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

[My-Analogous]

Good... I think we already have beidou..

Yes we have both civilian and military use systems and Pakistan is the only country which is using military version also outside China

 

[Path-Finder]

Yes we have both civilian and military use systems and Pakistan is the only country which is using military version also outside China

This is news better than relying on GPS which can be meddled with. I hope Pakistan can start its own one day or join a project that will give it control for its own use.

 

[RealNapster]

This is news better than relying on GPS which can be meddled with. I hope Pakistan can start its own one day or join a project that will give it control for its own use.

You can always go for a regional system. Just like Indian one. will cost us less than 1 billion dollars.

 

[TaiShang]

Beidou is a complete business ecosystem. It brings countless positive externalities from chip makers to private service providers.

Of course, the greatest benefit is increased national security. In the end, one can trust one's own the most.

The choice of Sri Lanka might create concern in India but this is merely a state to state business. As for Myanmar, I think after the veto at the UNSC, the government will be more thankful to China for stopping short what could be a deadly intervention.

 

[TaiShang]

Ofo cranks up the heat with BeiDou locks for its bikes
By MA SI and ZHENG YIRAN | China Daily | Updated: 2017-04-07

Riders scan ofo bikes in Xi'an, Shaanxi province. [Photo/China Daily]

Chinese bike-sharing startup ofo Inc will equip its bicycles with BeiDou-enabled smart locks, as part of its efforts to leverage the nation's homegrown BeiDou navigation satellite system to offer better-positioning services.

Ofo signed a deal on Thursday with a local company－ChinaLbs International BV－which will see its bikes in Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei province become the first to have BeiDou-enabled smart locks.

Ofo CEO Dai Wei said: "The BeiDou locks are tailor-made for bicycles in the sharing-economy sector, which can help users better locate bikes in remote areas and boost operating efficiency."

Beijing Mobike Technology Co Ltd, the arch rival of ofo, is currently using GPS-enabled smart locks for its bicycles. GPS is a navigation satellite system developed by the United States.

"As we further venture into overseas markets, we will help bring the BeiDou navigation system to other countries in future," Dai said.

Currently, ofo operates a fleet of over 2.5 million bicycles, offering transportation to a total of 30 million riders in 47 cities around the world. The company said it handles more than 10 million bike-sharing trips a day.

Ofo said the two partners would also jointly build a big data platform which will help offer better smart transportation services.

"We are glad to cooperate with ofo to promote the development of the BeiDou navigation system in the bike-sharing industry, which is also one of the target areas of our company," said Cao Hongjie, general manager of ChinaLbs International BV.

Ofo is locked in a fierce battle with Mobike for dominance in China as a growing number of local consumers look to cycling for transportation.

***

Next time in Mainland, will definitely use Ofo, instead of Mobike.

 

[JSCh]

China Considering Cooperation With Russia on Space Debris
01:13 06.04.2017(updated 01:56 06.04.2017)

China’s National Space Administration Secretary-General Yulong Tian says that China is contemplating developing cooperation with Russia with respect to space debris.

COLORADO SPRINGS (Sputnik) — China is contemplating developing cooperation with Russia with respect to space debris, China’s National Space Administration Secretary-General Yulong Tian told Sputnik.

"As for future cooperation, one area is the joint launching campaign. We have a new launch site in Hainan, and Russia has East [Vostochny] Cosmodrome. This could be area of cooperation between China and Russia," Tian said on Wednesday. "Another area is space objects, space debris observations and management. These are the areas that we are exploring for cooperation between China and Russia."

Tian emphasized that China has had very good cooperation with Russia in the area of space.

"We have established a China-Russia joint committee that is under the Prime Minister. Our future cooperation will be focusing on the launch vehicle, joint development and exploration projects," Tian explained.

Tian noted that China and Russia are also working very closely on remote sensing satellite cooperation.

"The inter-governmental cooperation is very good, and we are also working at the industry and commercial level," he stated.

"There are at least two visits are being planned. Next month we will be sending a delegation to Russia for space debris discussion. And we will be sharing the data for observations," Tian said on Wednesday. "And the BRICS, we will have visits in June and in September, when the Chinese delegation will be visiting Russian cosmodrome in the east."

The Secretary-General noted that the visits will be at the level of heads of agencies.

Moreover, Tian said that China and Russia are working on BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) satellite constellation for earth remote sensing.

"I think this not only helps the China-Russia cooperation, but also helps the BRICS countries to work together in space," he said. "Every year we have top level meetings three-four times a year between Russian and China. So, we would consider Russia the closest partner of China."

The Secretary-General said a Chinese delegation will visit Russia for discussions on space debris in May.



China Considering Cooperation With Russia on Space Debris | Sputnik International

 

[samsara]

China's lunar sample return mission will pave way for future ambitions

By Andrew Jones • April 6, 2017

Yutu 玉兔, literally means "Jade Rabbit", China's unmanned lunar rover

China will launch one of its most complex and exciting missions so far later this year, when Chang'e-5 attempts to land on and collect samples from the Moon before delivering them to Earth—the first such mission by any country for more than four decades. The mission will be an engineering feat and result in some significant science, but it also has some interesting subplots.

