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

[JSCh]

Nation makes breakthrough in space plane project
Source:Global Times Published: 2019/10/22 23:23:40

A second-stage aircraft detaches from the first-stage aircraft in a wind tunnel experiment of a Chinese space aircraft project. Photo: screenshot from the WeChat account of Chinese Academy of Aerospace and Aerodynamics

China recently made an important breakthrough in developing its own space plane, a genre of aircraft that is expected to become a crucial weapon in the future, a state-owned research institute said.

The First Research Institute of the Chinese Academy of Aerospace and Aerodynamics successfully conducted a wind tunnel experiment, in which the second-stage aircraft freely detached from the first-stage aircraft of a two-stage-to-orbit (TSTO) space plane, according to a statement the academy released on its WeChat account on Monday.

TSTO means the space plane consists of two aircraft, with the first stage carrying the second stage, a military expert who asked not to be named told the Global Times on Tuesday,

The first stage will provide power to the space plane upon takeoff, and when it reaches a certain height and speed, the second stage will detach from it and power itself further into space, as the first stage will land just like a normal plane, the expert said.

When detaching, there is very strong and complicated flow distribution that could affect the flight of the aircraft, so the two stages must be separated fast and safely, the statement said.

The experiment solved multiple technical difficulties and set up a universal wind tunnel experiment protocol, providing an advanced method to develop future space planes, the statement said. With the successful development of technologies like scramjet engines, technical research has gone past the concept stage, it said.

Space plane is a crucial weapon of the future and represents the trend of integrating aviation and space technologies, the academy said.

Many countries have been developing space planes, including the US with its X-37B, which many military observers claim is a prototype space fighter.

A space plane can be used for reconnaissance, anti-satellite, anti-ballistic missile and ground attacks if used as a weapon, the military expert said, noting that it can also send satellites and astronauts into space at a lower cost than rockets, because it is reusable and uses standard airports.

China unveiled the Tengyun Project in 2016, which is planning the first test flight for the Chinese space plane in 2030, Beijing-based Science and Technology Daily reported in December 2016.

China joins race to perfect planes that can fly into space
China Daily Global | Updated: 2019-11-14 01:14

A large-scale model of the domestically developed Aviation Industry Corp of China AG600 Kunlong seaplane, the world's newest and largest amphibious aircraft, is displayed at the China Pavilion during the International Aviation and Space Salon 2019 on Aug 27, 2019. [Photo by Zhao Lei/China Daily]

The concept of aerospace planes has been around since the 1980s.

Fuelled by the technological boom of the Cold War, the vehicles are two-part planes that initially take payloads into the sky like conventional planes before a second compartment breaks off and flies into orbit.

Convenient and reusable sub-orbital space flight was a dream of NASA, which it dubbed the Rockwell Project and which it finally laid to rest in 1993. However, countries around the world, including the United States, are still investing heavily in aerospace planes, not in the least because they have the potential to deliver much heavier payloads into space than the current space shuttles, at, potentially, a fraction of the cost.

China announced last month that it had made breakthroughs in developing such two-part aerospace planes, via successful wind-tunnel experiments.

Wind tunnels are used to simulate how the aircraft react to flight by projecting air around the craft and creating the illusion that the object itself is flying.

The experiments simulate the aerodynamic environment of a launch at extremely high speeds and the tests in China were able to demonstrate that a Chinese craft stayed safely on its trajectory, according to the China Academy of Aerospace Aerodynamics.

The escape velocity, which is the speed required to escape the gravitational pull of the earth, is 11.2 kilometers per second, which means these vehicles move extremely quickly.

Of the space planes being developed, the Boeing X-37, which is operated by the United States Air Force, is still leading the field, having completed five orbital missions and having demonstrated that reusable space technology is the next stage in humanity's path of interstellar innovation.

Such aircraft launch from an airport, just like any other conventional plane, which is significantly safer than a rocket launch. Rocket launches, in the event of a catastrophe, are not only dangerous for the crew, but also for surrounding bystanders on the ground.

In 1960, a Soviet rocket launch accident killed more than 160 people on the ground, including several high-ranking Russian space officials. At NASA's Kennedy Space Center, there have also been incidents in which workers have been killed during launch preparations.

