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

[Beast]

CZ-7 is still on schedule to be launched this year,right?

 

[cirr]

We are in no hurry. We are in no arms or space race. We don't need to prove ourselves to anyone.

Do everything methodically.

 

[Pangu]

Alot of engineers who work on the design are very young, I believe in their 20s or early 30s, and that's a good sign. Can't imagine in another 20, 30 years, with the experience they have, what other giant rockets or space faring vehicles they come up with. By then I'll probably be sitting in my old man's chair, smiling when the count down begins.

 

[JSCh]

CZ-7 is still on schedule to be launched this year,right?

CZ-7 first launch planned tentatively at april, 2016.
Both CZ-5 and CZ-7 are currently or scheduled to be undergoing launch test/simulation/rehearsal this year in the new Wenchang launch center in Hainan.
CZ-6 and maybe CZ-11 could be launched this year.

 

[Keel]

Alot of engineers who work on the design are very young, I believe in their 20s or early 30s, and that's a good sign. Can't imagine in another 20, 30 years, with the experience they have, what other giant rockets or space faring vehicles they come up with. By then I'll probably be sitting in my old man's chair, smiling when the count down begins.

Our demographic dividends!

Here is how our kids were inspired by Wang Yaping during her physics class beamed from Shenzhou 10 + Tiangong 1 to the hall on Earth. Our kids were thrilled.

探月工程三期再入返回飞行器服务舱已完成环绕地月系统拉格朗日-2点（简称地月L2点）的拓展试验任务，于2015年1月4日23时实施逃逸机动，飞离地月L2点，计划1月中旬飞回月球轨道继续为嫦娥五号任务开展在轨验证试验。

SASTIND has reported on its website that Chang'e 5T1's service module has left EM-L2 orbit on 4th Jan 2015 23 pm. And would proceed to enter into lunar orbit in mid January to continue performing path finding experiment for Chang'e 5 lunar sample return mission.

More on our missions on L2 from an interesting article on the subject during our Chang'e 2's mission a few years back and at present Chang'e 5T1:

There is a very intriguing point where the article below did not seem to have explained in greater detail. The L2's position is very different from the other L points. It is on the farthest from the sun and on the dark side of the Earth and the Moon!


Following 2 pics are the illustrations of gravitational fields between the Earth Moon and L1 to L5 respectively:

L3, L4 & L5 are on the orbital path of the Moon. They are 0.384 million KM from the Earth.
L1 & L2 are on the line joining the Earth & the Moon.

Chinese moon probe is tackling new deep space mission
Parked at Lagrangian point, it will study the sun and Earth's magnetic field
By Leonard David

updated 10/25/2011 5:51:37 PM ET

China's second moon probe is parked at a stable spot in deep space, called a Lagrangian point, as part of a new mission to study the sun and Earth's magnetic field.

The multi-tasking spacecraft, called the Chang'e 2, completed its moon mapping mission earlier this year. Its new mission may be a signal of China's expanding prowess in space — not only for scientific purposes, but perhaps for showcasing strategic intentions, experts say.

The route from the moon to L2 — Lagrange point 2, a stable point on the side of the Earth opposite the sun — took Chang'e 2 all of 77 days. The spacecraft departed the moon in early June and parked at its new address in late August. At L2, Chang'e 2 is about 932,056 miles (1.5 million kilometers) from Earth.

Deep space exploration China's State Administration for Science, Technology and Industry for National Defense has heralded the repurposed probe, which has made China's space agency the third ever to visit a Lagrangian point. Missions launched by the European Space Agency and NASA also visited Lagrangian points.

CSLEP
A China Lunar Exploration Program graphic shows the progress of China's Chang'e 2 moon probe from its lunar orbit out to the L2 Lagrange point 1.5 million km from Earth.


Liu Tongjie, the deputy director for the second-phase project of the China Lunar Exploration Program, said Chang'e 2 new position allows it to tackle two scientific tasks: observing the Earth's magnetic field and charting solar storms, according to a China Daily report.