CCTV

CHANGE'5

Chang'e-5 (嫦娥五号 - Chang'e refers to the Chinese moon goddess) marks the third and final stage of the original China Lunar Exploration Program (CLEP) approved in the early 2000s, which set out to first orbit and map the Moon (Chang'e-1 and 2), then land and rove on the lunar surface (Chang'e-3 and Yutu), and finally collect samples and bring them to Earth for analysis.

Following earlier successes and technological breakthroughs, Chang'e-5 is now scheduled to launch in late November from Wenchang Satellite Launch Center in Hainan Island on a new Long March 5 heavy-lift rocket.

The last lunar sample return was the Soviet Union's Luna 24 in 1976, so China is clearly still catching up. But rather than merely copying Cold War-era missions, as has often been suggested, this will also provide lessons and experience for more ambitious missions in the future.

The Luna 24 ascent stage returned directly to Earth, but China has decided that the Chang'e-5 mission will rely on a lunar orbit rendezvous similar to that used for the Apollo landings. The 8.2 metric ton Chang'e-5 spacecraft thus consists of a service module, lander, ascent unit, and a return vehicle.

After collecting samples, the ascent module will lift off and dock with the service module in orbit around the Moon, nearly 400,000 kilometers away from Earth. The samples will be transferred to the reentry capsule, which itself will separate from the service module a few thousand kilometers from Earth before reentry and landing.

The lunar orbit rendezvous approach is a very interesting choice we'll look at later, but note for now that this will be the first robotic rendezvous and docking around a planetary body other than the Earth.

Landing sites and science goals

Six Apollo and three Soviet robotic Luna missions brought lunar rocks and regolith back to Earth, but the Moon is a large and diverse body and there is much to be learned. According to a paper recently presented at the 48th Lunar and Planetary Science Conference, a number of target sites near Mons Rümker in the northern Oceanus Procellarum are being considered.

Spectral analysis of craters using imaging data from the Chandrayaan-1 Moon Mineralogy Mapper suggests that material at one candidate area is just 1.33 billion years old, meaning Chang'e-5 could be returning by far the youngest lunar basaltic samples yet (Apollo basalt samples were 3 to 4 billion years old).

Planetary Scientist Phil Stooke, using information from another paper to be presented at the European Geoscience meeting in April, mapped out the region containing seven candidate sites identified by scientists with the Chinese Academy of Sciences. Within this, the 'preferred landing area' box marks the candidate site discussed above.

Phil Stooke

CHANGE'5 LANDING AREA

The landing region containing candidate landing sites extends from 41 to 45 degrees North, and from 49 to 69 degrees West, within Oceanus Procellarum.

The Chang'e-5 lander will also be carrying three scientific payloads. The Lunar Regolith Penetrating Radar (LRPR) will investigate the subselenean structure and guide the drilling process, which will penetrate to a depth of around two metres and retrieve around around two kilograms of samples. This is similar to the ground-penetrating radar the Yutu rover employed to uncover the previously unknown complexity beneath the surface of Mare Imbrium.

The Lunar Mineralogical Spectrometer (LMS) will collect in-situ measurements and analyze the mineralogical composition of the sample site, look for water absorption features, and provide comparisons with returned samples.

Last but far from least, a Panoramic Camera (PCAM) with stereo capability will be along for the ride and hopefully return spectacular images like those from the panoramic camera on the Yutu rover. Emily Lakdawalla's blog post on the Chang'e-3 data set is an absolute must.

It is expected that all of this will be attempted within a single lunar day (14 Earth days) to reduce risk, with the reentry capsule scheduled to touch down in the grasslands of Siziwang Banner in Inner Mongolia—the same landing area used for Shenzhou human spaceflight missions—before the end of December.

The samples will then be immediately sent for analysis at a specially built, but unspecified, laboratory headed by Chinese cosmochemist and CLEP chief scientist Ouyang Ziyuan. It is hoped the mission will reveal new information about the Moon's interior, its thermal evolution, and late-stage volcanism.

Long March to the Moon and back

To make a mission of this complexity possible, China has taken a number of incremental and necessary steps to ensure they are ready for the challenge.

The lander and service module are based on successful earlier Chang'e missions, while rendezvous and docking have been proven by Shenzhou missions visiting the Tiangong-1 and 2 space labs.

In 2014, China launched the Chang'e-5 T1 test mission including a reentry capsule nicknamed 'xiao fei' which returned from around the Moon and successfully demonstrated a 'skip reentry'—a maneuver used to help get rid of with the extra energy that comes with high velocity return from the Moon (around 11 km/s compared to 7 km/s from low Earth orbit).

China has also needed to develop a heavy-lift launch vehicle and new launch site to get to this point. The Long March 5 will also be sending an orbiter, lander and rover to Mars in 2020. Another variant, the 5B, will allow the country to begin constructing its Mir-class space station around late 2018.

Space missions are also almost always an international effort. Though not yet confirmed, China may once again receive tracking, telemetry and command (TT&C) support from ESA's European Space Operations Center, as was the case for Chang'e-3. In this case tracking stations in Kourou and Maspalomas would provide crucial assistance for the probe's trip to the Moon.

YouTube user Martin Reichman

Human and Martian subplots

The fact that the Chang'e-5 will be carrying out a difficult Lunar Orbit Rendezvous rather than a simpler direct return is an indication that the mission is also a small step towards putting astronauts on the Moon.

