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In most cases, it isn't worth it. Technology gets old and its cheaper to replace the satellite with newer capabilities than refuel the old one. Chinese planners may be interested in the dual-use of this capability.
True, if fuel can be changed so should the modules in satellite. Which will lead to the whole satellite getting changed.
Not only that most of the satellites will be in fixed orbits and need to change only a few times. Most of the satellites stay there for long time in the same orbit. For example Indian satellites are designed to for avg life of 4-5 years but end up staying useful for more than 7 years in orbit.
 
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In most cases, it isn't worth it. Technology gets old and its cheaper to replace the satellite with newer capabilities than refuel the old one. Chinese planners may be interested in the dual-use of this capability.

But a 3T refilling vehicle can prolong 10 GEO satellites by 2 years each, or we just need one particular mission critical satellite to work for additional few months.
 
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Whether you're transporting fuel or satellite, the cost of delivery is the same.

P.S. Satellite delivery cost is declining too.
http://spacenews.com/indias-pslv-la...lites-including-13-commercial-u-s-spacecraft/

Well, when 10 satellites need to refuel, you need to replace 10 satellites, so you need to launch 10 new satellites. But with this tanker, you need only to launch 1 rocket that can refuel (and will be able to repair them too later in 2020). And remember, this is not only Chinese, but also NASA. They do the same thing to repair, refuel, and prolong their satellites.
 
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In order to refuel, the refueling satellite tanker need to dance with the sat in the same obit and synchronize the movement for docking, the precision of docking is even more difficult than space station docking, all this prove one thing, we can go to grab enemy stat at their orbit will never an issue.
 
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航天科技六院801所微牛级电喷推力器点火成功

2016/07/01

2016.07.01日前,801所研制的千瓦级霍尔推力器空心阴极长寿命试验达到28115小时,超过了产品技术指标要求的3.5倍,跨入国际先进水平行列。

2016.07.01近日,801所通过3个多月攻关,微牛级电喷推力器点火成功,实现了原理突破。

:coffee::D@Bussard Ramjet
 
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China announces success in technology to refuel satellites in orbit

Source: Xinhua

2016-06-30 20:28:19

CHANGSHA, June 30 (Xinhua) -- China has successfully completed the in-space refuel of orbital satellites following last week's launch of a new generation carrier rocket, the National University of Defense Technology announced on Thursday.

Similar to air refueling for planes, the process refuels a satellite in orbit in a microgravity environment and will extend a satellite's functional life and boost its maneuver capabilities considerably.

Developed by the university, Tianyuan-1 is the country's first in-space refueling system for orbital satellites. It was launched into orbit aboard the Long March-7 carrier rocket on Saturday.

A series of core independent processes were tested and verified after the launch, with data and videos recording the full process sent back to earth, the university said in a statement.

"The injection process was stable, and measurement and control were precise," it said, adding that the test proved that Tianyuan-1 met design requirements.

Though an area of great interest, the process is complicated and only a few countries have began experiments.

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2016-06/30/c_135479061.htm

That is a GREAT Achievement ; Many Congratulations
 
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China successfully refuels a satellite in orbit
The very rare feat will keep the country's satellites alive for a while longer.
https://www.engadget.com/2016/07/02/china-refuels-satellite-in-orbit/

China is now one of the precious few countries that knows how to refuelsatellites in space. The nation's Tianyuan-1 system (launched aboard theLong March 7) has successfully topped up at least one satellite in orbit. Officials aren't describing the process beyond likening it to that for airplanes, but the result is clear: the refueling should help satellites stay in orbit for longer, or make adjustments that would otherwise be impractical.

Refuelling systems could become a non-event in a few years thanks torobotic spacecraft. However, there's a strong incentive to get this technology into space as quickly as possible. If you can keep a satellite in orbit for even a year or two longer, you can save massive amounts of money by reducing the number of vehicles you need to deploy. The move could also help with the fight against space junk by slowing the proliferation of dead or useless satellites. The ultimate goal is to completely avoid fuel in the first place, but efforts like China's represent an important first step.
 
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China successfully refuels a satellite in orbit
The very rare feat will keep the country's satellites alive for a while longer.
https://www.engadget.com/2016/07/02/china-refuels-satellite-in-orbit/

China is now one of the precious few countries that knows how to refuelsatellites in space. The nation's Tianyuan-1 system (launched aboard theLong March 7) has successfully topped up at least one satellite in orbit. Officials aren't describing the process beyond likening it to that for airplanes, but the result is clear: the refueling should help satellites stay in orbit for longer, or make adjustments that would otherwise be impractical.