Yet another assignment for October is for Chang'e 2 to help assess the capability of two large deep space communications antennas in China, Liu said.

One antenna, 115 feet (35 meters) in diameter, is being built at Kashgar in the northwest. The second antenna is nearly twice the size, with a diameter of nearly 210 feet (64 meters), and is being built at Jiamusi in the northeast.

These antennas will be part of China's deep space network, reportedly to take shape in 2016 and built to handle possible future exploration of Jupiter and the poles of the sun.

Clever maneuvers "It doesn’t take much energy for Chang'e to get to Earth-sun L2, and once you're there, it takes very little energy to go to other Lagrange points," said Dan Lester of the Department of Astronomy at the University of Texas. "So it actually makes a lot of sense for China to exercise its abilities in doing this."

Lester told Space that getting this kind of experience under your belt is really handy if you want to do clever maneuvers in the general vicinity of the Earth-moon system with little energy.

"It would be interesting to hear the plot here, but just the decision to do this comes as no big surprise," Lester added. "I wouldn’t interpret it as any more than an exercise in navigational ability and station-keeping. Not real easy to do … so it's a good test."

L2 is where many Western science spacecraft are stationed, Lester noted, and after spending some time there, Chang'e 2 could flip out to other Lagrange points.

Orbital mechanics "It can be retargeted to some interesting bodies, using lunar gravity-assist maneuvers," said Robert Farquhar, a leading U.S. expert on orbital mechanics and author of the new book: "Fifty Years on the Space Frontier: Halo Orbits, Comets, Asteroids, and More."

"I have some ideas where Chang'e 2 could go, and I'm hoping to present my plan to the Chinese in the near future," Farquhar said.

Edward Belbruno of Princeton said the movement of Chang'e 2 "illustrates that China is mastering some subtle orbit dynamics and capabilities to have a spacecraft maneuver away from the moon for little fuel to go to Earth-sun L1." Belbruno masterminded a new approach to space travel by finding low-energy pathways using unstable chaos and dynamical systems, called weak stability boundary theory.

Chang'e 2's movement also involves capabilities for deep space tracking and communication out to 1.5 million kilometers from the Earth, Belbruno pointed out, where L2 and another Lagrange point, L1, are located.

China's mastery of reaching L2 is important for several reasons, Belbruno said. These points are far from the Earth, he said, and spacecraft located there can perform scientific measurements and observations in a benign environment.

"Perhaps more significantly, low-energy pathways lead away from L1 and L2, which can be exploited to send spacecraft to Jupiter, Mars, asteroids, for less fuel. They make an excellent staging point," Belbruno said. "Placing spacecraft at these points gives one a high ground, so to speak." Not only would they be interesting places to position a space station, but from there China could perform planetary exploration, both in piloted and automated mode.

"The fact China has sent their lunar spacecraft to (L2) shows a long-term commitment to space exploration," Belbruno said.

Space military implications? Dean Cheng, a research fellow on Chinese political and security affairs at the Heritage Foundation, a conservative public policy think tank, sees Chang'e 2's orbital gymnastics as part national pride, part scientific curiosity and part political move: doing things at a First World level.

"Space, with its high visibility and obvious high-tech aura, is a major opportunity to do this," he said.

But to what extent could Lagrange points also fortify military space operations for China?

In terms of strategic military use of L-points, "there are some interesting ideas (though from our side) about the utility of L-points as parking spots for reserve in-orbit spares and possibly for anti-satellites coming in from outer orbits, taking out GEOsats (geostationary satellites) and the like from unexpected angles," Cheng said.

He said the possibility of in-orbit spares probably merits further investigation.

"If you think that there could be a conflict, and you had the initiative on when it might start, you might want to deploy systems farther out, where they’d be harder to monitor, in anticipation that your in-orbit systems may be attrited through a variety of means, and it'll be hard to replace them," Cheng said.