The country's government has not officially announced a program for human lunar landings, but this, together with the development of a successor to the Shenzhou crewed spacecraft and preliminary work on a Saturn V-class super-heavy launch vehicle (Long March 9), leaves little doubt that China is targeting the Moon around the 2030s.

Another monumental mission that Chang'e-5 rendezvous approach could prove useful for is a Mars sample return, which the country is planning for around 2030 using the requisite Long March 9. Returning samples from the Red Planet, a mission now being studied, could yield clues or direct evidence for past or even present extraterrestrial life, a moment that would be a clear marker in human history (and 'change the worlds' in the words of Bill Nye). NASA also has plans for such a project, but its future is unclear. While there is no 'space race' between China and the United States, this could be one small arena in which they compete for a potentially seismic 'first'. There's a long way to go before sampling Mars, but Chang'e-5 will hopefully be a step along this road.

The other good news is that Chang'e-5 is far from the end of China's robotic plans for lunar exploration, which are now being expanded. Chang'e-4, the backup to the successful Chang'e-3, is being repurposed for an unprecedented 2018 far side lander and rover mission, involving a relay satellite at Earth-Moon Lagrange Point 2, as Emily Lakdawalla details here.

Should both Chang'e-5 and the slightly confusingly later Chang'e-4 mission come off, the backup sample return probe Chang'e-6 is expected to be used to collect material from the lunar far side or south pole. Following this, the early 2020s will see robotic visits separately to both poles.

Read more: the Moon, Chang'E program

Andrew Jones
is a space journalist following China's space program. He is based in Finland and tweets as @AJ_FI.
Read more articles by Andrew Jones

 

[parkour guy]

Good... I think we already have beidou..

Only in Karachi.

 

[JSCh]

Monday, April 10, 2017, 16:42
Chinese tracking ship Yuanwang-7 begins space monitoring mission
By Xinhua

Yuanwang-7 started its maritime space monitoring and communication mission for Tianzhou-1, China's first cargo spacecraft. (Photo / Zong Zhaodun, China Daily)

NANJING - Chinese space tracking ship Yuanwang-7 started its maritime space monitoring and communication mission for Tianzhou-1, China's first cargo spacecraft, on Monday morning.

Yuanwang-7 is sailing into the Pacific Ocean, the first time for the ship to carry out a journey independently. During its maiden voyage in July 2016, the ship was accompanied by Yuanwang-6.

The vessel is also expected to perform emergency response and scientific tasks after reaching its destination in the Pacific Ocean on Thursday.

Designed by China, Yuanwang-7 is 220 meters long, 40 meters high and has a displacement of nearly 30,000 tons.

Yuanwang-7, part of the country's new generation of spacecraft tracking ships, entered service on July 12, 2016. It has performed scientific research and experiment-related tasks, including tracking missions for the maiden flight of the Long March-5, space rendezvous and docking of manned spacecraft Shenzhou-11 and the Tiangong-2 space lab.

The Yuanwang-1 and Yuanwang-2 ships, China's first-generation space tracking vessels, entered service in 1979, making China the fourth country to master space tracking technology after the United States, Russia and France.

 

[yusheng]

 

[cirr]

China to launch Shijian-13 experimental sat on Wednesday

ANDREW JONES

2017/04/10

The Xichang Satellite Launch Centre in the hills of Sichuan Province, SW China, in late 2013.

China is set to launch its first high-throughput satellite, Shijian-13, from Xichang on Wednesday, which will utilise ion propulsion and test space-to-ground laser communications.

Shijian-13 will be launched to geostationary orbit on a Long March 3B rocket from the Xichang Satellite Launch Centre, southwest China, at around 7pm Beijing time on April 12 (11am UTC), according an airspace restriction notice.

The 4.6-tonne satellite is set to be positioned at 110.5E, from where it will provide Ka-band satellite broadband and multimedia services to mainland China and other areas with a message capacity of more than 20 Gbps.

Shijian-13 will also carry out space-to-ground laser communications experiments, which could pave the way to much greater advances in satellite communications capacity.

The satellite has a design lifetime of 15 years and will mark the first full use of China's LIPS-200 xenon ion engines for propulsion.

Using ion engines instead of heavy conventional chemical fuels can allow a satellite to carry greater payloads or reduce launch costs.

The engines were developed by the Lanzhou Institute of Physics (LIP) and were first tested on Shijian-9A, launched in October 2012.

Above: A Long March 3B launches Belintersat-1 from Xichang in January 2016.

Following on-orbit testing, the Shijian-13 ('practice-13') satellite will be designated as Zhongxing-16 (Chinasat-16).

The satellite, based on the DFH-3B platform, was manufactured by the China Academy of Space Technology (CAST) and is planned for use in distance learning, medicine, internet access, airborne and maritime communications, and emergency communications.

Launch on Wednesday would be China's fourth orbital mission of 2017, following TJS-2, a Kuaizhou-1A rocket launch, and Tiankun-1.

The China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC), the main contractor for the Chinese space programme and of which CAST is a subsidiary, is aiming for close to 30 launches in 2017, with further solid-fuelled rocket launches of small satellites also expected for another state-run space actor, CASIC.

China's busy April

Launch of Shijian-13 will kick off a very busy month for the Chinese space programme, which will see a major mission, a national space day and the revealing of a name and logo for the country's 2020 Mars mission.

