushing for “clearer rules” on the sector and wants to place it under the oversight of the city's Taxi and Limousine Commission.

“Passengers need to know what they are being charged and who is responsible for the pedicab they are riding in,” she said, adding that vehicles should be equipped with meters displaying the cost of rides.

Another proposed regulation would introduce a fixed per-minute rate.

Brewer is also calling for driver training focused on current regulations and safety.

Meanwhile, council member Harvey Epstein relayed noise complaints from theater companies.

“It's not working for the Broadway productions that are interrupted by loud noise blaring from pedicabs outside their theaters,” he said.

Among the new rules proposed is a ban on stopping within 15 meters of the entrances and exits of these venues.