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ChemCam
ChemCam, short for Chemistry and Camera, is an instrument on NASA's Curiosity rover that uses laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy to determine the composition of Martian rocks and soils.
CheMin
CheMin, short for Chemistry and Mineralogy, is a powder X-ray diffraction instrument inside NASA's Curiosity rover and the first X-ray diffractometer sent to another planet.
China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology
China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology (中国运载火箭技术研究院, CALT) is China's largest missile and launch vehicle developer and maker of most Long March rockets, founded in Beijing in 1957.
China Academy of Space Technology
The China Academy of Space Technology (CAST; 中国空间技术研究院), established in 1968, is China's primary organization for designing and manufacturing satellites and spacecraft, based in Beijing.
China Manned Space Program (中国载人航天工程)
The China Manned Space Program (中国载人航天工程), also known as Project 921, is China's national human spaceflight program, approved in 1992 and run by the China Manned Space Agency.
China National Space Administration (中国国家航天局)
The China National Space Administration (中国国家航天局, CNSA) is the civilian space agency of the People's Republic of China, established in 1993 and known for the Chang'e lunar missions.
Chinasat
Chinasat, also known as Zhongxing (中星), is a series of Chinese geostationary communications satellites operated by China Satcom, with 19 satellites in orbit at the end of 2025.
Chinese Lunar Exploration Program (中国探月工程)
The Chinese Lunar Exploration Program, also called the Chang'e Program, is China's robotic lunar exploration program, run by CNSA and approved in 2004 around a three-step strategy of orbiting, landing, and returning samples.
Chinese space program
The Chinese space program is the national space effort of the People's Republic of China, founded in 1956 and managed by the China National Space Administration (CNSA).
Chinese space program satellites
The satellites of China's space program, largely managed by the PLA, exceeded 1,100 in orbit by August 2025, spanning weather, Earth observation, reconnaissance, and the Qianfan and Guowang megaconstellations.
Chris Hadfield
Chris Hadfield (Chris Austin Hadfield), born in 1959, is a retired Canadian astronaut who became the first Canadian to command the International Space Station, in 2013.
Christa McAuliffe
Sharon Christa McAuliffe was an American high school teacher selected from 11,000 applicants as NASA's first Teacher in Space; she died aboard Challenger in 1986.
Christina Koch
Christina Hammock Koch is an American engineer and NASA astronaut who holds the record for the longest single spaceflight by a woman, 328 days aboard the International Space Station.
Christopher C. Kraft Jr. Mission Control Center
The Christopher C. Kraft Jr. Mission Control Center (MCC-H) is NASA's human spaceflight control facility at the Johnson Space Center in Houston, staffed around the clock since 1965.
Chrysler SERV
The Chrysler SERV (Single-stage Earth-orbital Reusable Vehicle) was a fully reusable, capsule-shaped single-stage-to-orbit booster proposed by Chrysler in NASA's 1969 to 1971 Space Shuttle competition, landing vertically under turbojet power.
Claire Leon
Claire Leon is an American aerospace engineer known for turning around Boeing's Wideband Global SATCOM program and leading the Air Force launch enterprise; she was elected to the National Academy of Engineering in 2021.
Classification of artificial satellites
The classification of artificial satellites sorts spacecraft primarily by mission, such as communications, Earth observation, navigation, scientific, and military, with secondary schemes by orbit, mass, operator, and lifespan.
Clohessy–Wiltshire equations
The Clohessy–Wiltshire equations, also known as Hill's equations, are linearized equations describing spacecraft relative motion in a circular orbit, published in 1960 and used for rendezvous and docking.
Cluster II
Cluster II is the European Space Agency's four-spacecraft mission, launched in July and August 2000, that flies in tetrahedral formation through Earth's magnetosphere to study the solar wind.
CNES
CNES, the Centre National d'Études Spatiales, is the French government space agency, created in 1961 under General de Gaulle and headquartered as France's space program agency.
COBE
COBE, or Cosmic Background Explorer, was a NASA satellite launched in 1989 to measure the cosmic microwave background, producing results that earned the 2006 Nobel Prize in Physics.
Cold Atom Laboratory
The Cold Atom Laboratory is a NASA facility on the International Space Station that cools atoms near absolute zero and created the first orbital Bose-Einstein condensate in 2018.
Cold gas thruster
A cold gas thruster is a rocket engine that produces thrust by expelling stored pressurized gas through a nozzle without combustion, used mainly for satellite attitude control and small maneuvers.
Cold War propellant development
Cold War propellant development was the maturation of cryogenic liquids, storable hypergolics, and large solid motors, driven by the 1950s and 1960s ballistic missile race.
Colonization of Mars
The colonization of Mars, also called human colonization of Mars, is the proposed establishment of permanent, eventually self-sustaining human settlements on Mars, which currently has a human population of zero.
Colonization of the Moon
Colonization of the Moon, also called lunar colonization, is the proposed establishment of a sustained human presence on the lunar surface, from outposts to permanent settlement.
Colonization of Venus
Colonization of Venus, also called settlement of Venus, refers to proposed schemes for a human presence in floating habitats about 50 kilometers above the planet's surface.
Combustion instability
Combustion instability is a self-sustained pressure oscillation arising from coupling between acoustic waves and flame heat release, a danger in rocket engines, gas turbines, and aeroengines.
Combustion tap-off cycle
The combustion tap-off cycle, or tap-off cycle, is a liquid rocket engine cycle that taps hot gas from the main chamber to drive its turbopumps, eliminating the gas generator.
Comet Interceptor
Comet Interceptor is an ESA and JAXA mission, selected in 2019, that will launch in 2029 without a target and wait for a pristine comet.