The main business will be Tianzhou-1, the first test of cargo spacecraft that marks a crucial step towards constructing a space station.

Tianzhou-1 will launch from the new coastal Wenchang Satellite Launch Centre on the second Long March 7 carrier rocket, and, once in orbit, dock with Tiangong-2, with the main aim of testing and proving liquid propellant refuelling technologies in microgravity.

Tianzhou spacecraft, much like Russian Progress or American Cygnus resupply craft, will be required to keep the future Chinese Space Station (CSS) fuelled and its astronauts fully sustained and supplied.

Preparations for launch are being finalised on Hainan Island, and the Yuanwang-7 tracking ship has started its maritime space monitoring and communication tasks ready for the mission.

Current rumours and projections suggest a launch for either April 20 or 23 and live streams of the launch will be available.

Above: Tianzhou-1 undergoing testing at the AIT centre in North China.

On April 24, the anniversary of the launch of the country’s first satellite (Dongfanghong-1) in 1970, China will host its second national ‘Space Day’, as part of space and science education outreach, and seeking to secure political rewards for the ruling Communist Party for major achievements.

The occasion will also be used to announce the winners of a public competition to both name and create a logo for China’s 2020 Mars mission, which includes an orbiter, lander and rover.

A competition to give a more attractive name to the Hard X-ray Modulation Telescope (HXMT), a space science mission which launches in June, will also close.

Further telecommunications launches

In June China will launch Shijian-18, the first test of the new DFH-5 satellite bus. With a mass of up to 7 tonnes, the new platform requires the heavy-lift Long March 5 to loft it to nearly 36,000 km above the Earth.

The mission will be the second for the new carrier rocket, with China hoping for a less dramatic launch than its ultimately successful debut in November.

Zhongxing-9A is another planned summer comms sat launch, which will see the DFH-4 bus based Ku-band satellite sent to 92° E in geostationary orbit on a Long March 3B/E from Xichang.

China aims to use DFH-4 and -5 satellite platforms to make the internet available in aircraft cabins, high speed trains and even remote mountainous areas by 2025.

Other communications satellites planned for launch this year, according to Nasaspaceflight.com, are Zhongxing-6C around September and an international contracted launch, Alcomsat-1, for Algeria.

Above: A model DFH-4E satellite bus on display at Zhuhai Air Show in 2012.

http://gbtimes.com/china/china-launch-shijian-13-experimental-sat-wednesday

 

[onebyone]

Press release

Signing of the minutes of the successful ASAN flight acceptance review held in Kiruna on 31. March 2017. From left to right: Martin Wieser (IRF), Zhang Aibing (NSSC), Wang Lei (CAS). (Image Credit: IRF/NSSC/CAS)
Swedish Institute of Space Physics goes back to the Moon

The Advanced Small Analyzer for Neutrals (ASAN) instrument on Chang'e 4. (Image Credit: IRF)

On April 7, the Swedish Institute of Space Physics successfully delivered the flight model of the Advanced Small Analyzer for Neutrals (ASAN) instrument to the National Space Science Center of the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Beijing, China. The ASAN instrument will be launched at the end of 2018 onboard the Chinese Chang'e 4 mission to the Moon. Chang'e 4 consists of an orbiter, lander and rover.
Landing on the surface
Chang'e 4 lander and rover will land on the invisible far side of the Moon, where they will investigate the lunar environment. Mounted on the rover, the ASAN instrument will examine the interaction of the solar wind with the lunar surface by measuring energetic neutral atoms and ions emitted from the lunar surface. The ASAN instrument will perform these measurements from a vantage point of only 60 cm above ground. The Chang'e 4 rover is planned to make observations for at least three months on the surface.
Return to the surface of the Moon

The Swedish built Hasselblad camera was used in the Apollo missions. Here mounted on the chest of the spacesuit of an astronaut. See this web page in NASA for more information about this image. (Image Credit: NASA (taken by the use of a Hasselblad camera of course))

The ASAN instrument will mark the return of Swedish built scientific instruments to the lunar surface after the famous Hasselblad cameras used during the Apollo missions.
Ongoing science
The ASAN instrument will allow a continuation of the very successful research initiated with the participation in the Indian Chandrayaan-1 mission with the SARA instrument. A wide range of ground breaking discoveries about the interaction of the solar wind with the lunar surface were made, including the first image of a mini-magnetosphere on the Moon. Many of the open questions raised by SARA measurements made from orbit, will find an answer with ground truth data obtained by the ASAN instrument.

Contact:
Dr. Martin Wieser, IRF Kiruna, tel. +46-980-79198, wieser@irf.se
The Swedish Institute of Space Physics (IRF) is a governmental research institute which conducts research and postgraduate education in atmospheric physics, space physics and space technology. Measurements are made in the atmosphere, ionosphere, magnetosphere and around other planets with the help of ground-based equipment (including radar), stratospheric balloons and satellites. IRF was established (as Kiruna Geophysical Observatory) in 1957 and its first satellite instrument was launched in 1968. The head office is in Kiruna (geographic coordinates 67.84° N, 20.41° E) and IRF also has offices in Umeå, Uppsala and Lund.

http://www.irf.se/Topical/Press/?db... Space Physics goes back to the Moon&dbsec=P3

 

[onebyone]

Long March 3B set for experimental ChinaSat-16 launch
April 11, 2017 by Rui C. Barbosa

The Chinese are set to return to launch action with the lofting of a new experimental communications satellite from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center. The launch will be conducted by the Long March 3B G2 ‘Chang Zheng-3B/G2’ (Y43) from the LC2 Launch Complex at the Sichuan province site, with T-0 expected to occur at 11:02 UTC.

