China Space Military：Recon, Satcom, Navi, ASAT/BMD, Orbital Vehicle, SLV, etc.

[bobsm]

Probe of Mars set for 2020
By Zhao Lei (China Daily)Updated: 2016-04-23 01:45

Xu Dazhe, head of the China National Space Administration

China's top space official confirmed on Friday that an unmanned probe to Mars will be sent to orbit and land on the Red Planet in 2020.

Xu Dazhe, head of the China National Space Administration, said the central government approved the Mars mission on Jan 11, and 2020 was chosen because it will be a time specifically suitable for a probe to land.

The favorable launch window appears every 26 months, so Chinese scientists are carefully planning the mission to make sure the window won't be missed, he said.

The probe will conduct scientific research on the Martian soil, environment, atmosphere and water, opening a new chapter in the country's deep-space exploration program, the official said.

Xu made the remarks at a news conference in Beijing to mark China Space Day, which falls on Sunday.

The State Council, which is China's Cabinet, announced in late March that starting this year, April 24 — the day when China launched its first satellite into space in 1970 — would be marked as China Space Day.

Pang Zhihao, a researcher on human space activity at the China Academy of Space Technology in Beijing, told China Daily that the country will face many challenges before it lands a probe on Mars.

"The probe will travel for about nine months before it reaches the Martian orbit, because the closest distance between the Earth and Mars is more than 50 million kilometers," he said.

"We must make sure its power system can sustain nine months of spaceflight."

Another challenge lies in tracking, monitoring and communicating with the spacecraft, since the probe will operate vary far from Earth.

http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2016-04/23/content_24775327.htm

 

[JSCh]

Xinhua photo of CZ-5 taken on assembly floor in Tianjin, 13th April 2016.
这是在航天科技集团一院天津大运载基地长征五号运载火箭总装车间拍摄的长征五号运载火箭的助推器（4月13日摄）。

 

[JSCh]

Facts & figures on China's space programs
Source: Xinhua | 2016-04-22 18:27:34 | Editor: huaxia

Photo taken on Dec. 29, 2015 shows the Long March-3B carrier rocket is launched with the Gaofen-4 Satellite in Xichang of southwest China's Sichuan Province. (Xinhua/Xue Yubin)​

BEIJING, April. 22 (Xinhua) -- From first satellite Dongfanghong-1 to manned space travel, from first space walk to soft-landing on the moon surface, China has made remarkable achievements in space exploration during the 60-year history of its aerospace industry.

The following are some facts and figures on China's space programs that have happened and will happen, that will continue to boldly go where no man has gone before.

10 ASTRONAUTS

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File photo taken on June 18, 2012 shows the screen at the Beijing Aerospace Control Center showing Chinese astronauts Jing Haipeng, Liu Wang and Liu Yang at the orbiting Tiangong-1 lab module. (Xinhua) ​

From 2003 till now, China's Shenzhou program has sent ten Chinese astronauts into space, with Yang Liwei being the first Chinese national who have traveled to space.

The ten astronauts are Yang Liwei, Fei Junlong, Nie Haisheng, Jing Haipeng, Liu Boming, Zhai Zhigang, Liu Wang, Liu Yang, Zhang Xiaoguang and Wang Yaping.

Among them, Zhai Zhigang was the first Chinese national to walk in space in 2008 and Liu Yang became the first Chinese woman in space in 2012.

This year, two other astronauts will be launched into space aboard Shenzhou-11 spacecraft which is scheduled to dock with Tiangong-2.

10 SPACECRAFT

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Combined photo taken on June 13, 2013 shows the screen at the Beijing Aerospace Control Center showing the simulated pictures of an automated docking between the Shenzhou-10 manned spacecraft and the orbiting Tiangong-1 space module. (Xinhua/Wang Yongzhuo) ​

So far, ten spacecraft have been successfully launched by China, including five manned spaceflights which have taken ten astronauts in total into space.

The first unmanned test flight of spacecraft, Shenzhou-1, was launched in Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China's Gansu Province on November 20, 1999.

1 SPACE LAB

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Photo taken on June 13, 2013 shows the screen at the Beijing Aerospace Control Center showing the Shenzhou-10 manned spacecraft conducting an automated docking with the orbiting Tiangong-1 space module and the view outside the propelling module of the Shenzhou-10 manned spacecraft (L, down). (Xinhua/Wang Yongzhuo)​

In September 2011, China launched its first space lab Tiangong-1 with a design life of two years. Tiangong-1 docked with unmanned spacecraft Shenzhou-8 on November 2, 2011, the country's first space docking that marked a major step towards the nation's ultimate goal of building a permanent space station.

Later, Tiangong-1 docked with manned Shenzhou-9 and Shenzhou-10 spacecraft.

