The CZ-4C rocket that performed this launch mission was developed by the eight institutes of the Aerospace Science and Technology Group. This is the first time that this rocket has launched "one rocket, three satellites in series configuration" at Taiyuan launch center. As a result, the rocket has used the tallest configuration of CZ-4C, close to 49 meters. Three satellites were installed from top to bottom in the fairing and two load compartments.
In order to meet the mission requirements, the model team carried out a series of optimization and improvement of the CZ-4C rocket, which not only successfully completed the first mission of this year, but also help laid a solid foundation for meeting the upcoming high-intensity launch schedule.
Is China's space laser for real? It's not a Death Star super laser. It's a space broom.
By Jeffrey Lin and P.W. Singer Yesterday at 11:50pm
It's not this.
China's space broom isn't the Death Star super laser. It's an orbiting satellite with a laser only powerful enough to heat up pieces of space junk, so that they change course burn up in the atmosphere.
Depositphotos
In a recent article in scientific journal Optik, a faculty member at China's Air Force Engineering University proposed building a laser-armed satellite, a "broom" to do battle with the pernicious problem of space debris.
Laser-armed satellites, naturally, generate a lot of attention, and so the proposal of Quan Wen and his co-authors has made its way into several splashy headlines. But it's more than hype. The concept addresses a real (and growing) problem: there's something like 17,852 artificial objects orbiting earth (PDF), and an estimated 300,000-plus pieces of space debris larger than a marble. At the fast orbital velocities up in space, even large craft like the International Space Station have to maneuver out of the way of small objects to avoid catastrophic damage.
Quan's research looks at the efficacy of a hypothetical laser operating near the infrared spectrum. It would blast away targeted space debris for a couple minutes, at a rate of twenty bursts of laserfire a second. That amount of energy would be sufficient to vaporize part of the object's mass. Contrary to public imagination, space laser brooms like the one proposed don't actually vaporize space debris, but rather "burn off" a chunk. This would create sufficient kinetic force from the chemical combustion to change the object's orbit. With that change in direction, the debris will quickly reenter the atmosphere and burn up. Because of atmospheric distortion, it's much more effective to zap space debris with a satellite than, say, a ground-based laser.
Of course, for now it's all theory. The laser broom would need to be actually mounted on a satellite and lofted into orbit to test its true efficacy. And even then, it'd still face some legal grey areas (technically speaking, space debris are still the property of owners of the satellites they originated from, which is very, very difficult to track) as well as major suspicion about the idea of implementing a weapon-like technology up in space.
Like many others, China's space program has both civilian and military applications. (The AoLong 1 satellite, for example, has a robotic arm for mechanically de-orbiting space debris that has has potential as an anti-satellite sabotage technology.) And so there's an obvious question: can the space laser broom be an anti-satellite weapon? It's certainly possible, though a cost-effective laser broom would need to be small—just big enough to take care of small debris. To quickly deal serious damage to enemy spacecraft, one would need a much larger space laser weapon; perhaps an orbital battlemoon?
Popular Science Peter Warren Singer is a strategist and senior fellow at the New America Foundation. He has been named by Defense News as one of the 100 most influential people in defense issues. He was also dubbed an official "Mad Scientist" for the U.S. Army's Training and Doctrine Command. Jeffrey is a national security professional in the greater D.C. area.
1. Introduction
2. Background
3. The "12 March 2018" laser strikes event
4. Post-"12 March 2018" event's analysis
5. Official Chinese statement after the "12 March 2018" event
6. The geomagnetic storm of 19 March 2018
7. Tiangong-1's final week
8. Tiangong-1's final day
9. The coup de grâce
10.Post-reentry analysis
As all these questions can only expose how biased and ill-intentioned the Western propaganda machine is, hell-bent in smearing the ever more outstanding Chinese space achievements (due to desperation and jealousy as always), let us reassure all our Pakistani readers and other foes as well, with some clarifications.