Chinese Launch:

The 4.6-tonne satellite was developed by the China Academy of Space Technology (CAST) and is based on the DFH-3B satellite platform. Shijian-13 was the satellite’s original designation, before being renamed Zhongxing-16 (ChinaSat-16).

The new satellite will test a new electric propulsion system to be used for orbit raising and station keeping at a geosynchronous altitude. It also carries the first high-throughput satellite payload (HTS) developed by China.

The satellite features a Ka-band broadband communications system capable of transmitting 20 gigabytes of data per second, making it the most powerful communications satellite the nation has developed to date.

According to Wang Min, deputy head of the CAST’s Institute of Telecommunication Satellite, ChinaSat-16 will provide better access to the Internet on planes and high-speed trains, with the increase in satellite throughput provided by the new satellite that will be located at 110.5° East.

The satellite is able to provide 26 user beams covering China and offshore areas – allowing it to also cover airborne and maritime communications and emergency communications, using Ka-band satellite broadband and multimedia services.

With a lifetime of 15 years, the satellite will be operated by China Satcom.

The satellite will also conduct space-to-ground laser communications experiments.

The DFH-3 (Dongfanghong-3) platform is a medium-capacity telecommunications satellite platform designed and developed by CAST.

The platform can be used for multiple telecommunications payloads for providing a range of services, including fixed communication, international satellite communication, national and regional communication, wideband data communication, mobile communication and direct broadcast; military communication, spacecraft tracking and data relay.

It comprises six subsystems: control, power, propulsion, measurement & control, structure and thermal control subsystem. The platform configuration features module subdivision, which includes a communication module, propulsion module, service module and solar array.

The platform adopts three-axis stabilized attitude control mode, with solar array output power of 1.7 kw by the end of its design lifetime. Its mass is 2,100kg with payload capacity 220kg.

See Also

• Chinese Forum Section
• 65 Launch Vehicle Manuals (L2)
• Click here to Join L2

The DFH-3 satellite platform has been successfully applied in the Beidou navigation test satellite, and other satellites, all of which are currently operating normally.

During numerous flight missions, the maturity and reliability of the DFH-3 platform have been proved. Moreover, it has strong expansion capacity and can be upgraded to some space exploration missions, such as meteorological satellite and lunar resource satellite services.

Its onboard Ion thrusters are designed for a wide variety of missions.

These thrusters have high specific impulses, that is, ratio of thrust to the rate of propellant consumption, so they require significantly less propellant for a given mission than would be needed with chemical propulsion.

Ion propulsion is even considered to be mission enabling for some cases where sufficient chemical propellant cannot be carried on the spacecraft to accomplish the desired mission.

Launch vehicle and launch site:

To meet the demand of international satellite launch market, especially for high power and heavy communications satellites, the development of Long March-3B (Chang Zheng-3B) launch vehicle started in 1986 on the basis of the fight proven technology of Long March launch vehicles.

Developed from the Chang Zheng-3A, the Chang Zheng-3B is at the moment the most powerful launch vehicle on the Chinese space launch fleet.

The CZ-3B features enlarged launch propellant tanks, improved computer systems, a larger 4.2 meter diameter payload fairing and the addition of four strap-on boosters in the core stage that provide additional help during the first phase of the launch.

The rocket is capable of launching a 11,200 kg satellite to a low Earth orbit or a 5,100 kg cargo to a geosynchronous transfer orbit.

The CZ-3B/G2 (Enhanced Version) launch vehicle was developed from the CZ-3B with a lengthened first core stage and strap-on boosters, increasing the GTO capacity up to 5,500kg.

On May 14, 2007, the first flight of CZ-3B/G2 was performed successfully, accurately sending the NigcomSat-1 into pre-determined orbit. With the GTO launch capability of 5,500kg, CZ-3B/G2 is dedicated for launching heavy GEO communications satellite.

The rocket structure also combines all sub-systems together and is composed of four strap-on boosters, a first stage, a second stage, a third stage and payload fairing.

The first two stages, as well as the four strap-on boosters, use hypergolic (N2O4/UDMH) fuel while the third stage uses cryogenic (LOX/LH2) fuel. The total length of the CZ-3B is 54.838 meters, with a diameter of 3.35 meters on the core stage and 3.00 meters on the third stage.

On the first stage, the CZ-3B uses a YF-21C engine with a 2,961.6 kN thrust and a specific impulse of 2,556.5 Ns/kg. The first stage diameter is 3.35 m and the stage length is 23.272 m.

Each strap-on booster is equipped with a YF-25 engine with a 740.4 kN thrust and a specific impulse of 2,556.2 Ns/kg. The strap-on booster diameter is 2.25 m and the strap-on booster length is 15.326 m.

The second stage is equipped with a YF-24E (main engine – 742 kN / 2,922.57 Ns/kg; four vernier engines – 47.1 kN / 2,910.5 Ns/kg each). The second stage diameter is 3.35 m and the stage length is 12.920 m.