Given any worry that launch sites, production sites or other infrastructure might be targeted — and not just physically, but through cyber and other means — then you definitely might want to pre-deploy systems into orbit or farther out, Cheng said.

"This is speculation, however, and not necessarily based upon specific Chinese claims or writings," Cheng emphasized.

Leonard David has been reporting on the space industry for more than five decades. He is a winner of this year's National Space Club Press Award and a past editor-in-chief of the National Space Society's Ad Astra and Space World magazines. He has written for Space.com since 1999.

 

[JSCh]

Click on the picture for link to open a higher resolution image.

2014年12月31日9点02分，FY-2G卫星在中国西昌卫星发射中心成功发射。2015年1月8日地面系统成功获取FY-2G第一张可见光云图。
At 9:02 on December 31, 2014, FY-2G satellite was successfully launched from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in China. On January 8, 2015, ground System successfully received the first visible light cloud image.

Released by The National Satellite Meteorological Center (NSMC), an ancillary unit of China Meteorological Administration (CMA)
国家卫星气象中心 风云二号G星成功获取第一张图

 

[JSCh]

Chang'e 5 Test Mission Updates
Detailed Mission Overview, Launch Vehicle Info, Chang'e 3 Mission​

Chinese Chang'e 5 Test Mission begins Transition to Lunar Orbit
January 6, 2015

China's extended Chang'e 5 Test Mission has entered the next phase of its pathfinder mission to assess trajectories and technology for China's first robotic sample return mission to the Moon. After launching in late October atop a Long March 3C/E rocket, the Chang'e 5-T1 Service Module ferried a prototype Return Vehicle around the Moon to demonstrate a high-speed Skip Re-Entry to demonstrate that the vehicle could withstand the entry environment and the entry guidance system provided sufficient accuracy to successfully return lunar samples to Earth.

Avoiding re-entry, the Service Module boosted itself into a highly elliptical orbit around Earth from where it transferred to the Earth-Moon Lagrange Point 2, entering a semi-stable Lissajous Orbit behind the Moon.

On Sunday, the spacecraft conducted a departure maneuver to leave EML-2 and begin a transition into a Lunar Orbit. The maneuver used the spacecraft's smaller attitude control thrusters and the transfer to Lunar Orbit Insertion will take until mid-January. Entering an elliptical orbit around the Moon, the Service Module will conduct orbital adjustment to enter a lower orbit around the Moon, likely around 100 Kilometers in altitude since a similar orbit will be put to use on the Chang'e 5 mission.

Once in an operational orbit, the spacecraft will go through two Virtual Target Rendezvous exercises that will demonstrate trajectories and guidance techniques needed in the Autonomous Lunar Orbit Rendezvous that will be a critical part of the Chang'e 5 mission since the Ascent Vehicle containing samples acquired from the lunar surface will have to automatically link up with its return craft. These two exercises will take place in February and March.

Afterwards, the Chang'e 5-T1 Service Module will conduct imaging operations of the target landing zone for Chang'e 5 which has not yet been disclosed. To be able to gather high resolution imagery, the craft will likely adjust its orbit to set up low-altitude passes over the target area. Images delivered by Chang'e 5-T1 so far have shown the Earth, the lunar surface from a distance, tiny Earth with the Moon in the foreground and the exact opposite picture of Moon with Earth in the foreground.

Chang'e 5 Test Mission Updates - Spaceflight101

*****
中新网北京1月11日电 (姜宁 祁登峰)北京时间1月11日凌晨3时许，在北京航天飞行控制中心科技人员精确控制下，再入返回飞行试验器服务舱成功实施近月制动，进入远月点高度约 5300公里、近月点高度约200公里、飞行周期约8小时的环月轨道，继续为嫦娥五号任务开展在轨验证试验。
China News Network report that on 11 Jan 3 am, the service module successfully perform braking maneuver to enter a 5300 km apolune, 200 km perilune, period approx. 8 hr, lunar orbit.