China has been working on developing laser weapons since the 1960s, and the People’s Liberation Army in 2015 published the book Light War that gives a central role to fighting a future war using lasers.
As already disclosed by the media, China is known to have operated at least 3 ASAT laser stations, in Anhui, Sichuan and Xinjiang.
In 2005, Chinese researchers have successfully conducted a satellite-blinding experiment using a 50-100 kilowatt capacity mounted laser gun in Xinjiang province. The target was a low orbit satellite with a tilt distance of 600 kilometers. The diameter of the telescope firing the laser beam is 0.6 meters wide. The accuracy of acquisition, tracking and pointing is less than 5 microradians.
Three researchers, Gao Minghui, Zeng Yuquang and Wang Zhihong disclosed plan for even more powerful ASAT lasers in The Chinese Optics journal in December 2013.
All worked for the Changchun Institute for Optics, Fine Mechanics and Physics – the leading center for laser weapons technology.
The plan proposed the building of a 5-ton chemical laser as a combat platform capable of destroying satellites in orbit. Given funding by the Chinese military, which is in charge of China’s space program, the anti-satellite laser could be deployed by 2023.
In another study that was led by Quan Wen, a researcher from the Information and Navigation College at China's Air Force Engineering University, with the help of the Institute of China Electronic Equipment System Engineering Company, laser used in removal of space debris have been investigated. The simulation results show that, debris removal is affected by inclination and RAAN, and laser station with the same inclination and RAAN as debris has the highest removal efficiency. It provides necessary theoretical basis for the deployment of space-based laser station and the further application of space debris removal by using space-based laser.
Although high secrecy is strictly enforced, one could compare the case of Tiangong-1 space laboratory with the ill-fated Phobos-Grunt Mars probe, that reentered over the South Eastern Pacific Ocean on 15 January 2011.
There was no random reentry over highly populated area. This time Tiangong-1 will also reenter over the Pacific Ocean, in a remotely controlled mode.
This suggests that China will secretly use its laser ASAT stations, to produce a series of thrusts generated by heating until vaporizing the outer part of the spacecraft, thus lowering the perigee of Tiangong-1. Notice Tiangong-1 passes every day up to five times over China, heading south-Eastward toward the south Pacific.
Upon reaching the ultimate ~140 km altitude threshold, where a complete orbit is no longer possible, the coup de grâce will be given by piercing the forward part of the pressurized module, thus allowing all the remaining gaz to escape at high velocity, and generating an additional negative vector thrust (think of a coca cola bottle).
Alternately, by piercing the propellant tank (i.e. Hydrazine) would even provide a more powerfull thrust, but the targeting requires a higher accuracy.
If this procedure succeedes, this would eventually allow a safe reentry half an orbit later over the predesignated area over the Pacific Ocean.
What makes the preparation for this highly risky space billiard operation possible is that China can count on its world fastest supercomputers.
As reported by the state television CCTV13, it it took 20 days, instead of the otherwise 12 months, for China's Sunway-TaihuLight, the world's fastest supercomputer, for simulating the numerical reentry prediction, which are in accordance with wind tunnel simulations.
This is the least China could do, as even North Korea has already disclosed its own Korean-style Anti-Meteor Laser System, needed to protect its planned future Lunar base, back in a New Year 2018 show!
Officially called an "ocean point of inaccessibility," this watery graveyard for titanium fuel tanks and other high-tech space debris is better known to space junkies as Point Nemo, in honour of Jules Verne's fictional submarine captain.
Point Nemo is further from land than any other dot on the globe: 2,688 kilometres (about 1,450 miles) from the Pitcairn Islands to the north, one of the Easter Islands to the northwest, and Maher Island—part of Antarctica—to the South.
"Its most attractive feature for controlled re-entries is that nobody is living there," said Stijn Lemmens, a space debris expert at the European Space Agency in Darmstadt, Germany.
