Space Pioneer’s Tianlong-3 rocket fails on maiden flight
Chinese commercial space startup Space Pioneer saw the maiden flight of its Tianlong-3 rocket fail on April 3. Launched at noon from the Dongfeng Commercial Space Innovation Test Area, the rocket experienced an unspecified flight anomaly, the company said in a statement. Space Pioneer is conducting a comprehensive engineering review to identify the root cause and implement design fixes for future missions.
China issues guidelines to boost e-commerce
Six government agencies, including the Ministry of Commerce, issued guidelines to promote the high-quality development, high-level opening-up, and efficient governance of e-commerce businesses, according to a statement released on April 6. The guidelines set out a range of measures, which include supporting the transformation of small and midsize enterprises, expanding rural e-commerce, promoting cross-border e-commerce, strengthening routine regulation, and optimizing the supply of financial products.
Hongguo Short Drama penalizes non-compliant AI works
ByteDance Ltd.'s short drama app Hongguo announced on April 6 that it had removed 1,718 non-compliant comic dramas in the first quarter of this year. The platform launched a targeted campaign to address the frequent misuse of AI-generated materials, completing a comprehensive review of 15,000 works and penalizing 670 noncompliant AI short dramas. Typical violations included the unauthorized use of cartoon characters, brand identities, original game characters, and actors’ likenesses.
Space computing professional committee established
China’s first industry collaborative platform for space computing, the Space Computing Professional Committee, was officially established at the 2026 Space Computing Industry Conference in Beijing on April 3. The committee aims to build a technological system and industrial ecosystem for space computing, focusing on joint research in areas such as satellite-borne AI chips, inter-satellite laser communication, efficient thermal control, and space photovoltaics.
