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

[JSCh]

Chinese startup One Space successfully tests first stage engine for orbital rocket
By Deyana Goh - July 5, 2018

Image courtesy of One Space​

On 4 July, One Space, a Chinese NewSpace startup developing low-cost launch vehicles, successfully tested the first stage rocket motor of its M-series family of rockets.

The success of this test means One Space is on track for the first test launch of OS-M1, the first of its M-series launch vehicles, scheduled for end-2018.

OS-M1, a four-stage solid propellant rocket, will be 19m long, with a liftoff mass of 20 tonnes. The launch vehicle will be able to carry a maximum payload of 205kg to Low Earth Orbit (LEO), and 143kg to the Sun-Synchronous Orbit (SSO).

Following OS-M1, One Space will test OS-M2, a slightly large version of the OS-M1 that will be able to carry up to 390kg to LEO and 292kg to SSO. With these M-series vehicles, One Space intends to provide rapid low-cost launches for small satellites, with an estimated launch preparation time of only 48 hours.

In May this year, One Space conducted the first commercial flight of its OS-X, a suborbital sounding rocket able to reach a speed of Mach 20. The flight in May saw the first vehicle from the OS-X series, OS-XO, conduct an experiment for a Chinese research institute from Shenyang. This also represented the first commercial rocket launch, by a commercial space company, in China.

One Space was formed in 2015, targeting the small satellite launch market. By 2016, the company had raised funding of more than 1 million CNY (approximately US$150 million), and managed to raise an additional US$200 million in January this year. In addition to launch services, the company also manufactures and sells rocket engines and components.



Chinese startup One Space successfully tests first stage engine for orbital rocket | SpaceTech Asia

零壹空间OneSpace
今天 10:24 来自 Android
【OS-M首型运载火箭总装完毕 3月底发射】零壹空间OS-M首型运载火箭目前已总装完毕，目前正在酒泉卫星发射中心进行最后的准备工作，计划本月底进行发射任务，敬请期待~

超燃的火箭总装视频了解一下

OneSpace
Today 10:24 from Android
[OS-M first launch vehicle final assembly completed at the end of March launch】 Onespace OS-M first launch vehicle has been assembled, and is currently in the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center for final preparations, plans to launch the mission at the end of this month, so stay tuned~[憧憬][憧憬][憧憬] Rocket finale video to understand

 

[JSCh]

OneSpace
Today 10:24 from Android
[OS-M first launch vehicle final assembly completed at the end of March launch】 Onespace OS-M first launch vehicle has been assembled, and is currently in the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center for final preparations, plans to launch the mission at the end of this month, so stay tuned~[憧憬][憧憬][憧憬] Rocket finale video to understand

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Private firm planning first orbital launch
By Zhao Lei | China Daily | Updated: 2019-03-13 07:05

An OS-M carrier rocket in its assembly workshop. [Photo provided to China Daily]​

State-owned enterprises moving over to allow competition in space market

Private enterprises play an important role in almost every facet of the Chinese economy, and now they have begun to march into a top-notch field long dominated by State-owned companies－the space industry.

The duopoly of State-owned giants China Aerospace Science and Technology Corp and China Aerospace Science and Industry Corp remains unchallenged because they are in control of the most essential part of the space business－the carrier rockets. However, private players appear to be very close to breaking the duopoly.

In the latest attempt from the private sector, OneSpace Technology, a space startup based in Beijing, announced on Tuesday that it has finished the construction and testing of its first carrier rocket, the OS-M, and is ready to transport it to the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwestern China for the model's debut mission in late March.

If the mission is successful, OS-M will become the first carrier rocket designed and built by a private Chinese company to fulfill an orbital launch.

In October, LandSpace, another private space company based in Beijing, launched a carrier rocket, the first of its ZQ 1 series, at the Jiuquan center, aiming to complete an orbital mission. However, the rocket, which carried a small satellite, failed to reach orbit due to mechanical malfunctions.

OneSpace said in a statement on Tuesday that OS-M is a type of solid-propellant rocket with four stages. It is 19 meters long and weighs 20 metric tons when loaded with fuel and satellites. The booster is able to place satellites into orbit at altitudes ranging from 200 to 1,000 kilometers above the earth.

