China Space Military：Recon, Satcom, Navi, ASAT/BMD, Orbital Vehicle, SLV, etc.
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http://english.cri.cn/12394/2016/06/18/3521s931239.htm
The Long March-7 carrier rocket is pictured at the launch site in city of Wenchang, south China's Hainan Province, January 27, 2015. [Photo: sina.com.cn]
Final preparations are being made to test the latest-generation of China's carrier rocket program.
The Long March-7 is set to be launched from the Wenchang Satellite Launch Center in Hainan later on this month.
As the closest Chinese launch site to the equator, the Wencheng facility is subject to tropical weather conditions.
Launch engineer Guo Xuewen says the weather is going to be a major factor as to exactly when they'll be able to test the Long March-7.
"We have conducted complete analysis of the meteorological data over the last 10-years. We, of course, also have the latest weather updates which will give us the ability to check on whether adverse conditions, such as high wind circulation, might affect the launch. We're also well-aware of the conditions which might affect the launch in its early stages."
The new Long March-7 rocket is the latest in the Chinese carrier-rocket design.
It's designed to carry a much larger payload, and will be essential in helping establish a stand-alone Chinese space station by 2020.
http://spacenews.com/china-prepares-assembly-of-its-space-station-invites-collaboration-through-u-n/
by Peter B. de Selding — June 20, 2016
The China Manned Space Agency plans to make major strides on its space station in the coming months with the inauguration of a new spaceport with the launch of the first Long March 7 rocket, shown in production here. A precursor laboratory will launch in September, followed by a two-member crew in October. China said it would welcome international participation in many forms. Credit: China Aerospace Science and Technology Corp.
PARIS—The Chinese government has agreed to help finance non-Chinese payloads and experiments to be operated from China’s future space station through the United Nations as part of its attempt to internationalize the program, a senior Chinese space official told the U.N.
The official said China is on track to inaugurate its fourth spaceport, the Wenchang Satellite Launch Center on Hainan Island, in the coming weeks with the launch of the first Long March 7 rocket. Wenchang is located at 9 degrees north latitude, which is the southernmost point on Chinese territory.
Under the current schedule, a TianGong-2 orbiting laboratory module would be launched in September aboard a Long March 5B rocket to test technologies that will be needed for the space station. A manned ShenZhou-11 capsule is set to launch in October, carrying two astronauts, to rendezvous and dock with the TianGong-2 space station precursor facility in low Earth orbit.
At cargo ship is scheduled for launch in the first half of 2017 to test in-orbit propellant refueling technologies. In 2018, the core module for the future station — described as a “test core module” — will be put into orbit. In-orbit assembly experiments will be conducted before the station’s two experiment modules are launched, by Long March-5B rockets, from Wenchang. Full operations are scheduled to start in 2022.
Addressing the U.N. Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space plenary conference June 14 in Vienna, Austria, Wu Ping, deputy director of the China Manned Space Agency, stressed China’s openness to having non-Chinese experiments, payloads, astronauts and even complete space station modules become part of the Chinese facility.
Wu said her office’s director-general, Wang Zhaoyao, signed two agreements with the U.N. Office for Outer Space Affairs (OOSA) Director Simonetta Di Pippo on space station collaboration and that China would use these to solicit, evaluate, select and finance future experiments from foreign nationals. A selection of experiments would need to be accompanied by a bilateral cooperation agreement between China and the nation proposing the experiments.
“This is an exciting opportunity to further build the space capacity of developing countries and increase understanding of the benefits space can bring to humankind, including for the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals. My office and I are looking forward to working with CMSA on these initiatives,” Di Pippo said in a June 16 statement. The agreements are dated March 31 but apparently were not announced until Wu’s speech to COPUOS.
Wu pointed to existing agreements with the 22-nation European Space Agency and with Russia’s Roscosmos space agency on space station cooperation. ESA officials have said they are preparing their future astronauts for visits to the Chinese facility, although no specific agreements have been concluded.