This concept of both taking off and landing as a conventional plane but of using that platform to leap into space is an exciting one for space researchers, not in the least because of the efficiency of aerospace economics, which means more scientific experiments can be carried out in space, potentially leading to medical breakthroughs.

Several months ago, researchers discovered that zero-gravity conditions kill certain types of cancer cells, however the cost of sending just a small box of cells into space, weighing less than a kilo, would run to tens of thousands of dollars.

If this exciting new technology progresses, the science sector will not be the only sector to benefit. Space tourism could also be part of the future.

Countries including China, the US, and Russia all have their own aerospace programs, in which they seek not only to further their knowledge of science and the cosmos, but to maintain national security and defense.

It is vital, going forward, that these programs are safe and do not cut any corners. Space flight is inherently dangerous, and the cosmos is akin to the dangerous seas and oceans that our ancestors first attempted to navigate with stone age technology.

The NASA Challenger disaster, in which seven astronauts lost their lives, is a reminder that we are in our infancy in the field. The ensuing report on the disaster stated that engineers urged a delay in the launch a day before the incident because of concerns over the ability of the seals that ended up failing to withstand the unusually cold temperatures at the time of the launch. Their advice was not heeded because of various pressures.

Moving forward is exciting, but we must ensure that the humanity we seek to enrich by pushing the limits is also preserved in the process.

 

[JSCh]

China航天
今天 11:35
法国CNES天体物理学家弗朗西斯·罗卡尔昨天演讲时介绍中国探月项目，嫦娥七号、2036年登月，着陆器满满苏联风格。
French CNES astrophysicist Francis Rocard introduced in his speech yesterday - Chinese lunar exploration project, Chang'e-7 and the year 2036 manned lunar project, its lander looks full of Soviet style.

 

[JSCh]

China's Mars mission makes first public appearance
Source:Global Times Published: 2019/11/14 13:58:40

The comprehensive test ground for extraterrestrial landing in North China's Hebei Province. Photo: Ma Jun/GT

A group of foreign diplomats and international representatives were invited to observe the obstacle avoidance test of the lander of China's first Mars exploration mission in North China's Hebei Province on Thursday, the first public appearance of China's Mars exploration mission that shows China is pragmatically carrying out space international exchanges and cooperation.

Around 70 foreign representatives from various embassies, the European Union and African Union to China and international organizations including the Asia-Pacific Space Cooperation Organization, invited by the China National Space Administration, observed the test, which simulated the process of hovering, avoiding obstacles and descending of the lander in a Martian environment.

The test was conducted in Asia's biggest comprehensive test ground for extraterrestrial landing.

China has signed 140 space cooperation agreements with 45 countries and international organizations in the past 60 years.

China conducted international cooperation with countries including Germany, the Netherlands, Sweden and Russia in the Chang'e-4 mission.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1194864058442248194

 

[JSCh]

China's micro lunar orbiter crashes into Moon under control
Source: Xinhua| 2019-08-02 16:28:11|Editor: huaxia


BEIJING, Aug. 2 (Xinhua) -- China's micro lunar orbiter Longjiang-2 has crashed into the Moon under ground control after it completed its mission, according to the Lunar Exploration and Space Program Center of the China National Space Administration.

The micro satellite crashed into a predetermined area on the far side of the Moon at 10:20 p.m. on July 31 (Beijing Time), the center said Friday.

Weighing 47 kg, Longjiang-2 was sent into space on May 21, 2018, together with the Chang'e-4 lunar probe's relay satellite "Queqiao," and entered the lunar orbit four days later. It operated in orbit for 437 days, exceeding its one-year designed lifespan.

The development of the micro lunar orbiter explores a new low-cost mode of deep space exploration, said the center.

The micro satellite carried an ultra-long-wave detector, developed by the National Space Science Center of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, aiming to conduct radio astronomical observation and study solar radiation.

As a part of the international cooperation behind China's Chang'e-4 mission, Longjiang-2 also carried an optical camera developed by the King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology of Saudi Arabia. The camera has captured 30 high-definition images of the Moon.