Zhang Jie, chief designer of OS-M, said engineers have examined and tested the compatibility and stability of equipment mounted on the rocket and the launchpad. They have also verified the launch sequence, ground control and tracking procedures, he added.

Established by Shu Chang, who has been dubbed China's Elon Musk, and several companions in 2015, OneSpace Technology has carried out two successful suborbital launches of its OS-X sounding rocket and has received huge amounts of investment from the capital market. The company aims to thrive in the burgeoning commercial space market in China.

Since the beginning of China's space industry, the research and development of carrier rockets has been tightly held by State-owned enterprises.

However, in the wake of private firms' rise in the global space sphere, the Chinese government has realized that it is necessary to introduce new players to stimulate innovation and competition and to fill gaps in the market left by State-owned contractors.

President Xi Jinping has instructed the nation's long-insulated space industry to open its doors to private participants and take advantage of their participation to boost sustainable growth.

Several government departments have published policies and guidelines that encourage private enterprises to take part in space-related businesses. As a result, nearly 10 private rocket firms have come into existence in China over the past three years. OneSpace, i-Space and LandSpace, all based in Beijing, have become leading firms when it comes to research and production capabilities, as well as funding.

LandSpace and i-Space have also announced that they want to make at least one launch of their carrier rockets, but have yet to publish a schedule.

 

[JSCh]

PUBLIC RELEASE: 12-MAR-2019
Mixed-cation perovskite solar cells in space
SCIENCE CHINA PRESS

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This is a representative schematic of the high-altitude balloon in near space (perovskite solar cells were fixed on the control platform).
CREDIT: ©Science China Press

With the continuous improvement of efficiency and stability, perovskite solar cells are gradually approaching practical applications. PSCs may show the special application in space where oxygen and moisture (two major stressors for the stability) barely exist. Publishing in Sci. China-Phys. Mech. Astron., a group of researchers at Peking University in China, led by Dr. Rui Zhu and Prof. Qihuang Gong in collaboration with Prof. Guoning Xu from Academy of Opto-Electronics, CAS, and Prof. Wei Huang from Northwestern Polytechnical University, have reported the stability study of PSCs in near space.

The metal halide perovskite materials demonstrate outstanding performance in photovoltaics because of their excellent optoelectronic properties. PSCs exhibiting outstanding efficiency, high power-per-weight, and excellent radiation resistance are considered to be promising for developing the new-generation energy technology for space application. However, the extreme space environment would impose a considerable challenge to the stability of devices, while the application of PSCs in space has rarely been researched.

Researchers demonstrated the attempt for the stability study of large-area perovskite solar cells (active area of 1.00 cm2) in near space. The devices were fixed on the high-altitude balloon rising from ground to near space at an altitude of 35 km in Inner Mongolian Area, China. The near space atmosphere at 35 km contains trace amount of both moisture and ozone, resulting in AM0 solar spectrum with the light intensity of 136.7 mW/cm2. This atmosphere also contains several high-energy particles and radiation (such as neutrons, electrons, and gamma rays), originating from the galactic cosmic rays and solar flares. The devices were fabricated as TiO2 mesoporous structure based on two commonly reported mixed-cation perovskites, FA0.9Cs0.1PbI3, and FA0.81MA0.10Cs0.04PbI2.55Br0.40. Moreover, different kinds of perovskite photoactive absorbers with and without UV filter were investigated. As a result, the device based on FA0.81MA0.10Cs0.04PbI2.55Br0.40 retained 95.19% of its initial power conversion efficiency during the test under AM0 illumination.

Researchers anticipate that this study will play very crucial roles in the future stability research of perovskite solar cells. This work also opens the route for perovskite solar cells in future space application. Dr. Rui Zhu and his colleagues are continuing to push the practical application of perovskite solar cells in space.