In the third quarter of this year, China will send its second orbiting space lab Tiangong-2 into space, which is expected to dock with a cargo ship scheduled to be launched in the first half of next year.

By around 2020, the construction of the country's first orbiting space station should be completed. The space station is expected to consist of three parts - a core module attached to two labs.

3 LUNAR PROBES

Photos of the Chang'e-3 moon lander (L) and the Yutu moon rover during the mutual-photograph process, at the Beijing Aerospace Control Center in Beijing, capital of China, Dec. 15, 2013. (Xinhua/Ding Lin) ​

In 2007, China's first lunar probe, Chang'e-1, completed its nearly two-million-km journey to the moon and entered its working orbit, marking the first phase of China's lunar exploration program.

In 2010, China sent Chang'e-2 lunar probe, the follow-up to Chang'e-1 into space as a preparation for later soft landing by the Chang'e 3 lander and lunar rover.

Chang'e-3 lunar probe completed the country's first soft-landing on lunar surface in 2013. The moon rover Yutu, or Jade Rabbit, and the lander took pictures of each other, marking the complete success of Chang'e 3 mission.

OVER 200 ROCKETS

Photo taken on Dec. 29, 2015 shows the Long March-3B carrier rocket is launched with the Gaofen-4 Satellite in Xichang of southwest China's Sichuan Province. (Xinhua/Xue Yubin)​

Over 200 Long March series rockets have been launched by China in over four decades. From 2011 to 2015, 86 Long March rockets were launched, and from 2006 to 2010 the number was 48.

A Chinese rocket scientist said in March that 110 China-made Long March rockets will take to the skies over the next five years, as more models are developed.

 

[JSCh]

Xinhua Insight: The sky is not the limit: China's Mars plan
Source: Xinhua 2016-04-22 23:59:06

BEIJING, April 22 (Xinhua) -- Like many space-faring nations, China has seen Mars as the next destination ever since it landed on the moon. China plans to orbit Mars, land and deploy a rover, all in one mission around 2021.

No country has tried such a complex mission before, said Sun Zezhou, the chief designer of Mars probe. The United States, which has done most to explore the planet, required two separate missions before landing.

The probe will include an orbiter, a lander and a rover. After an interplanetary journey of 6 to 12 months, the probe will be positioned in orbit. The lander will then be separated, land on the surface and the rover begin its tour, while the orbiter surveys from above.

"All in one mission -- that's quite a bold attempt," Sun said after explaining the process.

BOLD ATTEMPT

The greatest challenge lies in the landing process, given that the weather on Mars is hard to predict, Sun said. "If we encountering a dust storm, the worst possible scenario, the rover can't touch down."

"Besides, the environment on Mars is so special that it is difficult for us to imitate on Earth, which makes it hard to practice," Sun said.

Mars is at least 55 million kilometers from Earth, which makes communicating with the probe another great challenge. One-way transmissions between Mars and the Earth could take as long as 20 minutes, so most of the time the rover will have to deal with things on its own. It must be smart enough to react to whatever it meets, Sun said.

ON JADE RABBIT'S SHOULDER

"We have less than five years till the launch, but we are confident. The probe is being developed by the team that completed the Chang'e-3 lunar probe," said Ye Peijian, of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

"The successful lunar landing laid the foundation for Mars exploration," said Sun, the chief designer of Chang'e-3 that went to the moon at the end of 2013. "It's on the moon's shoulder that we set have our mission objectives at such high level."

ONE STEP AT A TIME

Reaching Mars is so complicated that few countries have attempted it, and even fewer have made it. Among more than 40 missions since the 1960s, about half failed.

China made one unsuccessful attempt in 2011 when a probe carried by a Russian rocket failed to complete the mission. Calls for speeding up China's own mission mounted after India reached the planet in 2014.

"Although we are not the first Asian nation to send a probe to Mars, we want to start at a higher level," said Ye. "It is only when China gets to Mars that we really enter the age of deep-space exploration,"

According to Sun, the mission will focus on exploring planet's overall environment.

"One step at a time," he said. "Complicated objectives like looking for extra-terrestrial life are not included in our plans this time."

Sun also gave a clue to the specific landing place. "Considering all factors including land forms, light, temperature etc., the latitude of the best landing place ranges from 5 NL to 30 NL," he said.

"As China continues further and further into deep space, it will play a bigger role in solving key frontier scientific questions," Sun added.

 

[JSCh]

Screen capture of video on space robot and exo-skeleton.

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link to video in Chinese.

http://tv.cctv.com/2016/04/22/VIDET6n4xLbxBaYyOeDp8Q1w160422.shtml​

 

[Beast]

Screen capture of video on space robot and exo-skeleton.

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link to video in Chinese.

http://tv.cctv.com/2016/04/22/VIDET6n4xLbxBaYyOeDp8Q1w160422.shtml​

Why need to exo skeleton since there is no gravity in space? Basically, spaceman will feel nothing even with 100kg load on shoulder?