"Coincidentally, it is also biologically not very diverse. So it gets used as a dumping ground—'space graveyard' would be a more polite term—mainly for cargo spacecraft," he told AFP.
Some 250 to 300 spacecraft—which have mostly burned up as they carved a path through Earth's atmosphere—have been laid to rest there, he said.
By far the largest object descending from the heavens to splash down at Point Nemo, in 2001, was Russia's MIR space lab, which weighed 120 tonnes.
"It is routinely used nowadays by the (Russian) Progress capsules, which go back-and-forth to the International Space Station (ISS)," said Lemmens.
The massive, 420-tonne ISS also has a rendezvous with destiny at Point Nemo, in 2024.
In future, most spacecraft will be "designed for demise" with materials that melt at lower temperatures, making them far less likely to survive re-entry and hit Earth's surface.
Both NASA and the ESA, for example, are switching from titanium to alumium in the manufacture of fuel tanks.
China hoisted Tiangong-1, it's first manned space lab, into space in 2011. It was slated for a controlled re-entry but ground engineers lost control in March 2016 of the eight-tonne craft in March 2016, which is when it began its descent toward a fiery end.
The chances of anyone getting hit by debris from Tiangong-1 are vanishingly small, less than one in 12 trillion, according to the ESA.
▲ An official map of the Phobos-Grunt reentry released by Roskosmos by 20:00 Moscow Time on Jan. 15, 2012.
Notice the similarity with Tiangong-1 regarding the relative location of the impact zone and the ASAT laser stations!
▲ China's Sunway-TaihuLight, the world's fastest supercomputer, used for simulating the numerical reentry prediction of Tiangong-1.
Note that the space lab will present its APAS docking ring forward due to the overall aerodynamics and especially the solar pannels at the rear section, therefore allowing a good view and stable laser targeting of the said frontal section.
▲ At T=40:54 North Korean Lunar base hit by meteor shower; At T=41:33 Combined laser beams used to protect the North Korean Lunar base from meteor shower, in a New Year 2018 show. Video published on Jan 1, 2018
Target in range, all PLA Laser Stations ready to fire!
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2. Background The Opening Solar Concentrator
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Yang-Sui (阳燧) Solar Ignitor, World’s Oldest Solar Device
During the sixth century BCE, Confucius wrote about the common use of curved mirrors shaped from shiny metal to concentrate the rays of the sun for making fire. These became known as yang-suis – translating to solar ignitors, or burning mirrors.
According to the great philosopher, upon waking up the eldest son would attach a solar ignitor to his belt as he dressed for the day. It was his duty to focus the solar rays onto kindling to start the family’s cooking fire.
According to another early text, the Zhouli, which describes rituals dating far back into Chinese antiquity, “The Directors of the Sun Fire have the duty of transferring with burning mirrors the brilliant flames of the sun to torches for sacrifice.”
Although scholars found over the years many ancient texts discussing solar ignitors, the discovery of an extant yang sui eluded them for centuries. Quite recently came the Eureka moment. Digging up a tomb that dated to about 3,000 years ago, a team of archaeologists found in the hand of a skeleton a bowl-shaped metal object. While the inner side could have passed for a wok, the exterior trough had a handle in its center. That’s what caught the eye of the two archaeologist in charge of the dig, Lu Demming and Zhai Keyong. They immediately brought the relic back to the local museum and ordered its specialists to make a mold from the original and then cast a copy in bronze.
After polishing its curved surface to a high degree of reflectance, the inquisitive archaeologists focused sunlight onto a piece of tinder just as the eldest son would have done so many years past, and in seconds the combustible material burst into flames. “This verified without a doubt that the purpose of the artifact is to make fire,” Lu and Zhai later wrote, assured of having found the oldest solar device in the history of humanity.