Mixed-cation perovskite solar cells in space | EurekAlert! Science News

Y. G. Tu, G. N. Xu, X. Y. Yang, Y. F. Zhang, Z. J. Li, R. Su, D. Y. Luo, W. Q. Yang, Y. Miao, R. Cai, L. H. Jiang, X. W. Du, Y. C. Yang, Q. S. Liu, Y. Gao, S. Zhao, W. Huang, Q. H. Gong, and R. Zhu, Mixed-cation perovskite solar cells in space, Sci. China-Phys. Mech. Astron. 62, 974221 (2019), https://doi.org/10.1007/s11433-019-9356-1​

 

[JSCh]

The success of The Wandering Earth a great encouragement to Chinese aerospace industry: NPC deputy
By Liu Xuanzun Source:Global Times Published: 2019/3/12 22:13:40

Propulsion systems key to lunar, Mars voyages

A poster for movie The Wandering Earth. Photo: VCG​

China's Long March-5 Y-3 heavy-lift rocket is now ready for launch after the cause of failure of the Long March-5 Y-2 was identified and solved, with additional tests underway ahead of the scheduled launch in July, a senior scientist said Monday.

China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC) has planned more than 30 launches in 2019, with two of them being the most symbolic: the redeployment of the Long March-5 and the launch of the Chang'e-5 lunar probe with the support of the Long March-5, Liu Zhirang, a National People's Congress deputy and head of the CASC Sixth Research Institute, told the Global Times on Monday.

The Long March-5 was China's first heavy-lift rocket. Long March-5 Y-1 was successfully launched in November 2016 at the Wenchang Space Launch Center in South China's Hainan Province.

But the launch of Long March-5 Y-2 on July 2, 2017 failed for malfunction less than six minutes after liftoff.

CASC successfully has located the cause of the failure and made improvements, Liu said.

The launch of the Long March-5 Y-3 rocket is scheduled around July, said Yang Baohua, CASC's vice president, at a press conference in January.

Liu said they are running additional tests before the launch to make sure everything goes well this time.

Long March-5's support will be crucial to future missions to the space station, manned lunar landing and Mars voyage in the future, Liu said.

The Long March-5 Y-4 rocket, which will be used to launch the Chang'e-5 lunar probe that is expected to bring lunar samples back to Earth, will be launched by the end of the year if the Long March-5 Y-3 rocket succeeds, Yang said in January.

Liu pointed out that they have developed propulsion systems not only for the rocket, but also for the Chang'e-5's lander, orbital vehicle and ascent device.

Liu said that they are developing a 500-ton class liquid oxygen and kerosene-fueled engine, a 200-ton and a 25-ton class liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen-fueled engine.

Liu also said projects related to propulsion should be approved as quickly as possible, because propulsion-related development usually takes more time than the rocket itself.

China topped the world last year with 39 rocket launches, while the US carried out 34, according to the Blue Book on China's Aerospace Science and Technology Activities released in January. CASC carried out 37 of the 39 launch missions in 2018, and sent 105 craft into space--95 from home and 10 from abroad.

Along with the achievement came the box office hit, The Wandering Earth, in February, sparking interest among Chinese people in the aerospace industry, which Liu said greatly encouraged the industry.

 

[Galactic Penguin SST]

China to develop a quantum satellite to provide 24h-service

2019-03-10 14:14:27 CGTN Editor : Gu Liping

Special: NPC, CPPCC Sessions 2019

China plans to develop a medium-high-earth-orbit quantum communication satellite able to provide services around the clock in the next few years, Pan Jianwei, member of the 13th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), told CGTN at the press conference for the second session of the 13th CPPCC National Committee on Sunday.

When asked about the future plan for quantum communication technology, Pan said his team is planning to design a new one to supplement the Mozi satellite, which can only function at night due to interference from the sun.

The nation launched its first quantum satellite in 2016. As the world's first quantum communication satellite, Mozi is expected to provide a technical foundation for China to build a self-developed ultra-secure communication system.

The quantum satellite is designed to establish "hack-proof" communications between parties by transmitting un-crackable keys from space to ground stations.

Pan stressed that quantum technology is very crucial to future technology, especially to information transmission.

"Like driverless vehicles, you need to make sure nobody can hack your driving system, so a secure system is needed, otherwise the passenger will be in trouble when their driving information is divulged," he said.

http://www.ecns.cn/news/2019-03-10/detail-ifzffurh3758630.shtml

Alas, as we suspected, quantum encryption turns out to be another hollow hoax!

Quantum encryption surprises: Shanghai Jiaotong University team penetrated the "strongest encryption shield", the experimental success rate was as high as 60%!