The Chinese space station will be comprised of three modules, the core command module and two experiment modules, orbiting at between 340 and 450 kilometers in altitude at an inclination of 42-43 degrees relative to the equator. The international space station, with the United States, Russia, Japan, the European Space Agency and Canada as partners, flies at approximately the same altitude but with an inclination of 51.6 degrees. The higher inclination allows it to pass over Russia’s mission control center in Korolev, Russia.
Designed to operate for at least 10 years starting in 2022, with extensions possible depending on future maintenance requirements, the facility will house three full-time astronauts and up to six during rotation periods. The full-time crew will be rotated every six months.
The CMSA is designing three types of unmanned cargo freighters, pressurized and unpressurized, which are to launch aboard Long March 7 rockets from Wenchang. Crews will launch aboard Long March 2F rockets from the Jiuquan spaceport, located in the Gobi Desert in Inner Mongolia.
One of the distinguishing features of the Chinese facility, Wu said, is that it will be visited by a large-aperture astronomy telescope, designed to study dark matter, which will be able to dock at the space station for maintenance and hardware upgrades.
The Long March-7 carrier rocket is pictured at the launch site in city of Wenchang, south China's Hainan Province, January 27, 2015. [Photo: sina.com.cn]
Final preparations are being made to test the latest-generation of China's carrier rocket program.
The Long March-7 is set to be launched from the Wenchang Satellite Launch Center in Hainan later on this month.
As the closest Chinese launch site to the equator, the Wencheng facility is subject to tropical weather conditions.
Launch engineer Guo Xuewen says the weather is going to be a major factor as to exactly when they'll be able to test the Long March-7.
"We have conducted complete analysis of the meteorological data over the last 10-years. We, of course, also have the latest weather updates which will give us the ability to check on whether adverse conditions, such as high wind circulation, might affect the launch. We're also well-aware of the conditions which might affect the launch in its early stages."
The new Long March-7 rocket is the latest in the Chinese carrier-rocket design.
It's designed to carry a much larger payload, and will be essential in helping establish a stand-alone Chinese space station by 2020.
http://spacenews.com/china-prepares-assembly-of-its-space-station-invites-collaboration-through-u-n/
by Peter B. de Selding — June 20, 2016
The China Manned Space Agency plans to make major strides on its space station in the coming months with the inauguration of a new spaceport with the launch of the first Long March 7 rocket, shown in production here. A precursor laboratory will launch in September, followed by a two-member crew in October. China said it would welcome international participation in many forms. Credit: China Aerospace Science and Technology Corp.
PARIS—The Chinese government has agreed to help finance non-Chinese payloads and experiments to be operated from China’s future space station through the United Nations as part of its attempt to internationalize the program, a senior Chinese space official told the U.N.
The official said China is on track to inaugurate its fourth spaceport, the Wenchang Satellite Launch Center on Hainan Island, in the coming weeks with the launch of the first Long March 7 rocket. Wenchang is located at 9 degrees north latitude, which is the southernmost point on Chinese territory.
Under the current schedule, a TianGong-2 orbiting laboratory module would be launched in September aboard a Long March 5B rocket to test technologies that will be needed for the space station. A manned ShenZhou-11 capsule is set to launch in October, carrying two astronauts, to rendezvous and dock with the TianGong-2 space station precursor facility in low Earth orbit.
At cargo ship is scheduled for launch in the first half of 2017 to test in-orbit propellant refueling technologies. In 2018, the core module for the future station — described as a “test core module” — will be put into orbit. In-orbit assembly experiments will be conducted before the station’s two experiment modules are launched, by Long March-5B rockets, from Wenchang. Full operations are scheduled to start in 2022.
Addressing the U.N. Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space plenary conference June 14 in Vienna, Austria, Wu Ping, deputy director of the China Manned Space Agency, stressed China’s openness to having non-Chinese experiments, payloads, astronauts and even complete space station modules become part of the Chinese facility.