Now that the world could see what a real yang-sui looked like, museums retrospectively identified 20 more previously unclassified objects as solar ignitors. Multiple molds for turning out yang suislater found at a Bronze Age foundry in Shanxi province, close to the first find, suggest a mass market once existed for them. In fact, yang suis were probably as ubiquitous in early China as are matches and lighters today. The yang sui “should be regarded as one of the great inventions of ancient Chinese history,” remarked its discoverers, impressed by the ability of their forefathers to figure out the complex optics for such optimal performance so early in time.
Due to the atmospheric turbulence, targeting is made difficult, increasing with the magnification power.
The image is constantly perturbed by the flowing air like the reflected image over a watery surface.
But to be able to target smaller part of an orbiting spacecraft, the aperture of the optics must be increased.
▲ ISS Max 62° Pass On 3/25/18, through an Aperture 355.6 mm (14 in), Focal Length 3910 mm (154 in) optical instrument ( Hedge HD 14 with a 1.6X barlow and red Astrodon filter on my ZWO ASI290 mono camera). March 25, 2018
▲ Chinese Space Station Tiangong 1 on 01-20-18 from Manorville, NY USA. Max pass was 62° at 17:58:37pm EST. The telescope was an Edge HD 14 with a 2X barlow. Imaging camera was ZWO ASI174 mono with an Astrodon red filter.
Thus two solutions. Space based platforms totally immune to the atmospheric turbulences or any stratospheric, near-space platforms. Alternately, ground-based platform operating at the highest altitude possible in order to reduce the atmospheric effect like the Tianshan Mountain or Tibetan Peaks.
For the ground-based platform, the use of adaptive optics (AO) are needed to counter the turbulence.
Current AO Systems require a guide “star”. Using adaptive optics to compensate for atmospherically induced wavefront distortions requires a remote beacon.
For a satellite the beacon can be a retroreflector illuminated by a ground-based laser.
Synthetic beacons, generated by laser backscatter from the atmosphere, offer a solution to this problem.
These beacons are produced by using Rayleigh backscatter, or scattering by the air molecules, at altitudes below 20 km, or by using resonant backscatter from the mesospheric sodium layer at an altitude of approximately 90 km.
Confirming earlier assessment, the Chinese PLA ASAT laser stations seem to have already proceeded with their first in a series of corrective laser surgical pinpoint accuracy strikes, as shown in the sudden increased decay rate of Tiangong-1 correlated by the official TLE of March 12!
▲ Groundtrack of a very good pass of Tiangong-1 over China's laser stations on 12 March 2018, especially a frontal approach over Tianshan ASAT station!
▲ TIANGONG 1 pass captured from Tanegashima on 13 March 2018, 19:06~18:08 JST, 10 seconds x 6, fisheye, APS-C10 mm, PENTAX K-5II s
Estimated Magnitude: 1.3
▲ TIANGONG 1 pass captured from Tanegashima on 14 March 2018, 18:54~18:56 JST, 5 seconds x 21, f/4 ISO 100, APS-C10 mm, PENTAX K-5II s
Estimated Magnitude: 0.5
For comparison, Tiangong-2, without any tumbling and with stable attitude:
▲ TIANGONG 2 pass between Arcturus and Uras Major captured from Tanegashima on 12 March 2018, 5:20~5:21 JST, 20 seconds x 4, f/3.2, ISO 2500, APS-C21 mm, PENTAX K-5II s
Estimated Magnitude: 1.0
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5. Official Chinese statement after the "12 March 2018" event
More smoking gun, or rather smoking lasers!
Chinese official statement, suggesting a successful first series of laser strikes:
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Descent of China’s Tiangong-1 will not cause damage to earth: expert
March 14, 2018
According to the latest information issued by China’s manned space engineering office, since Feb. 25 to Mar. 4, 2018, Tiangong-1 was orbiting in stable condition and good shape at an average height of about 251.5 kilometers (perigee height: 238.6 km; apogee height: 264.4 km; orbital inclination: 42.79 degrees).