据了解，北京中心后续还将在12日、13日凌晨连续实施两次近月制动，使服务舱最终进入高度约200公里、周期约127分钟的环月轨道，服务舱后续将在这个环月轨道上开展相关在轨试验，为嫦娥五号任务的关键飞控技术进行先期试验验证。
There will be two more braking maneuver on 12 and 13 Jan to put the service module into a circular 200 km, period 127 min lunar orbit.

再入返回飞行试验器服务舱回到环月轨道-中新网

 

[Keel]

China's first civilian "sight-seeing" spacecraft is scheduled for testing in July
2015-01-09 08:52
Illustrated version of the spacecraft below

The first space tour may be started as early as by the end of this year. The tour will reach an altitude of 99.85% towards the edge of space beyond a 40-km atmosphere with the help of ultra-light helium balloons

Tourists can have a chance to enjoy the spectacular scenes of seeing the 1000-km curvature of the earth, the space environment, and the rising and setting of the sun, parachutting from the spacecraft and to experience a moment of weightlessness.

日前，中国民间第一艘太空观光飞船外观造型公布，并开始为飞船征集名称，飞船计划于2015年7月测试飞行，根据测试结果，最早将于2015年底实现载人飞行。

　　“太空边缘观光项目”采用超级氦气球携带载人观光舱的飞行方式，乘员将到达99.85%大气(4万米高度)以外的太空边缘。飞行期间，乘员可以在观光舱内看到深穹的太空美景、1000多公里的地球弧线、蔚为壮观的太空日出、太空日落景象，还可以体验短暂的漂浮失重。观光舱返回时，乘员甚至可以穿特制的宇航服进行跳伞，感受特别的极限体验。飞船最快在2015年年底首飞。

(来源:科技日报)
首艘我国民间?太空观光飞船?计划7月测试飞行--科技--人民网

 

[JSCh]

人民網北京1月13日電（趙竹青 蔡金曼）記者從國家國防科技工業局獲悉，探月工程三期再入返回飛行器服務艙完成第三次近月制動控制，進入傾角43.7度、高度200公裡、周期127分鐘的環月圓軌道，繼續為嫦娥五號任務開展在軌驗証試驗。
13 Jan, 2015. Reporter heard from SASTIND that Chang'e 5-T1 Service Module has entered inclination 43.7 degree, circular 200 km, period 127 min, lunar orbit.

環繞L2點期間拍攝的地月合影-環地效果圖
It is a composite picture showing moon and earth together. Taken at various times, position and angle while the service module is at a orbit around Earth Moon L2 point.

12月22日，长征五号运载火箭芯一级模块转运至101所动力系统试验台顺利完成吊装、上台安装并与试验台成功对接，标志着该模块试车现场工作全面展开。
December 22, Long March V rocket core stage is being erected into the test tower in preparation for test.

 

[Keel]

Loving it or loathing it, we are moving on on our own regardless without as much fanfare!

China is Now Positioned to Dominate the Moon
What are they up to?
By Paul D. Spudis
AIRSPACEMAG.COM
NOVEMBER 6, 2014

Chang’E 5 Test mission to the Moon safely returned to Earth. With this mission behind them, the Chinese have successfully completed all the steps needed to conduct lunar exploration—first by robotic spacecraft but eventually also with humans. Over a short six-year span, China has methodically conducted an incremental series of robotic missions to refine the skills they need to explore the Moon.

This architecture included two lunar orbiters—one was sent to impact the Moon, the other was commanded to leave lunar orbit for a trip to (and an extended loiter at) one of the Sun-Earth Lagrange points. Next, the Chang’E 3 lander (exceptionally large for its mission profile, with payload capacity of more than 1.5 metric tons) successfully soft-landed in Mare Imbrium. A small rover (Yutu) deployed onto the lunar surface, conducted a cursory surface exploration (apparently a much more ambitious traverse was planned, but mechanical failures cut that short). Which brings us to their latest successful mission. This one was flown to and around the Moon, with the capsule returned safely to the surface of the Earth—in effect, the mission sequence required for lunar sample return.