量子加密惊现破绽：上海交大团队击穿“最强加密之盾”，实验成功率竟高达60%！

2019-3-12 13:24

今日，一篇在预印本 arXiv 上发表的文章显示，上海交通大学研究团队近來在经过不断的实验与尝试之后，发现了现有量子加密技术可能隐藏着极为重大的缺陷，攻破这个最强的加密之盾却不需要什么神兵利器，而是利用“盾”本身就存在的物理缺陷。这个研究这将可能导致量子加密从原本印象中的坚不可破，转而变成脆弱不堪。

因为，以上海交通大学团队所发表的研究来看，上海交通大学的研究人员们成功发现目前被广泛应用在量子通信中的 QKD（Quantum Key Distribution，量子密钥分发）方法并不完美，研究团队通过将具有不同种子频率的光子注入激光腔 ( lasing cavity) 来改变激光频率的方法，进而观察注入光子的半导体激光器的动态，最终居然获得高达 60％的信息盗取成功率。


http://www.lianmenhu.com/blockchain-9355-1
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Commentary

As previously correctly assessed, quantum encryption is unsafe as it could anyway be hacked by targeting terminal hardware.

Therefore the real potential of this technology, if not secured, lies in the speed, allowing supraluminal communication in outer space, and making it "instantaneous" instead of the 3 to 21 minutes from Mars to Earth, 33 to 53 minutes from Jupiter and 5 hours from Pluto.

More below:

China's Deep Space Quantum Communications Capability V1.1
https://defence.pk/pdf/threads/chin...ons-news-updates.464793/page-53#post-11188985

 

[cirr]

Muscular solid-fuel rocket to fly soon

2019-03-14 08:27:24 China Daily Editor : Mo Hong'e

China Aerospace Science and Industry Corp will soon launch the nation's biggest solid-propellant carrier rocket and is working on new models that will be even larger and stronger, a project insider said.

Hu Shengyun, a senior rocket designer at the CASIC Fourth Academy in Wuhan, Hubei province, which develops and builds the Kuaizhou series, said the maiden mission of the Kuaizhou 11 will take place soon at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwestern China.

He spoke to China Daily on the sidelines of the ongoing second session of the 13th National People's Congress in Beijing as he attends the national legislature's annual meeting.

The researcher said the Kuaizhou 11 is China's largest and most powerful solid-propellant carrier rocket, with a length of 25 meters, a diameter of 2.2 meters, and a liftoff weight of 78 metric tons. It is able to place a 1-metric-ton payload into a sun-synchronous orbit at an altitude of 700 kilometers, or a 1.5-ton payload into a low-Earth orbit.

Before it, the biggest solid-fuel civilian rocket in China was the Long March 11, with a length of 20.8 m, a diameter of 2 m and a liftoff weight of 58 tons.

Information previously published by CASIC said the rocket that will fly first is to carry six satellites.

While preparation for the Kuaizhou 11 mission is underway, designers at the Wuhan academy have begun to develop two new solid-propellant rockets of bigger size and carrying capacity－Kuaizhou 16 and 21－said Hu, the rocket designer.

The Kuaizhou 16 will have a diameter of 3.5 meters and be able to place a 4-ton payload in low-Earth orbit. The Kuaizhou 21 will be bigger－with a diameter of 4.5 meters－and will also be mightier, able to send a 20-ton spacecraft to low-Earth orbit, power similar to the United States' Falcon 9 Full Thrust, Hu said.

Hu said the two new models are likely to conduct their first mission in about five years if all goes well. Like other Kuaizhou types, they will be mainly tasked with meeting demands in commercial launch service from the burgeoning satellite industry in China.

Meanwhile, designers also hope the Kuaizhou 21 will have the opportunity to serve government space programs such as the space station program, he added.

Zhang Di, a vice-president at the academy, previously told China Daily that the Kuaizhou 21 will be powerful enough to transport supplies to the country's future space station or to ferry robotic probes to planets far from Earth.

CASIC began to develop the Kuaizhou series in 2009 as a low-cost, quick-response product for the commercial space market. The company has launched four: two Kuaizhou 1s and two Kuaizhou 1As.

http://www.ecns.cn/news/sci-tech/2019-03-14/detail-ifzfmzhu2189101.shtml

 

[JSCh]

NEWS * 12 MARCH 2019
Super-sensitive telescope gets global governing body | Nature
CERN-like organization will oversee the construction and operation of the powerful Square Kilometre Array.