China has been monitoring Tiangong-1, Zhu said, adding that the space lab will burn up after entering the atmosphere and the remaining wreckage will fall into a designated area of the sea, without endangering the Earth’s surface.
Aerospace expert Pang Zhihao explained that an international tradition to handle retired large spacecrafts operated at near-earth orbits is to let them fall to an abyssal zone in southern Pacific Ocean far away from the continents.
Being called the “graveyard of spacecraft”, the water was the falling location for Mir space station and Progress spacecraft of Russia, and the Compton Gamma Ray Observatory of the US, Pang added.
Due to severe space weather caused by solar activities, a geomagnetic storm on 19 March 2018 is resulting in an increased decay rate, accelerating the date of reentry of Tiangong-1, around 3 April±1 day.
Radar imagery indicating a good physical integrity of Tiangong-1, allowing the final coup de grâce that will be given by piercing the forward part of the pressurized module, thus allowing all the remaining gaz to escape at high velocity, and generating an additional negative vector thrust (think of a coca cola bottle). This would eventually allow a safe reentry half an orbit later over the predesignated area over the Pacific Ocean.
Notice a forecast by some Western media, made 24 March 2018, confirming the last pass over China's Tianshan ASAT laser station before ending in the southern hemisphere. But the reentry zone is a little bit farther than in the South Pacific, continuing Northeastward in the South Atlantic, as no coup de grâce laser strikes have been modeled for the numerical simulation.
▲ According to the forecast made by Satview.org on 24 March 2018, the space lab's reentry will occur over the South Atlantic on Monday, 02 Apr 2018 at 21:22 UTC
▲ Other forecasts as of 24 March 2018: ESA 30 March-3 April; Aerospace 3.5 April±3 days; Chinese forum 2 April±1 day
Weather forecast over Tianshan ASAT laser station as of 24 March 2018, indicates that 31 March will be sunny and with some clouds at night, 1 April sunny and rainy at night, 2 April sunny and cloudy at night, 3 April sunny and with some clouds at night, meaning that the conditions for a laser targeting might not be optimal but still feasible.
▲ Weather forecast over Tianshan ASAT laser station, as of 24 March 2018: 31 March sunny and with some clouds at night, 1 April sunny and rainy at night, 2 April sunny and cloudy at night, 3 April sunny and with some clouds at night.
▲ According to the forecast made by Satview.org on 25 March 2018, the space lab's reentry will occur over the Pacific on Monday, 02 Apr 2018 at 3:09 UTC
▲ According to USstratcom (United States Strategic Command) forecast reported by Satview.org on 29 March 2018, the space lab's reentry will occur over the Pacific on Sunday, 01 Apr 2018 at 00:52 UTC
▲ Other forecasts as of 29 March 2018:
China Manned Space 1 April±1 day (UTC+8)
ESA 31 March-1 April afternoon;
JSpOC 1 April 00:52±15 hours (UTC);
Aerospace 1.1 April±1.0 days (UTC);
Chinese forum 2 April±1 day (UTC+8)
China Manned Space Engineering Office's (CMS) first official forecast
▲ Tiangong-1 28 March 2018 solar transit. Equipment: 150mm F/5 Refractor, Baader Herschel wedge, ASI 174MM, Red filter.
From the above ground images, it is obvious that the APAS docking ring is no longer pointed forward, as very small period rotations have been observed.