The third stage is equipped with a YF-75 engine developing 167.17 kN and with a specific impulse of 4,295 Ns/kg. The fairing diameter of the CZ-3B is 4.00 meters and has a length of 9.56 meters.

The CZ-3B can also use the new Yuanzheng-1 (“Expedition-1”) upper stage that uses a small thrust 6.5 kN engine burning UDMH/N2O4 with a specific impulse at 3,092 m/s.

The upper stage is able to conduct two burns, having a 6.5 hour lifetime and is capable of achieving a variety of orbits. This upper stage won’t be used on this launch.

The typical flight sequence for the CZ-3B/G2 sees the launch pitching over 10 seconds after liftoff from the Xichang Satellite Launch Centre. The boosters shutdown 2 minutes and 7 seconds after liftoff, with separation from the first stage one second later. First stage shutdown takes place at 1 minutes 25 seconds into the flight.

Separation between the first and second stage takes place at 1 minute 26 seconds, following fairing separation at T+3 minutes 35 seconds. Stage 2 main engine shutdown occurs 326 seconds into the flight, following by the shutdown of the vernier engines 15 seconds later.

Separation between the second and the third stage and the ignition of the third stage takes place one second after the shutdown of the vernier engines of the second stage. The first burn of the third stage will last for 4 minutes and 44 seconds.

After the end of the first burn of the third stage is followed by a coast phase that ends at T+20 minutes and 58 seconds with the third stage initiating its second burn. This will have a 179 seconds duration. After the end of the second burn of the third stage, the launcher initiates a 20 second velocity adjustment maneuver. Spacecraft separation usually takes place at T+25 minutes 38 seconds after launch.

The first launch from Xichang took place at 12:25 UTC on January 29, 1984, when the Chang Zheng-3 (Y-1) was launched the Shiyan Weixing (14670 1984-008A) communications satellite into orbit.

The Xichang Satellite Launch Centre is situated in the Sichuan Province, south-western China and is the country’s launch site for geosynchronous orbital launches.

Equipped with two launch pads (LC2 and LC3), the center has a dedicated railway and highway lead directly to the launch site.

The Command and Control Centre is located seven kilometers south-west of the launch pad, providing flight and safety control during launch rehearsal and launch.

The CZ-3B launch pad is located at 28.25 deg. N – 102.02 deg. E and at an elevation of 1,825 meters.

Other facilities on the Xichang Satellite Launch Centre are the Launch Control Centre, propellant fuelling systems, communications systems for launch command, telephone and data communications for users, and support equipment for meteorological monitoring and forecasting.

No related posts.
https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2017/04/long-march-3b-chinasat-16-launch/

Potential launch time: April 12 around 11:02 UTC

A0768/17 - A TEMPORARY RESTRICTED AREA ESTABLISHED BOUNDED BY:N260808E1142921-N261444E1140013-N255858E1135553-N255223E1142456. VERTICAL LIMITS:GND-UNL. GND - UNL, 12 APR 10:58 2017 UNTIL 12 APR 11:44 2017. CREATED: 07 APR 11:28 2017

A0767/17 - A TEMPORARY RESTRICTED AREA ESTABLISHED BOUNDED BY: 272200E1083650-N273125E1074313-N271528E1073948-N270603E1083315.VERT ICAL LIMITS:GND-UNL. GND - UNL, 12 APR 10:57 2017 UNTIL 12 APR 11:33 2017. CREATED: 07 APR 11:23 2017

 

[onebyone]

http://v.youku.com/v_show/id_XMjcwNDI1MTYyMA==.html

 

[cirr]

China’s Long March 3B Lofts Shijian-13 Satellite to Test High-Throughput Communications & Ion Drive

April 12, 2017

China’s Long March 3B rocket blasted off from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center on Wednesday, lifting into orbit the country’s first high-throughput communications satellite that is set for an experimental mission to test out electric propulsion and laser communications.

Lifting off from China’s Sichuan province at 11:04 UTC, 7:04 p.m. local time, Long March 3B was to turn to the south east to fly over the Chinese mainland before heading out over the Pacific Ocean for the standard half-hour ascent profile into a highly elliptical Geostationary Transfer Orbit. Official confirmation of launch success came forward through Chinese media around one hour after liftoff.

The 4,600-Kilogram satellite Long March 3B was carrying is known as Shijian-13 or ChinaSat-16 developed by the China Academy of Space Technology (CAST) and operated in a cooperation between CAST and communications provider ChinaSatcom. Shijian-13 was the original name of the satellite, flying under China’s space technology test program, while the ChinaSat-16 designation places it under the country’s state-controlled satellite communications program.

Shijian-13 carries the first high-throughput satellite (HTS) payload developed by China and it will test a new electric propulsion system for orbit-raising and stationkeeping in Geostationary Orbit.

The satellite hosts a broadband communications system operating in the Ka-Band frequency range and capable of a data throughput of 20gbps, making it the most powerful communications satellite sent into orbit by the Chinese. Shijian-13’s Ka-Band payload will provide 26 user beams covering the Chinese mainland and offshore areas, also delivering connectivity to airborne and maritime users as well as supporting emergency communications.