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South Africa’s MeerKAT radiotelescope is the prototype for the Square Kilometre Array.Credit: South African Radio Astronomy Observ.

Nations involved in the Square Kilometre Array (SKA) — a project to build the world’s largest radio telescope — have signed a convention to establish an intergovernmental organization to oversee the project and formally approve its construction.

The body, called the SKA Observatory, will be similar to organizations such as CERN, Europe’s particle-physics laboratory near Geneva, Switzerland, and will replace the SKA Organization, which has managed the telescope’s design and pre-construction activities since its establishment in 2011. The observatory, which is set to be headquartered near Manchester, UK, will have greater authority than the organization and will award contracts for the array’s construction.

The powerful telescope will be built in phases, and will ultimately comprise thousands of radio dishes in Africa and up to a million antennas in Australia. Together, these will have a receiving area of one square kilometre, and will be able to detect faint radio signals from the early Universe.

In the first, €674-million (US$760-million) phase, 130,000 antennas will be built in Australia, and more than 130 dishes will be added to South Africa’s 64-dish MeerKAT telescope, the project’s test bed. Construction is expected to begin in late 2020 and to take about seven years.

Twelve countries are currently involved in the project, but only seven — Australia, Italy, South Africa, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Portugal and China — signed the convention on 12 March as founding members. Sweden and India are also expected to sign up as full members.

The signing of the convention is an impressive achievement, given the diverse countries involved and the absence of historically influential science nations such as Russia and the United States, says Peter Gluckman, a science-diplomacy specialist and chair of the International Network for Government Science Advice in Auckland, New Zealand.

Before the observatory is formally created, signing nations must ratify the convention in their parliaments, which could take up to a year. Non-founding member countries will have to go through a separate accession process to join the observatory as full members.

 

[cirr]

Chinese study tests stability of new solar cells in near space

2019-03-15 20:09:19 Xinhua Editor : Li Yan

Chinese researchers have found that perovskite solar cells can retain most of their power conversion efficiency in near space, providing perspectives on the new solar cells' future application in space.

In recent years, perovskite solar cells (PSCs) are of huge interest to the academic community and the photovoltaics industry due to their potential of achieving higher efficiency and low production costs compared to traditional silicon solar cells.

According to researchers from China's Peking University, Academy of Opto-electronics, Chinese Academy of Sciences and Northwestern Polytechnical University, PSCs have great potential for developing the new-generation energy technology for space application, but little research has been done to test the stability of PSCs in the extreme space environment.

The Chinese researchers sent the devices fixed with PSCs into near space on a high-altitude balloon in China's Inner Mongolia region. The balloon rose to near space at an altitude of 35 km, a region above Earth's atmosphere where there is only a trace amount of moisture and ozone.

The region, considered to have "air mass zero," contains no atmospheric attenuation of solar radiation and therefore several high-energy particles and radiation, such as neutrons, electrons and gamma rays originating from the galactic cosmic rays and solar flares.

According to the findings, one type of perovskite solar cells used in the study retained more than 95 percent of its initial power conversion efficiency during the test, the researchers reported on Science China Physics, Mechanics &Astronomy.

They said the study is expected to play a crucial role in the future stability research of perovskite solar cells, hoping they can push forward the application of PSCs in space.

A perovskite is a type of mineral that was first found in the Ural Mountains and named after Lev Perovski, founder of the Russian Geographical Society. It is composed of calcium, titanium and oxygen.

Over the past few years, the improvements of perovskite formulations and fabrication routines have led to significant increases in power conversion efficiency, exceeding the maximum efficiency achieved in some silicon solar cells.

http://www.ecns.cn/news/2019-03-15/detail-ifzfmzhu2192066.shtml

 

[JSCh]

New rocket engines in making for moon, Mars
By ZHAO LEI | China Daily | Updated: 2019-03-20 07:04

Photo taken by the rover Yutu-2 (Jade Rabbit-2) on Jan 11, 2019 shows the lander of the Chang'e 4 probe. [Photo/Xinhua/China National Space Administration]

Chinese engineers are pushing forward with the research and development of engines to be used on the country's next lunar probe and its first Mars probe, a project leader said.