▲ Highly topical radar image video of Tiangong-1 based on data recorded 27 March 2018. Altitude: 200,5 km perigee, Rotation speed has increased, now 2,2°/s -> 2:23 min per one turn
▲ Other forecasts as of 30 March 2018:
China Manned Space 1 April±1 day (UTC+8)
ESA 31 March night-1 April late evening (UTC);
JSpOC 1 April 21:29±10 hours (UTC);
Aerospace 1 April 20:30±14 hours (UTC);
Chinese forum 1 April 12:00±18 hours (UTC+8)
▲ According to USstratcom (United States Strategic Command) forecast reported by Satview.org on 30 March 2018, the space lab's reentry will occur over the Pacific on Sunday, 01 Apr 2018 at 00:52 UTC
Notice, the European Space Agency Space Debris Office (ESA) inacurrate forcast is due to the wrong assumption that a high-speed stream of particles from the sun, which was expected to reach Earth and influence our planet's geomagnetic field on March 30th, did not, in fact, have any effect. This means that the density of the upper atmosphere, through which Tiangong-1 is moving, did not increase as ESA predicted.
▲ According to USstratcom (United States Strategic Command) forecast reported by Satview.org on 31 March 2018, the space lab's reentry will occur over the Pacific on Sunday, 01 Apr 2018 at 21:29 UTC
According to the announcement of China Manned Space Agency(CMSA),at 8 am, Apr.1,2018, Tiangong-1 stayed at an average altitude of about 167.6 km (perigee:161.0 km; apogee:174.3 km; inclination:42.70°). The estimated reentry window is 2 April, Beijing time.
▲ According to USstratcom (United States Strategic Command) forecast reported by Satview.org on 1 April 2018 03:08 UTC, the space lab's reentry will occur over the Pacific on Sunday, 02 Apr 2018 at 00:15 UTC
▲ Other forecasts as of 1 April 2018:
China Manned Space 2 April (UTC+8)
ESA 1 April afternoon-2 April early morning (UTC);
JSpOC 2 April 0:15±6 hours (UTC);
Aerospace 1 April 20:30±7 hours (UTC);
Chinese forum (航天爱好者网) 2 April 5:00±10 hours (UTC+8)
Note: From the chart, the Apogee's altitude is seen temporarily rising as the perigee is lowering. Possibly due to external factor, maybe simply the barycentre during the Full Moon.
Fenyun-2 weather imagery of Tianshan ASAT laser station as of 1 March 2018, indicates that most of China including Anhui and Sichuan have clear sky, unlike Tianshan that is suffering from a band of clouds coming from the North-West, meaning that the conditions for a ground-based laser targeting might not be optimal. The alternative would be to delay the laser firing, a little bit until nighttime.
▲ Fenyun-2 weather imagery of Tianshan ASAT laser station as of 1 March 2018, indicates that most of China including Anhui and Sichuan have clear sky, unlike Tianshan that is suffering from a band of clouds coming from the North-West, meaning that the conditions for a laser targeting might not be optimal. The alternative would be to delay the laser firing, a little bit until nighttime.
Weather forecast over Tianshan ASAT laser station as of 1 April 2018, indicates that 1 April will be cloudy but with clear sky at night, 2 April cloudy and clear sky at night.
▲ Weather forecast over Tianshan ASAT laser station as of 1 April 2018, indicates that 1 April will be cloudy but with clear sky at night, 2 April cloudy and clear sky at night.
Tiangong I re-enters the atmosphere this morning
By Zhao Lei | chinadaily.com.cn | Updated: 2018-04-02 07:18
Photo taken on June 13, 2013 shows the screen at the Beijing Aerospace Control Center showing the Shenzhou X manned spacecraft conducting an automated docking with the orbiting Tiangong I space module and the view outside the propelling module of the Shenzhou X manned spacecraft (L, down). [Photo/Xinhua]
China's first space lab, Tiangong I, re-entered the Earth's atmosphere at 8:15 am and later fell into the central part of the South Pacific Ocean, according to the China Manned Space Agency.
During the re-entry process, most of the spacecraft's body burnt out, it said in a statement.