Wu said her office’s director-general, Wang Zhaoyao, signed two agreements with the U.N. Office for Outer Space Affairs (OOSA) Director Simonetta Di Pippo on space station collaboration and that China would use these to solicit, evaluate, select and finance future experiments from foreign nationals. A selection of experiments would need to be accompanied by a bilateral cooperation agreement between China and the nation proposing the experiments.
“This is an exciting opportunity to further build the space capacity of developing countries and increase understanding of the benefits space can bring to humankind, including for the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals. My office and I are looking forward to working with CMSA on these initiatives,” Di Pippo said in a June 16 statement. The agreements are dated March 31 but apparently were not announced until Wu’s speech to COPUOS.
Wu pointed to existing agreements with the 22-nation European Space Agency and with Russia’s Roscosmos space agency on space station cooperation. ESA officials have said they are preparing their future astronauts for visits to the Chinese facility, although no specific agreements have been concluded.
The Chinese space station will be comprised of three modules, the core command module and two experiment modules, orbiting at between 340 and 450 kilometers in altitude at an inclination of 42-43 degrees relative to the equator. The international space station, with the United States, Russia, Japan, the European Space Agency and Canada as partners, flies at approximately the same altitude but with an inclination of 51.6 degrees. The higher inclination allows it to pass over Russia’s mission control center in Korolev, Russia.
Designed to operate for at least 10 years starting in 2022, with extensions possible depending on future maintenance requirements, the facility will house three full-time astronauts and up to six during rotation periods. The full-time crew will be rotated every six months.
The CMSA is designing three types of unmanned cargo freighters, pressurized and unpressurized, which are to launch aboard Long March 7 rockets from Wenchang. Crews will launch aboard Long March 2F rockets from the Jiuquan spaceport, located in the Gobi Desert in Inner Mongolia.
One of the distinguishing features of the Chinese facility, Wu said, is that it will be visited by a large-aperture astronomy telescope, designed to study dark matter, which will be able to dock at the space station for maintenance and hardware upgrades.
JSCh
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June 20, the launch pad tower has been opened, ready for roll-out from the vertical assembly building.
Plan to develop family of space robots
By Zhao Lei (China Daily)
Updated: 2016-06-21 07:44
China plans to develop a large family of robots for both its unmanned and manned space programs, according to a senior official with the nation's space agency.
Tian Yulong, secretary-general of the China National Space Administration, said the government is drawing up a long-term plan for the development of space robots.
"They will consist of Mars rovers, asteroid explorers, robotic arms and service robots that can help maintain and repair an in-orbit space station, space laboratories and satellites," he told reporters on the sidelines of the 13th International Symposium on Artificial Intelligence, Robotics and Automation in Space, which is being held in Beijing.
The three-day event, which opened on Monday, is being hosted by the space administration and Harbin Institute of Technology, and the attendees come from more than 10 countries including the United States, Germany and Japan.
"More efforts will be made to develop advanced robots with higher automation to meet the needs of our deep-space exploration programs," Tian said.
He said that China's Mars rover will be based on proven, domestically developed technologies and will benefit from the operation experience of the country's Yutu lunar rover.
China plans to send an unmanned probe to orbit and land on Mars around 2020.
Since the 1960s, more than 40 probes have journeyed to Mars, but only 19 have accomplished their missions.
At present, there are two rovers beaming signals from the planet's surface back to Earth: NASA's Mars Exploration Mission rover "Opportunity" and its Mars Science Laboratory rover "Curiosity".
Professor Liu Hong, a senior robotics expert at Harbin Institute of Technology, said space missions are very risky for astronauts as they often involve operations in vacuum, under extreme temperature changes and in high radiation.
"Such operations are suitable for robots to carry out," he said.
"Robotic arms are an ideal combination of human intelligence and robotic capability, and these will be one of our research focuses."
China is already a leader in the research into robotic arms, and its achievement has been recognized by the international space community, according to Liu.
Gianfranco Visentin, head of the automation and robotics section of the European Space Research and Technology Center, said the European space community is actively cooperating with China and the two sides are enhancing their collaboration in space robotics and lunar exploration.