Liu Zhirang, president of the Academy of Aerospace Propulsion Technology in Xi'an, Shaanxi province, said that there will be more than 70 engines categorized within six series on the Chang'e 5.

Liu told China Daily in an exclusive interview that work on the liquid-propellant engines has been proceeding well, though some of the engines are new to Chinese engineers.

The rocket engines will be used to lift a major portion of the Chang'e 5 back into a lunar orbit, something that previous Chinese lunar probes did not do, he added.

"Our previous probes would stay on the moon for their entire lifespans, so their engines' task was simple－to carry out a controlled, slow descent."

By comparison, the Chang'e 5 has an ascender that will stay on the moon's surface for a while and then return to lunar orbit. Consequently, for the ascender's engines to be able to function well is a genuine challenge for us," he said.

The scientist said lunar dust and sharp temperature differences between day and night on the moon are likely to create challenges for the engines.

"We need to take these factors into consideration and use targeted measures, including adopting enhanced dust-proofing and temperature control instruments. Temperature control will be the most important factor in determining whether the engines operate well," Liu said.

In addition to ascender engines, those mounted on other parts of the Chang'e 5 will also test engineers' competence because they must be structurally strong and also as light and small as possible.

At the same time, they must also be capable of resisting extreme heat and cold, he said.

China plans to launch a Long March 5 heavy-lift carrier rocket to send the Chang'e 5 lunar probe to the moon around the end of this year and then use the spacecraft to bring samples back to Earth.

The 8.2-metric ton probe has four components－an orbiter, lander, ascender and re-entry module. After the probe reaches lunar orbit, the components will separate into two parts, with the orbiter and re-entry module remaining in orbit and the lander and ascender descending toward the moon's surface.

The lander and ascender will collect rocks and soil on the lunar surface. Later, the ascender's engines will lift it to lunar orbit to dock with the re-entry module. It will transfer samples to the module, which will carry them back to Earth, according to Chinese space authorities.

If the Chang'e 5 mission is successful, it will make China the third nation in the world to bring lunar samples back, after the United States and Russia.

China has announced it plans to launch its first Mars mission around 2020.

Liu said the engines on the Mars probe need to be smaller and lighter than those for lunar missions as the Martian atmosphere has different aerodynamic effects on the probe.

Furthermore, they must have higher automation capability because the long distance between Earth and Mars is likely to delay signals from ground control, Liu added.

 

[JSCh]

中国航天科技集团
今天 11:14 来自 360安全浏览器
【长征九号重型运载火箭发动机联试成功】3月24日，由中国航天科技集团有限公司六院研制的500吨级液氧煤油发动机燃气发生器-涡轮泵联动试验取得圆满成功，标志着我国500吨级重型运载火箭发动机关键技术攻关及方案深化论证达到预期目标。此型发动机为我国正在研制的最大推力火箭发动机，对支撑后续大型空间活动、载人登月及深空探测具有重要意义

China Aerospace Science and Technology Corp
Today 11:14 from 360 Secure Browser

[Successful trial of the Long March 9 heavy-duty launch vehicle engine]
On March 24th, the gas generator-turbine pump linkage test of the 500-ton liquid-oxygen kerosene engine developed by the Sixth Institute of China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation was successfully completed. It marks the key technical research and in-depth study and demonstration of China's 500-ton heavy-duty launch vehicle engine program has achieve the expected goal. This type of engine is the largest thrust rocket engine being developed in China, which is of great significance for supporting subsequent large-scale space activities, manned moon landing and deep space exploration.

 

[JSCh]

French science will go to the moon with China
March 26, 2019

CNES chairman Jean-Yves Le Gall (D) and Zhang Jianhua (G), vice president of CNSA, China, at the signing of a space cooperation agreement, in Paris on March 25, 2Yoan VALAT

France and China signed Monday in Paris a space co-operation agreement stipulating that French scientific instruments be sent to the Chinese Lunar Mission Chang'e-6, scheduled for 2023-2024, the French space agency Cnes announced.

"France comes to the moon with China", welcomed Jean-Yves Le Gall, president of Cnes, who signed this letter of intent with Zhang Jianhua, Deputy Administrator of the CNSA Chinese Space Agency, at the Elysee, in the presence of Presidents Emmanuel Macron and Xi Jinping. In his eyes, this is a "historic" agreement.