The satellite will deliver multimedia services and Internet connectivity with special focus on aeronautical services and China’s high-speed trains. Services delivered by the satellite will also be used for distance learning and telemedicine, connecting remote areas of the country.

Shijian-13 will take up station at 110.5 degrees East from where it can cover the entire Chinese territory as well as the Asia-Pacific Region.

In addition to its HTS payload, Shijian-13 is hosting a new electric propulsion system centered around the LIPS-200 ion engine developed by the Lanzhou Institute of Physics and first flight-tested on the Shijian-9A satellite in 2012.

Ion engines employ a heavy atomic species, typically Xenon, that is ionized, accelerated in an electric field and expelled at extremely high velocity – allowing the system to operate extremely efficiently in terms of the impulse achieved. Compared to conventional chemical rocket engines, ion engine systems offer a tenfold increase in specific impulse, but only reach a fraction of the thrust – making them suitable for in-orbit maneuvers over an extended time period whereas chemical propulsion is used for large changes in velocity in a short time span.


LIPS-200 – Image: Lanzhou Institute of Physics

Electric propulsion systems have the major benefit of increasing the payload mass a satellite is carrying or decreasing launch costs through reduction of spacecraft mass.

The LIPS-200 propulsion system comprises the ion thruster itself, a power processing unit, electric-propulsion control unit, Xenon tank, pressure regulation & flow control unit and a line connection unit. The overall mass of the system is 36 Kilograms, excluding the Xenon propellant.

The LIPS-200 ion thruster delivers a nominal thrust of 40 millinewtons at a specific impulse of 3136 seconds, requiring 1,200 Watts of electrical power during operation. Ground testing validated the design parameters of the engine over a 7500-hour operation period, but flight testing over several years in the operational space environment is necessary before declaring the system fully operational.


LIPS-200 Architecture – Image: Lanzhou Institute of Physics

On the Shijian-13 mission, LIPS-200 will be primarily used for stationkeeping in Geostationary Orbit. Stationkeeping is necessary due to perturbations in the satellite’s orbit caused by gravitational influences from Earth as well as solar pressure which, in combination, cause a GEO satellite to drift in the East-West direction and induce a North-South motion that would eventually place the satellite into an inclined orbit. East-West stationkeeping only requires 1.3m/s of delta-v per year and is almost negligible in propellant consumption when using conventional thrusters, however, North-South stationkeeping (NSSK) requires around 50m/s per year.

China outlined a plan to employ electric propulsion for NSSK to fully certify the technology and understand its capabilities before implementing it in other areas such as transfer from LEO to GEO and deep space exploration.

No information is available on the laser communications terminal reportedly carried by Shijian-13. China made a number of developments in this area in recent years, specifically the inauguration of ultra-secure quantum communications that are completed via optical laser terminals. Extending this technology from Low Earth Orbit to Geostationary Orbit would mark a major accomplishment in the country’s continuing drive in the area of quantum computing and communications.

Shijian-13 is based on the upgraded DFH-3B satellite platform with a bus size of 2.2 by 2.0 by 3.1 meters, capable of hosting payloads in the 500kg range. The bus includes six principal subsystems to provide a stable platform for the payload with the bus in charge of power generation & distribution, propulsion, attitude determination and control, thermal control and data handling. The three-axis stabilized platform has a nominal end-of-life power supply of 1,700 Watts and a life expectancy of at least 15 years.

Tasked with launching the Shijian-13 satellite was the Long March 3B/G2 (Y43) launch vehicle, weighing in at 456,000 Kilograms and standing 56.33 meters tall with a core diameter of 3.35 meters. The rocket comprises four boosters and a three-stage stack with the lower stages consuming hypergolic propellants, Unsymmetrical Dimethylhydrazine and Nitrogen Tetroxide while the third stage uses cryogenic propellants, Liquid Hydrogen and Liquid Oxygen.

Long March 3 thundered off at 11:04 UTC with a thrust of 604 metric ton-force, rising into the skies over the Xichang launch base in the Sichuan province in south-western China. After a vertical ascent of a few seconds, the rocket began to pitch and roll onto its planned ascent path, taking it south-east across China before passing over the Pacific Ocean.

With all engines firing at full throttle, Long March 3B/E burned 2,350 Kilograms of propellant per second as it started racing uphill and making its way downrange, passing Mach 1 and encountering Maximum Aerodynamic Pressure. Each of the four boosters delivered 75,500 Kilogram-force of additional thrust to the vehicle using a single DaFY-5-1 engine. The boosters consumed their propellant load of 41,200kg, each, over the course of a burn of 140 seconds after which they dropped away from the three-stage rocket.

With the boosters gone, the Core Stage continued powering the vehicle using a DaFY-6-1 cluster of four engines delivering 302 metric tons of thrust. Overall, the 24.8-meter tall first stage launched with a propellant load of 186,200 Kilograms that was expended in two minutes and 38 seconds. Immediately after engine cutoff of the first stage, the second stage commanded its four-chamber vernier engine to ignite as part of the hot-staging sequence employed by the Long March 3B.

A series of 14 pyrotechnic bolts were fired to disconnect the first and second stage, allowing the second stage’s four-chamber vernier engine to move the stack away from the empty core with a thrust of five tons. Moments after staging, the second stage ignited its DaFY-20-1 main engine, soaring up to a full thrust of 75,660 Kilogram-force to continue powered ascent. Overall, the second stage launched with a propellant load of 49,400 Kilograms measuring 12.92 meters in length and 3.35 meters in diameter.