The only piece missing from their lunar mission architecture is rendezvous and docking in lunar orbit. Since the Chinese manned program has already done this multiple times in Earth orbit, odds are that they will be successful in applying this expertise to their lunar mission. The plan for the next mission (Chang’E 5) will be to conduct a robotic sample return mission sometime in 2017. The mission profile calls for a soft landing on the lunar surface, the collection of soil and rock samples, the ascent of the sample-return vehicle to orbit (where it will autonomously rendezvous with the Earth return stage), and then the firing of a rocket engine to leave lunar orbit and return to Earth.

The complexity of the Chang’E 5 mission profile is somewhat curious, since it would be much simpler to make a direct ascent from the lunar surface and head straight back to Earth (like the Soviet Luna sample return missions of the 1970s). The fact that China is adding the step of rendezvous and docking in lunar orbit is significant, as this step is a critical milestone for the certification of an architecture for human missions to the Moon. China’s choice of this mission profile for Chang’E 5 is a clear indication that they are planning such missions.

Although this mission series is a testament to China’s significant scientific and technical capability, another aspect must also be considered. To fully understand what this new space capability means, one must take a discerning look at Chang’E 2, launched in October 2010. Initially, this mission was simply another orbiter, an additional mapper added to the crowded lunar sky already being used by India’s Chandrayaan-1, the Japanese SELENE, and the American LRO spacecraft. Chang’E 2 mapped the Moon at higher resolution (10 m per pixel, as opposed to 100 m/pixel) and lower sun angles than its predecessor, Chang’E 1. Additionally, it carried a laser altimeter that produced a high-quality global topographic map of the Moon and a gamma-ray spectrometer to map surface elemental composition.

The lunar phase of Chang’E 2 was completed in nine months, with a departure from lunar orbit in June 2011. What happened next is significant. At the end of August 2011, the Chang’E 2 spacecraft was sent to Sun-Earth L-2, a stable libration point about 1,500,000 km from Earth. At this point, Earth and Sun remain fixed in space (relative to the spacecraft) and minimal fuel is needed to remain here (plans are to park the forthcoming James Webb Space Telescope here). After loitering at L-2 for about 8 months, Chang’E-2 departed in late April 2012 for an intercept and flyby of the asteroid Toutatis in December of that year. High-resolution images of Toutatis were obtained and the Chinese spacecraft entered solar orbit, where it remains to this day.

This mission sequence was highly complex and apparently completely successful. Although it accomplished a great deal scientifically, its operational significance is even greater. The ability to routinely move throughout and work in the volume of space between Earth and Moon (cislunar space) is key to both space permanence and space control. Space permanence means having vehicle assets on call in space for use as needed, as well as being able to position them at strategic spots where they can be reliably stored until required. Space control simply means the ability to provide space assets for national purposes when needed and to deny similar assets to an adversary if necessary. Both permanence and control are demonstrated by positioning satellites in cislunar space, lunar orbit, the L-points, and all parts of space in between.

These recent developments are serious but appear to have been largely overlooked in the west. I am not suggesting that China is taking hostile action in space nor am I suggesting that they intend to. But they are demonstrating that they have the ability to do so. We should always keep in mind that unlike NASA, the Chinese space program is run by their military (the People’s Liberation Army). Although we both have “dual use” technology (i.e., space capabilities that have both civilian and military use), the current focus of American scientific robotic exploration is on a variety of targets beyond cislunar space—asteroids, Mars and other planets. Our exploration of these objects is strictly for scientific (and peaceful) purposes.

It appears that while America continues to pursue the chimera of a human Mars mission at some future (but always unspecified) date, China is moving ahead with cislunar space dominance. They have systematically and carefully planned a logical pathway to the creation of a permanent space-faring capability. They have not yet achieved it, but looking at their progress to date, there is little doubt that they will. As virtually all of our space “applications” (i.e., communications, weather, remote sensing, GPS) assets are positioned in the various locales of cislunar space, we should be cognizant of evolving Chinese capabilities and intentions. Are we allowing ourselves to be outmaneuvered in space? Despite the happy talk of many in the space community, it remains a dangerous world.