"We will launch 15kg of experiments on board the mission mission Chang'e-6, which will collect lunar samples from 2023-2024," said AFP National Center for Space Studies.

"We're going to put a camera, an analyzer, we're going to do ore chemistry", he detailed.

"France is really going to do science on the moon, and we have never done it before," he said. "It's really a big first".

China leads an ambitious moon program. She achieved a world premiere in early January by having a machine, Chang'e-4, on the other side of the moon.

Mission Chang'e-5 aims to collect lunar samples and report them on Earth. The mission Chang-6-e will also be a task to return samples.

"Again, through this agreement, we confirm that France is the world's largest partner with China" said Jean-Yves Le Gall

The agreement between CNES and the CNSA (China National Space Administration) also provides for a strengthening of their cooperation in the fight against climate change.

Two bodies have begun to study their next joint Earth observation mission focusing on sea salt water and soil moisture, according to a statement by Cnes.

In October 2018, China launched a satellite Oceanography, CFOSat, built with France, to observe interaction between the atmosphere and the sea, between winds and waves. CFOSat's calibrated data will be open to the international scientific community in May 2019, says CNES

China and France are also preparing astronomy's mission SVOM, which aims to detect gamma-ray fractures, the most energetic The phenomenon of the universe, the launch is scheduled for 2021. Another one ongoing collaboration: The Chinese Tiangong-2 orbital module has been transporting the French Cardiospace 2 unit since 2016, enabling astronauts to track the cardiovascular system in weightlessness.

Finally sending a French astronaut on a Chinese inhabited mission "is also one of the things we are discussing," adds Jean-Yves Le Gall. "It is obvious that having more cooperation with China will make things easier when the time comes." French astronaut Thomas Pesquet learned Chinese, as other European astronauts.

Source link​

https://vaaju.com/belgiumeng/french-science-will-go-to-the-moon-with-china/

 

[JSCh]

OneSpace
Today 10:24 from Android
[OS-M first launch vehicle final assembly completed at the end of March launch】 Onespace OS-M first launch vehicle has been assembled, and is currently in the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center for final preparations, plans to launch the mission at the end of this month, so stay tuned~[憧憬][憧憬][憧憬] Rocket finale video to understand

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Onespace OS-M getting ready for launch March 27, tomorrow afternoon.

 

[cirr]

China successfully conducts linkage test of Long March-9 rocket engine

2019-03-27 08:19:48 Global Times Editor : Li Yan

China has successfully completed a gas generator-turbopump test of the Long March-9 heavy-lift rocket engine, laying the foundation for future development of its heavy-lift launch vehicle programs, the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC) announced Tuesday.

The test, which was conducted on Sunday, demonstrated the feasibility of the gas generator-turbopump plan, and created a good basis for subsequent engine programs, noted Li Bin, deputy director of the No.6 Research Institute of CASC.

A liquid rocket engine mainly contains components including the thruster, the gas generator, the turbopump, and the operating systems. The turbopump is the core part of the engine and also the most difficult place in the technology. Designing a highly efficient turbopump is key to developing engines, said the CASC.

Liquid rocket engines play a major role in China's carrier rockets. China has developed the Long March series of carrier rockets during the past decades, and their main power, the YF-20 engine, has become the gold standard of China aerospace industry, according to the CASC.

China also developed highly efficient engines fueled by liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen, such as the YF-75 engine, and has launched satellites hundreds of times, accomplishing feats including manned space flight and lunar exploration. China has mastered techniques in engines fueled by liquid oxygen and kerosene, and ones by liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen, noted CASC.

The prototype of the 500-ton liquid rocket engine is the highest-thrust one being developed. It is of huge significance in China's future manned lunar landings, interstellar travel and deep space exploration programs, said the CASC, adding that this prototype will also be used in the Long March-9 heavy-lift carrier rocket.

China's heaviest-lift carrier rocket, currently called the Long March-9, will be sent into space by 2030, according to the Science and Technology Committee of the China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology, the Xinhua News Agency reported.

http://www.ecns.cn/news/sci-tech/2019-03-27/detail-ifzfsfwt8640844.shtml

 

[JSCh]

Nation's 1st private rocket factory begins operation
By ZHAO LEI | China Daily | Updated: 2018-12-21 09:33

Construction for LandSpace got underway earlier this month. [Photo provided to China Daily]​

The first privately owned carrier rocket factory in China, and the largest of its kind in Asia, recently began operations and is set to build what is expected to be the country's biggest privately designed rocket.