Tiangong I re-enters the atmosphere this morning
By Zhao Lei | chinadaily.com.cn | Updated: 2018-04-02 07:18
Photo taken on June 13, 2013 shows the screen at the Beijing Aerospace Control Center showing the Shenzhou X manned spacecraft conducting an automated docking with the orbiting Tiangong I space module and the view outside the propelling module of the Shenzhou X manned spacecraft (L, down). [Photo/Xinhua]
China's first space lab, Tiangong I, re-entered the Earth's atmosphere at 8:15 am and later fell into the central part of the South Pacific Ocean, according to the China Manned Space Agency.
During the re-entry process, most of the spacecraft's body burnt out, it said in a statement.
▲ Artistic representation of the controlled reentry of Tiangong-1 through PLA ASAT laser beams
Target in range, all PLA Laser Stations ready to fire!
GO SHENGUANG ( 神光: DIVINE LIGHT)! GO TIANSHAN ASAT BRIGADE! GO PLA!
China Manned Space Engineering Office (CMS) official forecast on 2 April 2018
On-Orbit Status Update for Tianggong-1 (Apr.2)
According to the announcement of China Manned Space Agency(CMSA),at 5 am, Apr.2,2018, Tiangong-1 stayed at an average altitude of about 138.8 km (perigee: 136.0 km; apogee: 141.6 km; inclination:42.70°). The estimated reentry time is at 8:49 am (the earliest time is at 8:11 am and the latest time is at 9:33 am ), 2 April, Beijing time. The reentry center is located at 19.4°W and 10.2°S.
According to the announcement of China Manned Space Agency(CMSA),at 6:20 am, Apr.2,2018, Tiangong-1 stayed at an average altitude of about132.75 km (perigee:130.9 km; apogee: 134.6 km; inclination:42.70°). The estimated reentry time is at 8:42 am (the earliest time is at 8:24 am and the latest time is at 9:01 am ), 2 April, Beijing time. The reentry center is located at 40.4°W and 27.4°S.
According to the announcement of China Manned Space Agency (CMSA), through monitoring and analysis by Beijing Aerospace Control Center (BACC) and related agencies, Tiangong-1 reentered the atmosphere at about 8:15 am, 2 April, Beijing time. The reentry falling area located in the central region of South Pacific. Most of the devices were ablated during the reentry process.
▲ According to USstratcom (United States Strategic Command) OFFICIAL MESSAGE reported by Satview.org on 2 April 2018, the space lab TIANGONG 1 satellite reentered the atmosphere Apr/02/2018 at 00:16 UTC with an approximate error of +/- 1 minute(s)
▲ Groundtrack of a very good pass of Tiangong-1 over China's laser stations on 2 March 2018, especially a frontal approach over Tianshan ASAT station, followed by a perfectly remote-controlled reentry over the South Pacific!
Russia & China to merge satellite tracking systems into one global navigation giant
Published time: 1 Apr, 2018 12:21
Edited time: 1 Apr, 2018 13:29
Moscow and Beijing will team up to create an integrated navigation system based on Russia’s Global Navigation Satellite System (GLONASS) and the Chinese BeiDou. The system will cover most of Eurasia.
The countries will reportedly negotiate the merger in May at the International Conference on Advanced Technologies in Manufacturing and Materials Engineering in the Chinese city of Harbin, Izvestia daily reports.
The initiative to merge the two separate systems is the result of a proposal made by the Chinese authorities to the Russian Federal Space Agency, Roscosmos. It is intended to create a joint global navigation satellite system, covering the countries of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, which include China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, India and Pakistan.
The new system will allow the partners to share data on the positions of navigation satellite groups, improve working efficiency in a real-time environment, and to exchange corrections, where necessary. At the same time, Russian GLONASS may significantly broaden its user base.
“If the project is implemented, it will allow for an improvement in accuracy for both systems,”said a Roscosmos spokesperson, as quoted by the media.
If successful, the project will divide the entire world into two zones of influence by two united systems GLONASS-BeiDou and GPS-Galileo, operated by the US and the European Union, according to Andrey Ionin, a member of the Russian Academy of Cosmonautics.