The Lunar Exploration and Space Program Center said it was an important space cooperation achievement for countries participating in the Belt and Road Initiative, and also ushered in more space cooperation between China and Saudi Arabia.

The program also pushed forward non-governmental cooperation between the satellite's developers from the Harbin Institute of Technology in northeast China's Heilongjiang Province and research teams in countries such as Japan, Germany and the Netherlands.

Longjiang-2 Impact Site Found! | Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera

The Longjiang-2 spacecraft (also known as DSLWP-B) crashed onto the lunar farside on 31 July 2019 after completing its orbital mission. This new crater was most likely the result of that impact. Image width 330 meters, north is up, image enlarged by 4x, LROC NAC M1324916226L (NASA/GSFC/Arizona State University).

The Longjiang-2 satellite was launched to the Moon along with the Queqiao communications satellite on 20 May 2018 by the China National Space Agency (CNSA). The small spacecraft (45 kilograms) was designed to work with its twin (Longjiang-1) to validate technologies for low-frequency radio astronomy observations.

A team led by Daniel Estévez estimated that the small spacecraft impacted somewhere within Van Gent crater (16.69°N, 159.52°E). The LROC team used these coordinates to image the area on 5 October 2019 from an altitude of 122 kilometers (M1324916226L). Through a careful comparison of pre-existing NAC images, the LROC team was able to locate a new impact crater (16.6956°N, 159.5170°E, ±10 meters), a distance of only 328 meters from the estimated site! The crater is 4 meters by 5 meters in diameter, with the long axis oriented southwest to northeast. Based on proximity to estimated crash coordinates and the crater size, we are fairly confident that this new crater formed as a result of the Longjiang-2 impact.

Before and after images of the newly formed crater credited to the impact of Longjiang-2 [NASA/GSFC/Arizona State University].

​

The new crater is located on a steep slope, greater than 20°, measured from an LROC NAC Digital Terrain Model [NASA/GSFC/Arizona State University].

Posted by Mark Robinson on November 14, 2019 18:46 UTC.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1195064058141184002

 

[JSCh]

Realigning magnetic fields may drive the sun’s spiky plasma tendrils
Solar spicules appear to dump heat into the corona

Whiskery plasma jets, known as spicules, on the sun appear as dark, threadlike structures in this image, acquired at the Goode Solar Telescope in Big Bear, Calif.
T. SAMANTA, GST & SDO

By Christopher Crockett
19 HOURS AGO

Tendrils of plasma near the surface of the sun emerge from realignments of magnetic fields and pump heat into the corona, the sun’s tenuous outer atmosphere, a study suggests.

The new observation, described in the Nov. 15 Science, could help crack the century-plus mystery of where these plasma whiskers, called spicules, come from and what role — if any — they play in heating the corona to millions of degrees Celsius.

Spicules undulate like a wind-whipped field of wheat in the chromosphere, the layer of hot gas atop the sun’s surface. These plasma filaments stretch for thousands of kilometers and last for just minutes, shuttling ionized gas into the corona. Astronomers have long debated how spicules form — with the sun’s turbulent magnetic field being a prime suspect — and whether they can help explain why the corona is a few hundred times as hot as the sun’s surface (SN: 8/20/17).

To look for connections between spicules and magnetic activity, solar physicist Tanmoy Samanta of Peking University in Beijing and colleagues pointed the Goode Solar Telescope, at Big Bear Solar Observatory in California, at the sun. They snapped images of spicules forming, while also measuring the surrounding magnetic field. The team discovered that thickets of spicules frequently emerged within minutes after pockets of the local magnetic field reversed course and pointed in the opposite direction from the prevailing field in the area.

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Counterpointing magnetic fields create a tension that gets resolved when the fields break and realign, and the team postulates that the energy released in this “magnetic reconnection” creates the spicules. “The magnetic field energy is converted to kinetic and thermal energy,” says study coauthor Hui Tian, a solar physicist also at Peking University. “The kinetic energy is in the form of fast plasma motion — jets, or spicules.”

To see if this energy made it into the corona, the team pored through images acquired at the same time by NASA’s orbiting Solar Dynamics Observatory. Those data revealed a glow from charged iron atoms directly over the spicules. That glow, Tian says, means the plasma reached roughly 1 million degrees Celsius. Whether that’s enough to sustain the scorching temperature throughout the corona, however, remains to be seen.