Zhang Changwu, founder and CEO of LandSpace, a rocket-maker in Beijing, said on Thursday that the factory in Huzhou, Zhejiang province, is currently being used to conduct technical tests of the company's newly developed TQ-12 rocket engine.

He said production of the engine and the ZQ 2 liquid-propellant carrier rocket will begin in 2019 at the factory, adding that the ZQ 2, which will be propelled by the TQ-12, is scheduled to carry out its first flight in 2020. Except for the Huzhou facility, all carrier rocket factories in China belong to State-owned space entities such as China Aerospace Science and Technology Corp.

According to publicly available information, before LandSpace there was only one private rocket-maker with its own production facility in Asia－Japan's Interstellar Technologies. The Japanese company's plant is in Taiki, Hokkaido, and is much smaller than the Huzhou factory.

Zhang said his factory now occupies about 4.7 hectares and will be expanded to 8 hectares. The facility will be able to produce about 15 ZQ 2 rockets and 200 TQ-12 engines starting in 2022, he said.

Zhang Chen, a senior manager at LandSpace, said the reasons behind the company setting up a factory in Huzhou include the fact that the city has been a testing base for State-owned space contractors for a long time. The local government is supportive of private businesses and is eager to upgrade local industries, and it is easy to find component suppliers in neighboring regions.

LandSpace launched its first carrier rocket－the 19-meter, solid-fuel ZQ 1－in late October at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwestern China, planning to place a mini-satellite into orbit. The mission failed because of technical malfunctions in flight.

Zhang Changwu said the company now focuses on the development of the ZQ 2, calling it "the largest and most powerful carrier rocket designed and built by a private Chinese rocket company".

The 48.8-m ZQ 2 will have a diameter of 3.35 m, the same as those in most of China's Long March rocket series, and a liftoff weight of 216 metric tons. It will be capable of placing a 1.8-ton payload into sun-synchronous orbit 500 kilometers above the earth or a 4-ton spacecraft into a low-Earth orbit with an altitude of 200 km, LandSpace said.

President Xi Jinping has personally requested that the nation's long-insulated space industry open its doors to private participants and take advantage of their participation to boost sustainable growth.

Meanwhile, several government departments have published policies and guidelines that encourage private enterprises to take part in space-related businesses.

There are nearly 10 private rocket firms in China and all of them were founded over the past three years. Of those, LandSpace, OneSpace and i-Space, all based in Beijing, are the leaders when it comes to research and production capabilities and funding. The three companies have all conducted launch missions.

LandSpace successfully tests rocket generator
Source:Global Times Published: 2019/3/26 22:23:40

LandSpace's ZQ-1 fails to reach its target orbit due to technical issues after a July 2018 launch. Photo: VCG

LandSpace, a Chinese private-sector aerospace enterprise, conducted a successful test of the semi-system generator called TQ-12 on Monday, laying the foundation for its whole-system generator test in the first half of 2019 and the launch of its first liquid oxygen methane rocket in 2020.

The generator was developed independently by the company and it is also a critical component of the design of the second liquid propellant carrier rocket called ZQ-2, according to a report by xinhuanet.com in July 2018, citing company Chief Technology Officer Kang Yonglai.

The cost-effectiveness and practicability of the liquid oxygen methane generator will radically alter the aerospace industry in China, according to Kang.

The first rocket, called ZQ-1, was launched in 2018 but failed to reach its target orbit due to technical issues.

The Chinese government is encouraging private capital to take part in the aerospace sector. LandSpace, one of the pioneers, is sometimes likened to the US' SpaceX.

"It is not appropriate to compare LandSpace with SpaceX, due to the different development path taken by Chinese private-sector aerospace companies," Huang Zhicheng, an expert of space technology, told the Global Times.

 

[JSCh]

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Onespace OS-M getting ready for launch March 27, tomorrow afternoon.

Unfortunately the launch failed. 2nd stage lost control after separation.

China航天
13分钟前 来自 OPPO R15 梦镜版
失败了……

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https://twitter.com/x/status/1110844525533106177