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2016-06/21/content_25781253.htm
By Zhao Lei (China Daily)
Updated: 2016-06-21 07:44
China plans to develop a large family of robots for both its unmanned and manned space programs, according to a senior official with the nation's space agency.
Tian Yulong, secretary-general of the China National Space Administration, said the government is drawing up a long-term plan for the development of space robots.
"They will consist of Mars rovers, asteroid explorers, robotic arms and service robots that can help maintain and repair an in-orbit space station, space laboratories and satellites," he told reporters on the sidelines of the 13th International Symposium on Artificial Intelligence, Robotics and Automation in Space, which is being held in Beijing.
The three-day event, which opened on Monday, is being hosted by the space administration and Harbin Institute of Technology, and the attendees come from more than 10 countries including the United States, Germany and Japan.
"More efforts will be made to develop advanced robots with higher automation to meet the needs of our deep-space exploration programs," Tian said.
He said that China's Mars rover will be based on proven, domestically developed technologies and will benefit from the operation experience of the country's Yutu lunar rover.
China plans to send an unmanned probe to orbit and land on Mars around 2020.
Since the 1960s, more than 40 probes have journeyed to Mars, but only 19 have accomplished their missions.
At present, there are two rovers beaming signals from the planet's surface back to Earth: NASA's Mars Exploration Mission rover "Opportunity" and its Mars Science Laboratory rover "Curiosity".
Professor Liu Hong, a senior robotics expert at Harbin Institute of Technology, said space missions are very risky for astronauts as they often involve operations in vacuum, under extreme temperature changes and in high radiation.
"Such operations are suitable for robots to carry out," he said.
"Robotic arms are an ideal combination of human intelligence and robotic capability, and these will be one of our research focuses."
China is already a leader in the research into robotic arms, and its achievement has been recognized by the international space community, according to Liu.
Gianfranco Visentin, head of the automation and robotics section of the European Space Research and Technology Center, said the European space community is actively cooperating with China and the two sides are enhancing their collaboration in space robotics and lunar exploration.
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2016-06/21/content_25781253.htm
Piotr
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Poland and China sign strategic partnership declaration
The day before yesterday during president Xi Jinping visit in Poland representatives of Poland and China signed a memorandum of understanding between the Polish Space Agency and the China National Space Agency on cooperation in space exploration and use of outer space for peaceful purposes.
Good that China unlike certain "exceptional" and "indispensable" country does not intend to weaponize outer space.
The day before yesterday during president Xi Jinping visit in Poland representatives of Poland and China signed a memorandum of understanding between the Polish Space Agency and the China National Space Agency on cooperation in space exploration and use of outer space for peaceful purposes.
Good that China unlike certain "exceptional" and "indispensable" country does not intend to weaponize outer space.
JSCh
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CCTV News
Published on Jun 21, 2016
The Chinese carrier rocket Long March 7 is being prepared for its maiden launch in southern China's Hainan province. Officials at the Wenchang Satellite Launch Center said this 53-metre-tall, 600-ton rocket has completed most tests. The rocket's debut flight will carry a scaled-down version of a new re-entry capsule for human spaceflight. The Long March 7 is expected to become the main carrier rocket for China's space missions, replacing the current Long March 3B rocket.
JSCh
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China to launch new carrier rocket June 25-29
Source: Xinhua | 2016-06-22 13:54:12 | Editor: huaxia
WENCHANG, June 22, 2016 (Xinhua) -- Long March-7 carrier rocket is transferred vertically to the launch pad in Wenchang, south China's Hainan Province, June 22, 2016. China plans to launch its new generation Long March-7 carrier rocket between Saturday and Wednesday from a new launch ground in Wenchang. The Long March-7 is a medium-sized rocket using liquid propellant that can carry up to 13.5 tonnes to low-Earth orbit. It will transport cargo for China's planned space station and is expected to become the main carrier for space launches. (Xinhua/Zeng Tao)
WENCHANG, Hainan, June 22 (Xinhua) -- China plans to launch its new generation Long March-7 carrier rocket between Saturday and Wednesday from a new launch ground in south China, according to the manned space engineering office on Wednesday.