Tiny, wispy jets of plasma called spicules undulate in the lowest level of the sun’s atmosphere in this video captured by NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory.

“Their observations are amazing,” says Juan Martínez-Sykora, a solar physicist at the Lockheed Martin Solar & Astrophysics Laboratory in Palo Alto, Calif.

Capturing this level of detail is difficult, Martínez-Sykora says, because individual spicules are relatively small and come and go so quickly. He does caution, though, that the magnetic reconnection story needs to be checked with computer simulations or more observations. As it stands, it remains a postulation, he says.



Realigning magnetic fields may drive the sun’s spiky plasma tendrils | Science News

Tanmoy Samanta, Hui Tian, Vasyl Yurchyshyn, Hardi Peter, Wenda Cao, Alphonse Sterling, Robertus Erdélyi, Kwangsu Ahn, Song Feng, Dominik Utz, Dipankar Banerjee, Yajie Chen. Generation of solar spicules and subsequent atmospheric heating. Science (2019). DOI: 10.1126/science.aaw2796​

 

[JSCh]

China presents satellite data receiving devices to Kyrgyzstan, Mozambique
Source: Xinhua| 2019-11-15 20:35:18|Editor: ZX

HAIKOU, Nov. 15 (Xinhua) -- China Meteorological Administration (CMA) on Friday presented data receiving equipment of Fengyun-2H meteorological satellite to Kyrgyzstan and Mozambique at the 2019 Fengyun Satellite User Conference held in Haikou, capital of south China's Hainan Province.

China attaches great importance to the promotion of global cooperation and application of the Fengyun satellites and has been strengthening worldwide satellite data sharing and technical training.

A user support team has been set up to provide on-site and remote services to international Fengyun satellite users, said Liu Yaming, head of the CMA.

The CMA has organized nine international training courses on the application of the satellites since 2013, with nearly 200 trainees attending, Liu said, noting that the CMA would offer better services to meet the demands of users in countries participating in the Belt and Road Initiative.

China has launched a total of 17 Fengyun meteorological satellites, with seven currently in orbit.

Co-hosted by the CMA and China National Space Administration, the three-day conference attracts more than 100 user representatives and experts from more than 30 countries and regions, as well as the World Meteorological Organization and the Asia-Pacific Space Cooperation Organization.

 

[JSCh]

China航天
今天 16:39
【快舟一号甲发射车】高度4.2米，长度24米，体重105吨，体型庞大。灵活、机动、快速！
前后七对轮胎，并且是全轮驱动。正常情况下连续发射四次，不需要进行大的维护保养。同时，这个部分选取了特殊的复合材料，耐高温能力达到了三千度以上。有了发射车的优异特性，火箭只需要一个篮球场大小的发射区域。整个发射前的准备时间只需要七天，四小时内即可完成快速发射。正是因为具备了这样快速发射的能力，快舟一号甲的发射频率不断提高。此次更是首次实现了双箭同时进场。也就是说，在接下来的一周内，还会有另外一发快舟火箭升入太空。快舟一号甲运载火箭日趋成熟，快舟家族也在不断壮大。近期，快舟十一号运载火箭就将迎来首飞。全新的“太空快递”将具备更强的能力O原来太空“快递”这么送！China航天的微博视频

[Kuaizhou-1A TEL (Transporter, Erector, Launcher)]
It has a height of 4.2 meters, a length of 24 meters and a weight of 105 tons. Flexible, mobile and fast! Seven pairs of wheels all together, and are all-wheel drive. It can perform launches four consecutive times under nominal condition and would not require much maintenance. At the same time, its part was made with special composite material, that can withstand high temperature up to more than three thousand degrees. With all these excellent features of the TEL, the KZ-1A rockets would only need a basketball court-sized launch area. The preparation time before the entire launch takes only seven days, and the launch can be completed on-site within four hours. It is precisely because of this ability to launch quickly that the launch frequency of the KZ-1 is constantly increasing. This is the first time that two rocket has been delivered at the same time. In other words, during next week, another KZ-1 rocket will be launched into space. The KZ-1 carrier rocket is maturing and the Kuaizhou rocket family is growing. KZ-11 carrier rocket will usher in its first flight shortly, this new "Space Express" will have even more capabilities.