Refuelling systems could become a non-event in a few years thanks torobotic spacecraft. However, there's a strong incentive to get this technology into space as quickly as possible. If you can keep a satellite in orbit for even a year or two longer, you can save massive amounts of money by reducing the number of vehicles you need to deploy. The move could also help with the fight against space junk by slowing the proliferation of dead or useless satellites. The ultimate goal is to completely avoid fuel in the first place, but efforts like China's represent an important first step.
Wow... thats some achievement. It would help a lot with the space junk floating around there. I wonder how they do it without adding more junk.
 
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Ferrari World in Abu Dhabi, imaged by the Jilin-1A optical satellite over 600km above the Earth. (Photo: Courtesy of Chang Guang ST Co.)

China’s first domestically developed commercial Earth imaging satellites are up-and-running in orbit, and are the first step in an ambitious plan to secure a niche in a growing sector and help revitalise the Northeast China economy.

Launched in October, Jilin-1 consists of four satellites – two providing high-definition video, one for commercial high-definition images, and another for testing new space technology. And ten more are due to join them in 2016.

Jilin-1 was developed by a commercial entity - Chang Guang Satellite Technology Co. Ltd - belonging to the Changchun Institute of Optics, Fine Mechanics and Physics (CIOMP) under the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS).

Chang Guang Satellite Technology Co told gbtimes that it aims to build a brand new commercial platform and a completely open eco system, to lower the threshold for remote sensing applications, and fill the void of remote sensing for civil use in China.

To this end, the 420kg Jilin-1A optical satellite is providing images of a maximum full colour resolution of 0.72 metres and 2.88m multispectral resolution.

W020160513376514334206.jpg

An image of Beijing showing the Bird's Nest stadium, Water Cube and Olympic Park (Courtesy of Chang Guang ST Co).

The company says it is aiming to provide new concept products to customers to change people’s way of life, and to form an industry chain which integrates advanced technology, low costs and high yield.

With China undergoing rapid urbanisation, urban development, changes in agriculture and strain on resources such as a water, a range of clients could come to realise the benefits of getting images from space.

As well as images, footage from the Lingqiao video satellites shows traffic on the move in Durango, Mexico, while in a 656km sun synchronous orbit:

According to Chang Guang Satellite Technology Co, Jilin-1 is a substantial improvement compared with current domestic satellite technologies, exceeding the resolution of Gaofen-2, part of China’s CHEOS constellation, and is on par with advanced international satellite technologies.

The satellites can provide remote sensing data support to areas including land resources monitoring, land surveying, mineral resources development, smart city construction, agriculture yield estimation, environmental monitoring, disaster prevention and more.

W020160513376514363125.jpg

Lhasa, Tibet, as seen by the Jilin-1A optical satellite (Courtesy of Chang Guang ST Co).

Clients have so far been mainly public customers, particularly those involved in areas of forestry, agriculture and security.

Jilin-1 will be followed late this year with ten satellites with the launch of the Jilin-2 and Jilin-3 missions from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre in the Gobi Desert.

W020160513376514416848.jpg

Like Jilin-1, the following missions will launch on Long March 2D from Jiuquan (CNS).

And this is just a part of Chang Guang Satellite Technology Co’s ambitious plan to have 60 satellites operational by 2020, allowing 30-minute revisit capability anywhere around the globe, and 138 satellites in service by 2030, thereby increasing temporal resolution to ten minute revisits.

W020160513376514411319.jpg

Peter and Paul Fortress in St Petersburg, Russia, in May 2016 (courtesy Chang Guang ST Co).

Chinese autonomy, provincial revitalisation

Jilin-1 underlines growing Chinese autonomy in high-resolution satellite imagery. Spacenews.com notes that China has since 2009 been rapidly replacing low and medium resolution imports from the US and Europe with imagery from domestic satellites, and now in sharper-resolution imagery as well.

At the same time, this trend is reducing prices of imagery per square kilometre in China.

As well as filling a national gap, the company is part of attempts to fill a hole left by a restructuring economy.

W020160513376514432305.jpg

Jilin-1A optical satellite (Chang Guang ST Co.).

Located in China’s northeast, which once thrived as a base of state-owned heavy industry, Chang Guang Satellite Technology Co is backed by a provincial drive toward revitalisation through innovation and securing a niche in the aerospace sector and satellite industry.

The aim is to make Jilin a ‘satellite province’. To this end the province will construct an aerospace information industry park in the capital Changchun, to drive the development of machinery manufacturing, optical sensing technology and other upstream industries.

