China Outer Space Science, Technology and Explorations: News & Updates

[JSCh]

Commercial space company Landspace(蓝箭航天)’s medium-scale and low-cost ZQ(朱雀/VermillionBird)-2 Y1 rocket finished production tests and ready to roll out from factory. It has 49.5m height, 3.35m diameter, lift-off propulsion 268t, lift-off mass 216t, 6t LEO, 2.2-4t SSO.
The specs of ZQ-2 rocket and its TQ(天雀/SkySparrow) LOX-LCH4 liquid rocket engine. Launch date TBA. Source: https://share.api.weibo.cn/share/303195103,4765075250086656.html

https://twitter.com/x/status/1521538239437447173

 

[JSCh]

CHES: a space-borne astrometric mission for the detection of habitable planets of the nearby solar-type...
[EPA]
http://arxiver.moonhats.com/2022/05/12/ches-a-space-borne-astrometric-mission-for-the-detection-of-habitable-planets-of-the-nearby-solar-type-stars-epa/

https://twitter.com/x/status/1524588343526256640

 

[JSCh]

Uncover the inside structure of China's Tiangong space station: With a 110-m3 activity space, Tiangong, planned to be completed by year-end, has 6 sleeping areas and 2 hygiene areas, which meet the needs for the long-term stay of 3 people and short-term stay of 6 people.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1529749187499155459

 

[JSCh]

South China’s Hainan will begin construction of a commercial space launch site by the end of June, implementing the development of the Wenchang International Aerospace City, said an official with the Wenchang International Aerospace City Administration.
https://bit.ly/3MVvVOf

https://twitter.com/x/status/1530111571531268096

 

[JSCh]

China's Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical Radio Telescope (#FAST) for the 1st time found a persistently active repeating fast radio burst (FRB) in a metal-poor dwarf galaxy 3 bln light-yrs away, which is also 2nd of its kind ever found in human history.https://go.nature.com/3O6XPXJ

https://twitter.com/x/status/1534732022995988481

https://twitter.com/x/status/1534588571943899140

 

[JSCh]

China plans to launch an ambitious space solar power plant programme in 2028, two years ahead of the original schedule, according to scientists involved in the project.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1534120825623695361

 

[JSCh]

Today is the first anniversary of ORIGIN SPACE's launch of Yangwang-1 optical & NUV space telescope. It has completed the world's first optical all-sky survey by a commercial space telescope in the past year.
HD image in this link: https://cnspace.dev/p/hd-images.html
AND more Yangwang telescopes are coming! ORIGIN SPACE plans to build a constellation of 10 space telescopes by 2023.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1535495204823650304

 

[JSCh]

There's some reporting that the 500-meter aperture FAST radio telescope in Guizhou, China has detected candidates for signals from extraterrestrial intelligence, including a suspicious signal from exoplanet target observation data. This is interesting, but don't get too excited.

"The possibility that the suspicious signal is some kind of radio interference is also very high, and it needs to be further confirmed or ruled out. This may be a long process," Zhang Tongjie, chief scientist of China ET Civilization Research Group told Science & Technology Daily

Source: https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/BtLLCb0GlPxjmhbAz5pUOw….
FAST will be useful for SETI as it has a larger sky observation sky area than Arecibo did, very high sensitivity esp. for low frequencies, and 19 beams that receive signals from different areas of the sky.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1536627739276492802

 

[JSCh]

Groundbreaking ceremony of world's highest altitude planetarium, Tibet Planetarium, was held on June 12 in Lhasa. The new planetarium, expected to be completed in 2 years, will have world's largest refracting telescope with diameter of 1m.
The telescope will be 1.06m in diameter, larger than the current largest refracting telescope: the 40-inch refractor in Yerkes Observatory. In addition to astronomical observations, it will also be part of the monitoring network of space objects & debris.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1536787765089538048

 

[JSCh]

China plans to launch an ambitious space solar power plant programme in 2028, two years ahead of the original schedule, according to scientists involved in the project.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1534120825623695361

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China's building of its space-based solar power station (SSPS) has achieved a new milestone, as a Chinese research team announced recently that the ground recipient verification system has passed examination, proving breakthroughs in key technology.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1537978404615618560

 

[JSCh]

China develops new coating for spacecraft thermal control

https://twitter.com/x/status/1538725828200120320

 

[JSCh]

Tianzhou-3 cargo ship's space debris detection payload acquired 1000s of images in orbit, verified high-sensitivity detection optical system w/ large field of view, in-orbit detection & recognition algorithm and processing of dark space targets etc. Source:https://share.api.weibo.cn/share/319209159,4789012461784489.html

https://twitter.com/x/status/1545675554011041792

 

[JSCh]

South China’s Hainan will begin construction of a commercial space launch site by the end of June, implementing the development of the Wenchang International Aerospace City, said an official with the Wenchang International Aerospace City Administration.
https://bit.ly/3MVvVOf

https://twitter.com/x/status/1530111571531268096

 

[JSCh]

China’s “compound eye” radar project started construction in Chongqing, which will be the world’s longest detection range tool after completion. It will be able to observe asteroids and terrestrial planets within 150 million km.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1545993068851015681

China begins construction on world’s most far-reaching radar system, to boost defense against near-Earth asteroid impact - Global Times

www.globaltimes.cn

 

[JSCh]

Scheduled to be launched coming October.

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China launched a naming event on Mon for its 1st satellite for #solar physics study, according to the Chinese Academy of Sciences. The Advanced Space-based Solar Observatory (ASO-S) is a mission dedicated to solar physics and is the 1st Chinese satellite for solar physics study.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1546320874273288192