Breaking !! the second KZ-1A has just been launched.

林晓弈
10分钟前 来自 微博视频 已编辑
2019年11月17日18时，快舟一号甲运载火箭携带着 KL α 双星成功起飞，目前火箭末级第一次点火中，工作正常。航天爱好者网超话 O网页链接 O微博视频

10 minutes ago from Weibo
At 18:00 on November 17, 2019, the KZ-1 carrier rocket carrying the KL α dual satellite successfully took off. It is now at the first ignition of the upper stage, and is working normal.

林晓弈
5分钟前 来自 航天爱好者网超话
正在发射的快舟一号甲火箭上的载摄像头画面。
5 minutes ago
The camera image of the KZ-1 rocket being launched.

 

[onebyone]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1196044850447167490

https://twitter.com/x/status/1196033413272293376

 

[JSCh]

China sends two global multimedia satellites into planned orbit
Source: Xinhua| 2019-11-17 21:38:58|Editor: Yurou

JIUQUAN, Nov. 17 (Xinhua) -- Two global multimedia satellites were sent into planned orbit from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China on Sunday.

The two global multimedia satellites, KL-a-A and KL-a-B, was launched by Kuaizhou-1A (KZ-1A), a carrier rocket at 6:00 p.m. (Beijing Time).

The two satellites are international cooperative commercial projects delivered by the Innovation Academy for Microsatellites of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. They are mainly used for the Ka-band communication technology test, and the user is a German company.

KZ-1A is a low-cost solid-fuel carrier rocket with high reliability and a short preparation period. The rocket, developed by a company under the China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation, is mainly used to launch low-orbit microsatellites.

Sunday's launch was the third mission for KZ-1A this year.

 

[JSCh]

China begins space-based broadband project
By Zhao Lei at Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center | chinadaily.com.cn | Updated: 2018-12-22 08:18

The first satellite in the Hongyun project, which was planned by China Aerospace Science and Industry Corp (CASIC) to be the country's first low-orbit broadband communications satellite constellation, was launched on Saturday at 7:51 am on a Long March 11 carrier rocket at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwestern China. [Photo by Li Jin/Provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

China launched a communications satellite on Saturday, marking the start of construction of a vast space-based communications network capable of covering the entire world with broadband internet service.

The first satellite in the Hongyun project, which was planned by China Aerospace Science and Industry Corp (CASIC) to be the country's first low-orbit broadband communications satellite constellation, was launched on Saturday at 7:51 am on a Long March 11 carrier rocket at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwestern China.

The spacecraft is tasked with verifying basic designs of Hongyun satellite and demonstrating low-orbit broadband communications technologies.

Its main payloads are Ka-band transponders and transmission antennae. It also carries several scientific and technical devices to explore Hongyun system's applications in scientific research, environmental survey as well as air and sea transportation, CASIC said in a statement.

Weighing 247 kilograms, the satellite works in a sun-synchronous orbit about 1,100kilometers above earth. It is powered by solar arrays and has a design life of one year, but is expected to operate longer, according to Xiang Kaiheng, Hongyun's chief designer at CASIC Space Engineering Development Co Ltd in Beijing, which is responsible for developing and running the Hongyun constellation.

After a yearlong in-orbit technological demonstration by the satellite, CASIC plans to launch four mass-production Hongyun satellites before the end of 2020 to form a small network for Hongyun's trial run, he said.

The Hongyun project, started by CASIC in September 2016, aims to build a space-based communications network to provide broadband internet connectivity to users around the world, especially those in underserved regions.

CASIC currently intends to place more than 150 Hongyun satellites on orbits about 1,000 kilometers above the ground around 2023, while the constellation is likely to be further expanded in response to market demands, the designer said.

Globally, the concept of running a low-cost, high-performance satellite network to provide space-based communications and internet services has become popular among industry players.