W020160513376514443829.jpg

A representation of the Changchun aerospace information industry park (People's Government of Jilin).

The company, making use of the long experience and expertise of CIOMP, sees huge market demand in the satellite remote sensing industry globally, the noticeable gap between China and the developed countries, and the opportunity for rapid development.

They note that taking advantage of this opportunity requires capital investment and talent cultivation, and they will need to meet the market’s high demands on both space resolution and time resolution, requiring quantity and quality of orbiting satellite.

"The scale of global commercial satellite industry will expand quickly in a short time in the future," they predict.

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The Richat Structure in the Sahara Desert, April 2016 (Chang Guang ST Co.).

Domestic competition

The Jilin satellites can expect tough domestic competition, however. Go Taikonauts, a team producing detailed, independent periodic reporting on China’s space-related activities, note that a new initiative spurred by the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC), the main contractor for the Chinese space programme, will soon take off.

The planned constellation referred to as “16+4+4+X” will consist of sixteen 0.5 m resolution optical satellites, four high-end optical satellites, four microwave (radar) satellites and several video and hyperspectral birds. The first two 0.5m resolution optical satellites, Gaojing-1 and Gaojing-2, are expected to launch late this year.


Meanwhile, Twenty First Century Aerospace Technology Co. Ltd (21AT) has its three-satellite Beijing-2 constellation, built by the UK’s Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd. (SSTL), already in operation above the Earth.

Global growth

Internationally, startups such as Planet Labs based in San Francisco, whose tiny Doves cubesats provide 3-5 m optical resolution, and Google subsidiary Terra Bella already have remote sensing satellites in orbit.

America’s DigitalGlobe is the established master of civilian remote imaging, which provides high resolution imagery for Google Earth and Google Maps. Its WorldView-3 satellite offers images of a maximum resolution of 25 cm from over 600km above the Earth.

But other companies are looking to fill niches by providing fresh data and revisiting sites many times a day, while keeping costs down with the small size of their expendable satellites. Like Chang Guang Satellite Technology Co, they sense off-world opportunities.
 
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China's first satellite-based laser range finder starts operation

The Ziyuan III satellite-based laser ranger finder started operation recently. With the assistance of this new device, the new satellite Ziyuan III is able to collect 3-D images of objects 2.5 meters or longer, and reduce deviation of vertical positioning to one meter.

我国首台对地观测激光测距仪在轨开机
发表时间:2016-07-14 09:24来源:光明日报 字体:[大][中][小] [打印] [关闭]
近日,随资源三号02星发射升空的我国首台对地观测激光测距仪开机测量,获取回波数据真实有效。其成功在轨开机标志着我国在激光应用技术领域又迈上新台阶。
该激光测距仪可在500公里轨道高度实现1米的测量精度,用它从卫星上打出一束激光,通过测量激光折返的时间和角度,就能计算出地表某一点的相对高度,获得地表的特征信息。由于能够辅助资源三号02星提高可见光相机立体测绘的高程精度,因而该激光测距仪大大提高了我国对全球三维地形的测量精度。
由中国航天科技集团公司五院自主投入研制的这项产品可广泛用于星载对地主动遥感、空间目标探测和空间导航等领域,实现被测目标三维成像、空间目标跟踪及监视,应用前景广阔。(记者张蕾 通讯员王春辉)
 
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China to launch 1st high-capacity broadband satellite
People's Daily Online, July 26, 2016

China is scheduled to launch its first high-capacity broadband satellite by the end of 2018, and to begin satellite communications services by 2019, according to the satellite system's blueprint.

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Photo/CASC

The blueprint was revealed as part of a contract signed between the Shenzhen government and China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC) on July 23, according to CASC's official WeChat platform. A new company, APT Mobile SatCom Limited (APSTAR), co-founded by the two bodies, was also unveiled.

APSTAR will shoulder the responsibility for construction of the high-capacity broadband satellite system, the costs for which are estimated at 10 billion yuan.

Cheng Guangren, president of APSTAR and also an expert on communications satellites, said the company will launch two more high-capacity broadband satellites to serve in the Americas, Europe and Africa, creating a global broadband satellite communications system by 2020.

According to CASC, the system will have three to four satellites, each with a capacity dozens of times that of normal broadband satellites.

“With the help of high-capacity broadband satellites, we can now offer better service in remote areas, in the air and on the sea where there used to be no communications services,” Cheng was quoted as saying.

When it is complete, China's global communications system will offer a continuous, reliable and autonomous service that supports the Belt and Road Initiative as well as other overseas development projects, the CASC post explained.
 
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