The rocket was vertical when taken to the launch pad in journey that took three hours this morning.
The Long March-7 is a medium-sized rocket using liquid propellant that can carry up to 13.5 tonnes to low-Earth orbit. It will transport cargo for China's planned space station and is expected to become the main carrier for space launches.
The rocket arrived at Wenchang in south China's Hainan Province in May for final assembly and testing.
This will be the first launch from Wenchang, the fourth launch site in China. Its construction was completed in November 2014.
According to the local tourism department, all hotels are fully booked until Sunday. The city can only provide accommodation for 80,000 people and suggested tourists avoid the maiden launch, as there will be more in the future.
Source: Xinhua | 2016-06-22 13:54:12 | Editor: huaxia
WENCHANG, June 22, 2016 (Xinhua) -- Long March-7 carrier rocket is transferred vertically to the launch pad in Wenchang, south China's Hainan Province, June 22, 2016. China plans to launch its new generation Long March-7 carrier rocket between Saturday and Wednesday from a new launch ground in Wenchang. The Long March-7 is a medium-sized rocket using liquid propellant that can carry up to 13.5 tonnes to low-Earth orbit. It will transport cargo for China's planned space station and is expected to become the main carrier for space launches. (Xinhua/Zeng Tao)
WENCHANG, Hainan, June 22 (Xinhua) -- China plans to launch its new generation Long March-7 carrier rocket between Saturday and Wednesday from a new launch ground in south China, according to the manned space engineering office on Wednesday.
The rocket was vertical when taken to the launch pad in journey that took three hours this morning.
The Long March-7 is a medium-sized rocket using liquid propellant that can carry up to 13.5 tonnes to low-Earth orbit. It will transport cargo for China's planned space station and is expected to become the main carrier for space launches.
The rocket arrived at Wenchang in south China's Hainan Province in May for final assembly and testing.
This will be the first launch from Wenchang, the fourth launch site in China. Its construction was completed in November 2014.
According to the local tourism department, all hotels are fully booked until Sunday. The city can only provide accommodation for 80,000 people and suggested tourists avoid the maiden launch, as there will be more in the future.
onebyone
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JSCh
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JSCh
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Plans for China's farside Chang'e 4 lander science mission taking shape | The Planetary Society
Posted by Emily Lakdawalla
22-06-2016 12:09 CDT
The future Chang'e 4 lunar farside landing mission is rapidly taking shape. As I described earlier this year, a relay orbiter will launch in 2018 for the Moon-Earth L2 point and a lander and rover (upgraded from Chang'e 3) will follow six months later. Now the mission's team is coming to a consensus on the landing location, as well as on the mission's instrument package. But, to the surprise of geologists in the international lunar science community, the package does not seem to include an instrument dedicated to studying the elemental chemistry of those never-before-sampled farside rocks.
News on Chang'e 4 has been coming out from a variety of sources, including mainstream media articles like this one (in Chinese), as well a paper by Wang Qiong and Liu Jizhong, recently accepted in Acta Astronautica: "A Chang’e-4 mission concept and vision of future Chinese lunar exploration activities." The launch dates quoted in the Wang and Liu article have shifted forward in time a little bit since my last article, with the relay orbiter launch expected "in the end of 2018" and the lander/rover "in the first half of 2019." Unlike missions to more distant worlds, Moon launch dates are fairly flexible and can usually be shifted a month at a time to ensure mission readiness and success at launch. I suspect Chang'e 4's schedule is sensitive to any changes to the Chang'e 5 sample return mission schedule. Chang'e 5 should launch and return in 2018, before the Chang'e 4 mission.