The United States' SpaceX launched two experimental satellites last month to test technologies for its Starlink project, in which tech tycoon Elon Musk proposes to put a total of nearly 12,000 satellites into orbit by the mid-2020s.

Another US firm, OneWeb, plans to launch a satellite constellation of 648 low-Earth orbit microsatellites by the end of 2019, though few developments have been reported.

Successful satellite tests to allow ‘Hongyun speed’ by 2020
By Deng Xiaoci in Wuhan Source:Global Times Published: 2019/11/19 19:43:40

Liu Shiquan, deputy general manager of space giant China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation addresses at the 5th China International Commercial Aerospace Forum in Wuhan, Central China's Hubei Province. Photo: Deng Xiaoci/GT

The demonstration system for China's Hongyun Project, a low-orbit broadband communication satellite system, will become operational at the beginning of 2020, making substantial progress toward the eventual goal of providing internet connectivity to users around the world, developers told the Global Times on Tuesday.

Liu Shiquan, deputy general manager of space giant China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation (CASIC) announced Tuesday that testing of the first Hongyun Project satellite has been successfully completed. Li was addressing the ongoing 5th China International Commercial Aerospace Forum in Wuhan, Central China's Hubei Province.

The project, also known as the H-cloud, was developed by CASIC. The first tech-experimental satellite for the project was launched on December 22, 2018 from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in Northwest China's Gansu Province.

CASIC said in a statement it sent to the Global Times on Tuesday that all satellite performance and function tests have been completed. The testing included under different weather conditions, and for different business scenarios such as website browsing, video chats and high-resolution streaming services.

During the tests, there was no frame loss or buffering, and all functions and indicators met the design requirements, it said.

By the beginning of 2020, users across China will be able access the demonstration system of the Hongyun Project, and they will be able to take advantage of what it described as "Hongyun speed," CASIC said.

The Hongyun Project, which was announced in 2017, is expected to launch four more satellites to gain preliminary experience by 2020. CASIC expects to have a total of 156 satellites in operation by the middle of the 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-25).

The project can offer communication and internet services for China and less-developed countries with reduced latency. Meanwhile, the project can also benefit emergency communication, sensor data collection and remote control of unmanned equipment, CASIC said in 2017.

International maritime satellites currently are widely used for communications in mountainous areas and for airplanes, but these satellites, which will orbit 36,000 kilometers above the Earth, have time and signal delays as well as high costs for providing services, Yang Yuguang, a research fellow with CASIC, said when the company announced the plan in 2017.

 

[JSCh]

Manufacturing complex for carrier rockets nears completion in Wuhan
By Zhao Lei | China Daily | Updated: 2019-11-20 09:19

A new manufacturing complex for carrier rockets will soon be built and start operation, according to a project insider with China Aerospace Science and Industry Corp, the major investor in the base.

Construction of the complex, part of the Wuhan National Space Industry Base, will be completed around the end of this year and the complex will have an initial production capacity of 20 Kuaizhou-series solid-propellant carrier rockets, said Zhang Di, a senior rocket scientist and chairman of Expace Technology, a CASIC subsidiary in Hubei province's Wuhan that builds the Kuaizhou rocket.

The complex's infrastructure construction began in October 2017 and has recently been finished.

Currently, engineers and technicians are installing and fine-tuning equipment, Zhang told China Daily on the sidelines of the 5th China International Commercial Aerospace Forum when it opened on Tuesday in Wuhan.

More than 300 researchers, executives and government officials will take part in the two-day forum, the largest of its kind in China.

"After the complex starts operation, we will be able to assemble at least 10 Kuaizhou 1As and at least 10 Kuaizhou 11s on an annual basis," Zhang said. "If demands in our rocket keep increasing, we will expand the annual production capacity to 30."

Before the end of 2020, his company plans to carry out more than 10 Kuaizhou 1A launch missions for clients, he said.

Upon its completion, the Wuhan National Space Industry Base will cover 68.8 square kilometers in Wuhan's Xinzhou district. It aims to attract at least 100 enterprises involved in the space industry before 2020 and generate an annual gross product of 30 billion yuan ($4.36 billion) by that time, according to CASIC.