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[cirr]

2014年五院十大新闻事件揭晓

Lots of programmes and projects （Mars exploration etc etc etc etc etc）within just one academy of just one space group。

 

[JSCh]

CZ-7 (Long March 7) undergoing launch test/rehearsal with the new mobile launch platform/umbilical tower in the new launch center in Wenchang, Hainan island.

 

[Beast]

FInally, we see a new rocket. Yes, its no CZ-5 but at least its newer technology.

 

[JSCh]

Workers assembling the CZ-5 booster.
CZ-5 is currently undergoing construction, assembly and test.
Once completed, It would be shipped to Wenchang for launch test like CZ-7 above.

 

[Keel]

New rocket on drawing board
By Zhao Lei (China Daily) Updated: 2014-12-08 04:34

A Long March4B rocket blasts off from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center in Shanxi province on Sunday, sending a satellite into space for Brazil. LIU HUAIYU / FOR CHINA DAILY

Long March-9 expected to raise nation's capability for space expeditions

China is conducting preliminary research on a super-heavy launch vehicle that will be used in its manned missions to the moon.

"We are discussing the technological feasibility and requirements of the Long March-9, and research on the solutions to some technical difficulties have started," said Li Tongyu, head of aerospace products at the China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology. "Its specifications will mostly be determined by a host of factors, including the government's space plan and the nation's overall industrial capability, as well as its engine's development."

The Long March-9's diameter and height will be much larger than those of the Long March-5, and its thrust will also be much stronger, he said.

"Our current launch vehicles, including the Long March-5, which is set to conduct its first launch soon, will be able to undertake the country's space activities planned for the coming 10 years, but for the nation's long-term space programs, their capabilities will not be enough," he added, emphasizing the necessity and significance of a super-heavy rocket.

"In addition, the cryogenic engine using liquid hydrogen fuel and liquid oxygen oxidizer (designed for the Long March-5) is not powerful enough for the Long March-9, so we need to develop a brand new engine for it to make sure the rocket has sufficient thrust."

Li's academy belongs to China Aerospace Science and Technology Corp, one of the major undertakers of China's space activities. It is also the leading space launch vehicle developer in China, producing all of the nation's strategic missiles and the Long March rocket family.

Li Jinghong, deputy chief designer of the Long March-3A at the academy, said estimates show the Long March-5 will have to use four launches to fulfill a manned mission to the moon while the Long March-9 will need only one.

The senior engineer noted that manned lunar missions will not be the sole use of the Long March-9, hinting that other deep-space exploration projects will also need the super-heavy vehicle.

"The diameter of the Long March-9 should be 8 to 10 meters, and its weight at launch should be at least 3,000 metric tons," he said.

According to an earlier report by China News Service, Liang Xiaohong, deputy head of the China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology, disclosed that the Long March-9 is planned to have a maximum payload of 130 tons and its first launch will take place around 2028.

Liang urged the government to include the Long March-9's development in its space agenda as soon as possible so that China's rocket technologies will not lag behind those of other space powers.

Once the Long March-9 is developed and put into service, China will be able to go deeper into space, as it has begun to draw an ambitious blueprint for exploration beyond the moon.

The China National Space Administration has started preliminary research for the Mars exploration program and is persuading the government to include the project into the country's space agenda, according to Tian Yulong, secretary-general of the administration.

In November, China made public a prototype of its Mars rover at an air show in Zhuhai, Guangdong province.

Peng Tao, a space expert at the China Academy of Space Technology, the nation's leading developer of spacecraft, said at the exhibition that the country plans to conduct a Mars mission around 2020, which will include orbiting, landing and roaming operations by an unmanned probe.