 

[JSCh]

Why need to exo skeleton since there is no gravity in space? Basically, spaceman will feel nothing even with 100kg load on shoulder?

On top-left hand side there is a list for EVA spacesuit. On top-right hand side another list for spacesuit with exoskeleton.

On left hand side it say spacesuit have limited motion and limited endurance(for astronaut) for operation. And it show exoskeleton would fix that on the right hand side.

In theory everything is weightless in space and effortless, but in actual it is not so. In the video, it show how the taikonaut has to "fight" the spacesuit in order to outstretch his arm.

In the video, the researcher also mention possible future application for extra-terrestrial operation on moon and mars.

 

[JSCh]

https://twitter.com/x/status/724040003026821120

Today is the first Space Day in China !!

CZ-5 (Long March 5)

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Video on CZ-5 in Chinese

The first CZ-5(Y1) for maiden flight is currently being manufactured and assembled in Tianjin.

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[JSCh]

The new 500t LOX/Kerosene engine for CZ-9 will be expected to complete ignition test before Oct. 2016.

500吨级重型液氧煤油发动机 - China Spaceflight

 

[Beast]

The new 500t LOX/Kerosene engine for CZ-9 will be expected to complete ignition test before Oct. 2016.

500吨级重型液氧煤油发动机 - China Spaceflight

That is fast. I bet 2018, this rocket will be ready for manned mission for Moon.

 

[JSCh]

China aiming for reusable manned spacecraft: chief engineer
Source: Xinhua 2016-04-24 17:30:47

BEIJING, April 24 (Xinhua) -- China is studying how to retrieve and reuse manned spacecraft in its future missions, the chief engineer of the nation's manned space program said on Sunday.

"It's our next goal to reuse manned spacecraft. We want to make our space exploration cost-effective," Zhou Jianping said, as China marks Space Day, newly designated by the government to commemorate China's first satellite launch on April 24, 1970.

Reusable manned spacecraft are a Holy Grail of space exploration. The United States developed partially reusable manned spacecraft capable of reaching low Earth orbit. But they were all retired in 2011 due to high costs and risks, including an accident in 2003 that killed seven astronauts.

Zhou did not go into any more details on the project, but stressed his team's focus on saving costs, giving an example from the Tiangong space lab series.

Tiangong-1 was due to be followed by Tiangong-2 and Tiangong-3, but Chinese scientists managed to incorporate all tasks planned for the third generation of the lab into Tiangong-2, he said. There has been no need to develop Tiangong-3.

And China's space station, to be completed around 2022, will be a "green model, with highly advanced and budget-saving facilities in flight control, power supply and waste recycling," according to Zhou.

Earlier this month, U.S. rocket developer SpaceX achieved a world first by landing one Falcon rocket on a carrier at sea.

China was paying close attention to such innovation and was testing its own reusable rockets, promising a breakthrough before the end of 2020, according to earlier reports.

 

[JSCh]

That is fast. I bet 2018, this rocket will be ready for manned mission for Moon.

It is just the first step for rocket engine development.
FYI, CZ-9 project is not yet approved.
Two days ago, it was reported that project titled "Heavy launch vehicle/rocket's key technologies R&D and further/deepening design validation"(重型运载火箭关键技术攻关和方案深化论证阶段) has been approved.
The 500t rocket engine would be considered a key technology for CZ-9 rocket.

 

[Beast]

It is just the first step for rocket engine development.
FYI, CZ-9 project is not yet approved.
Two days ago, it was reported that project titled "Heavy launch vehicle/rocket's key technologies R&D and further/deepening design validation"(重型运载火箭关键技术攻关和方案深化论证阶段) has been approved.
The 500t rocket engine would be considered a key technology for CZ-9 rocket.

It just more of a rubber stamp announcement. I am fully confident CZ-9 has already long approved. The CSA will always try play down to reduce pressure on the scientist.

 

[JSCh]

CALT (China academy of launch vehicle technology) just released these photos of CZ-5 during rehearsal/drill last year in Wenchang launch center, Hainan.

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More at -> http://calt.spacechina.com/n482/n699/index.html

 

[JSCh]

4月13日，今年将要发射的基于东方红4号平台的一颗通信卫星，质量超过5.2吨，太阳翼总长度26米，国产化率95%，将在轨服务15年，其中一幅天线的数据带宽达3.2Gbps 没有提到卫星的名称。

Translation:
Info from broadcast on April 13: a communications satellite based on the DFH-4 bus/platform is to be launched this year, mass more than 5.2 tons, total length of solar array is 26 m, localization rate of 95%, in-orbit service life is 15 years, one of the antenna data bandwidth is 3.2Gbps, no mention of the name of the satellite.