Global Positioning System (GPS), the world’s oldest Global Navigation Satellite System, began operations in 1978 to provide location information and navigation to missile submarines and surface ships. The system was also used for hydrographic and geodetic surveying by the US army. The system was opened to civilian and commercial use in 1994. GPS currently operates 31 satellite constellations.
Russia’s GLONASS became operational in 1993. The navigation system has 27 satellites in orbit and all are operational. It is run by the Russian Aerospace Defense Forces and is currently the second alternative navigational system in operation.
Galileo is the European global navigation system, which is available for civilian and commercial use. It is a joint project by the European Space Agency and the European GNSS Agency. At present, there are 22 operational satellites out of a projected 30. Galileo started working in 2016 and is expected to reach full operational capability by 2020.
Chinese BeiDou was put into operation 2000 with limited coverage and navigation services offered mainly to users in China and neighboring regions. The system currently has a total of 22 operational satellites in orbit and the full constellation is projected to reach 35 satellites.
Japan and India are also developing their own regional navigation satellite systems. The Japanese Quasi-Zenith Satellite System (QZSS) is currently under construction. This is expected to become fully operational by the end of the current year. It will have seven satellites and four have already been sent into orbit.
The Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (IRNSS) covers India and nearby regions, extending up to 1,500km. Its seven satellites are currently in orbit, but the first one has been out of operation after all rubidium atomic clocks on board failed in 2017.
China, Algeria to enhance cooperation in aerospace field
Source: Xinhua| 2018-04-03 05:54:13|Editor: Mengjie
Representatives from China and Algeria pose for photos during an on-orbit delivery ceremony for Algeria's first communication satellite, Alcomsat-1, in Algiers, Algeria, April 1, 2018. China said Monday that it expects to boost its cooperation with Algeria in the field of aerospace technology. (Xinhua)
ALGIERS, April 2 (Xinhua) -- China said Monday that it expects to boost its cooperation with Algeria in the field of aerospace technology.
Yang Baohua, deputy general manager of China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation, said that China expects substantive cooperation in other follow-up projects in the field.
Yang and other representatives from China took part on Sunday in an on-orbit delivery ceremony for Algeria's first communication satellite, Alcomsat-1, with the Algerian Space Agency.
Alcomsat-1 was sent to the scheduled orbit from China's Xichang Satellite Launch Center on Dec. 11, 2017. Afterwards, both sides conducted satellite on-orbit testing and completed an on-orbit review.
This project is an important manifestation of the comprehensive strategic partnership between China and Algeria, Yang said, adding that it created a good precedent for increased cooperation between the two sides in the aerospace field.
He said the successful delivery of the satellite is the result of a four-year hard work by scientists and researchers of scientific institutions from both countries.
With a designed life of 15 years, Alcomsat-1 will be used by Algeria for broadcast and television, emergency communication, distance education, e-governance, enterprise communication, broadband access and satellite-based navigation.
China to launch remote sensing satellites for Pakistan in June
Source: Xinhua| 2018-04-03 19:31:26|Editor: Yurou
File pic: China launches remote sensing satellites on a Long March-2C carrier rocket from Xichang Satellite Launch Center in southwest China's Sichuan Province, Dec. 26, 2017. As the third batch of the Yaogan-30 project, the satellites will conduct electromagnetic environmental probes and other experiments. (Xinhua/Liang Keyan)
BEIJING, April 3 (Xinhua) -- China is to launch two remote sensing satellites for Pakistan in June this year, according to the China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology (CALVT) website.
It will be the first international commercial launch for a Long March-2C rocket for around 18 years after it carried Motorola's Iridium satellites into orbit in 1999.
The rocket will also carry the China-France Oceanography Satellite into space in September this year, CALVT said.
The satellite will monitor ocean wind and waves.
Long March-2C rockets are mainly used to send satellites into low Earth or Sun-synchronous orbits.