While the second stage was firing, Long March 3B departed the dense atmosphere, making it safe to jettison the protective payload fairing and expose the Shijian-13 satellite for the rest of its ride uphill.

The second stage performed a nominal burn of 178 seconds with the vernier engine burning about six seconds longer than the main engine. Immediately after shutdown, the pyrotechnic stage separation system was initiated and solid-fueled retrorockets moved the second stage away.

One second after staging, the 12.4-meter long third stage ignited its two cryogenic YF-75 engines, generating a total thrust of 16,000 Kilogram-force as part of its initial burn to accelerate the stack to orbital velocity in order to enter a Low Earth Parking Orbit.

The Low Earth Parking orbit, around 190 Kilometers in altitude, was reached after a third stage burn of around four minutes and 45 seconds, marking the start of a coast phase. The coast phase, nearly 11 minutes in duration, was set up to allow the stack to fly to a position where the second burn could be performed around the equator passage so that the high-point of the orbit would be placed over the equator.

This second burn lasted for approximately three minutes and 15 seconds and was followed by a variable velocity adjustment that involved the vernier engines of the third stage which continued to fire until the navigation platform sensed that the targeted injection velocity was achieved, thus optimizing the accuracy of the orbital insertion with spacecraft separation occurring approximately 26 minutes after launch.

http://spaceflight101.com/long-march-3b-launches-shijian-13/



实践十三号的五宗“最”—让你永不失联

2017-04-12 CAST_CASC 中国空间技术研究院

实践十三号（中星16号）卫星的成功发射是建设航天强国的又一重要标志性成就，使中国卫星通信能力实现重大跨越。中国由此叩开通信卫星“高通量时代”的大门。

▲高通量卫星的技术特点

作为东方红三号B平台全配置首发星、我国首颗高通量通信卫星、我国首颗电推进工程化应用的卫星，实践十三号（中星16号）卫星在国内高轨卫星领域创造了五宗“最”。

01最先在我国卫星上应用Ka频段多波束宽带通信系统

通信总容量超过20Gbit/s,卫星将引领我国高通量卫星通信技术发展；可支持多用户、大容量双向载荷，在广大地区通过该卫星进行数据高速下载的同时，可支持大量用户高速上传数据。

▲高通量卫星系统和传统卫星通信系统对比

02最先实现在我国高轨卫星上使用电推进

东方红－3B卫星平台是我国研制的最新一代中等容量通信卫星平台，它采用了综合电子、电推进、高效热控、锂离子蓄电池等先进技术，这些技术可推广应用至其他平台，有效促进卫星平台能力，将实现我国卫星平台技术水平跨越式提升。

▲通信卫星事业部研制团队

电推进系统在无需消耗化学推进剂情况下就能够完成卫星全寿命期内南北位置保持任务，卫星可承载能力显著提升，功用更加强大。电推进是一种先进的空间推进技术，相对于传统的化学推进，具有高比冲、小推力、长寿命、高可靠等特点。在长寿命航天器上应用电推进能大幅减少推进剂的携带量，提高有效载荷比，延长航天器寿命。研究院就瞄准国际前沿，将电推进作为平台标准配置，抓总开展了大量的设计、仿真和分析。这对我国高轨卫星来说是具有革命性的技术突破，卫星承载能力显著提升。

▲兰州空间技术物理研究所的研究人员正装配电推力器

03最先在我国高轨卫星上搭载激光通信系统

由于激光通信具有高带宽、高传输速率优点，是满足大容量、高速率通信的重要手段之一，我院研制团队与哈尔滨工业大学等单位联合攻关，成功将激光通信系统应用于高通量卫星，相关技术指标达到国际先进水平。

▲实践十三号（中星16号）号运行原理图

04最先在我国卫星上把技术试验和示范应用相结合

作为我国首颗Ka宽带通信卫星，实践13号（中星16号）卫星在完成东方红－3B卫星平台和载荷新技术一系列在轨试验验证后，卫星将纳入“中星”卫星系列，被命名为中星16号卫星，开展Ka频段宽带通信系统的应用推广，提供双向宽带通信示范化运营服务，这样可加速科研成果的应用转化，既满足了新技术在轨试验的目的，又满足了载荷示范应用的要求，提高了工程综合效益。

▲高通量卫星的应用领域

05最先将我国地球静止轨道卫星发射窗口时间由凌晨提前至傍晚19点

在以往的卫星发射任务中，主要考虑卫星的安全余量，发射窗口时间通常选在凌晨零时左右。在实践十三号（中星16号）卫星发射窗口的确定过程中，研制团队充分研究了发射窗口提前所导致的地影时间增加、测控不可见弧段延长、变轨期间蓄电池放电等不利影响，并利用东方红三号B平台技术革新所带来的性能提升，制定了详细的飞行程序和预案，在新窗口下成功完成了发射任务，实现了卫星可在2个窗口时间选择发射的先例，同时也保证了工作人员的正常作息时间。本次发射标志着我国卫星发射及运营管理水平在多样化的道路上取得了长足进步。

▲实践十三号（中星16号）卫星成功发射

http://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/rmm2NXhN_Ie6ZwJblo_TVg