CASIC began to develop the Kuaizhou series in 2009 as a lowcost, quick-response product for the commercial space market. Kuaizhou is the largest solid-propellant rocket family in China, as opposed to the Long March series that mainly relies on liquid fuel.

The State-owned space conglomerate has launched two Kuaizhou 1s and five Kuaizhou 1As.

In another development, Zou Guangbao, general manager of CASIC Space Engineering Development in Beijing, said on Tuesday during the aerospace forum that a satellite production complex that was mainly invested in by his company is nearing completion and will be put into operation in 2020.

He said that the complex will be tasked with researching, designing and making small satellites and will be capable of building more than 100 satellites each year.

 

[JSCh]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1196895925609754624

 

[JSCh]

New carrier rocket to debut in 2020
chinadaily.com.cn | Updated: 2019-11-20 11:26

File photo of a Long March rocket. [Photo/CCTV]

China's new medium-lift launch vehicle Long March 8 will make its maiden flight next year, and it has entered the final stage of assembly and testing, according to the Fifth China International Commercial Aerospace Forum held on Tuesday.

Long March 8 has been designed for commercial use to compete in the world market for carrying a maximum payload of 4.5 tons to the Sun synchronous orbit, according to the forum held in Wuhan, Central China's Hubei province.

It will meet clients' requirements on low cost and good performance, said Tang Yihua, deputy head of the China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology under the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation.

It is estimated that after being put on the market, its annual output will meet the demand of at least 10 launches in the early stage, and more than 20 in the later stage, Tang said.

In 2020, China will have major launch missions for lunar probe, Mars probe and Beidou navigation system.

Zhuang Jingguo, chief engineer of the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation, said that there will be around 30 rocket launch missions next year, including the Chang'e-5 mission to take lunar samples back to Earth.

 

[JSCh]

CASIC plans space-based Internet with 80 satellites

The rocket Kuaizhou-1A carrying the satellite JL-1 and two CubeSats XY-S1 and Caton-1 blasts off from Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China's Gansu Province, Jan. 9, 2017. (File photo/China News Service)

(ECNS)-- The Fourth Academy of the China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation (CASIC), the main contractor for the Chinese space program, officially unveiled a new subordinate entity on Friday to build space-based internet services using 80 small satellites.

Zhang Di, deputy director of the academy and also president of the new company Xingyun, said cellular mobile communication technology is unable to provide Internet across more than 80 percent of the land and 95 percent of the ocean.

He said the new space-based service and Internet of Things will turn a new chapter in communication and allow easy connection whether on sea, islands or in the desert.

Xingyun will be dedicated to the research, manufacturing and launch of low orbit satellites, building a network and finally a space-based Internet of Things, according to Zhang.

He added that cloud computing and Big Data services will be part of a planned information ecology system to allow internet access all across the world.

Xingyun already sent its first experimental satellite into low earth orbit aboard a Kuaizhou 1 rocket in Jan. 2017. The company plans to send a total of 80 satellites into space in three stages to complete the system, with countries along the One Belt One Road initiative as the main target market.

China to launch two IoT satellites by year end
2019-11-20 15:53:02 Ecns.cn

(ECNS) - China plans to launch two experimental satellites by the end of the year amid efforts to finally build a satellite-based Internet of Things, China Central Television reported.

The network will comprise 80 small low-orbit satellites to ensure a global network, low cost and strong communication capacity, according to sources at the 5th China Commercial Aerospace Forum held in Wuhan City, Hubei Province.

The satellite-based Internet of Things (IoT) will be a powerful complement to the ground-based network in areas with no or weak signals.

It is expected to be widely applied, such as for communication with islands, oil and power equipment supervision, agricultural data collection and information transmission for engineering machinery sectors.

 

[JSCh]

航天见闻
今天 17:55 来自 航天见闻超话
航天科技集团火箭院副院长唐一华在第五届商业航天高峰论坛上透露，长征八号、长五B、长七A三型新一代火箭，都会在2020年实施首飞。
Today at 17:55
Tang Yihua, deputy director of China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology (CALT), revealed at the 5th Commercial Aerospace Forum that new generation launch vehicle - Long March 8, Long March 5B and Long March 7A will all have their maiden flight in 2020.

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