Both the media reports and Wang and Liu state that the Apollo basin is the most likely target for Chang'e 4. This is a large, double-ring impact basin on the lunar farside. They cite a paper about Chandrayaan-1 data indicating that Apollo may harbor materials excavated from the lower crust. But the Wang and Liu paper also mentions other mare basalt sites inside and outside south pole-Aitken, including Moscoviense, Orientale, Ingenii, and Australe. The mare basalts present in all of these locations give them comparatively flat floors -- flat, that is, for the farside. But the lunar farside is much more topographically variable than the nearside, and Wang and Liu that the lander's guidance systems will need improvements to ensure that they can land safely in the more rugged terrain.
Ivica Stošić / Jens Beyer / JAXA / Emily Lakdawalla
Possible landing sites for Chang'e 4
Chang'e 4 is targeting one of the farside maria, most likely the flat floor of the Apollo basin. A huge dark area covering much of the southern hemisphere is the south pole-Aitken basin, the oldest and largest impact basin on the Moon.
So far, the named scientific payload elements include:
Although the Chang'e 4 mission has a stated goal to "study regional geochemistry", the removal of the APXS from the Chang'e 3 Yutu instrument package -- and the lack of any replacement instrument that can get at the elemental composition of the surface -- will make it hard to do geochemistry. There is still a visible and near-infrared spectrometer, but it's not easy to get to mineralogy from spectrometry without some help from elemental chemistry. I was in a room with lunar geologists receiving a briefing on Chang'e 4 at the Lunar and Planetary Science Conference in March, and I think it's not too strong a statement to say the scientists present were dismayed by the thought of a lander being sent to the south pole-Aitken basin without such an instrument.
Instead, Chang'e 4's robust science package has more of a physics focus. It may have a seismology station with a mobile roving hammer, and ground-penetrating radar to look at the subsurface, and several instruments focused on the farside space environment, taking advantage of the bulk of the Moon to shield its sensitive radio instruments from radio frequency interference from Earth. Hopefully Chang'e 4 can set a precedent for farside lunar landings, and we'll get our dedicated geology mission someday, from China or NASA or somebody else. While I'm daydreaming: maybe successes of Chang'e 4 and Chang'e 5 will pave the way for a future farside sample return mission -- a future Chang'e lander? or something like MoonRise? We can do lunar geochemistry much more effectively with returned samples than with the limited capabilities of a lander.
On that note, one other interesting items from the Wang and Liu article: The relay satellite will use "standard CCSDS protocols...to ensure international compatibility," and they suggest that other nations could use it for relay in future missions. It wouldn't be the United States, because federal funding can't be used for cooperation with China. But it could be available for anyone else.
Posted by Emily Lakdawalla
22-06-2016 12:09 CDT
The future Chang'e 4 lunar farside landing mission is rapidly taking shape. As I described earlier this year, a relay orbiter will launch in 2018 for the Moon-Earth L2 point and a lander and rover (upgraded from Chang'e 3) will follow six months later. Now the mission's team is coming to a consensus on the landing location, as well as on the mission's instrument package. But, to the surprise of geologists in the international lunar science community, the package does not seem to include an instrument dedicated to studying the elemental chemistry of those never-before-sampled farside rocks.
News on Chang'e 4 has been coming out from a variety of sources, including mainstream media articles like this one (in Chinese), as well a paper by Wang Qiong and Liu Jizhong, recently accepted in Acta Astronautica: "A Chang’e-4 mission concept and vision of future Chinese lunar exploration activities." The launch dates quoted in the Wang and Liu article have shifted forward in time a little bit since my last article, with the relay orbiter launch expected "in the end of 2018" and the lander/rover "in the first half of 2019." Unlike missions to more distant worlds, Moon launch dates are fairly flexible and can usually be shifted a month at a time to ensure mission readiness and success at launch. I suspect Chang'e 4's schedule is sensitive to any changes to the Chang'e 5 sample return mission schedule. Chang'e 5 should launch and return in 2018, before the Chang'e 4 mission.
Both the media reports and Wang and Liu state that the Apollo basin is the most likely target for Chang'e 4. This is a large, double-ring impact basin on the lunar farside. They cite a paper about Chandrayaan-1 data indicating that Apollo may harbor materials excavated from the lower crust. But the Wang and Liu paper also mentions other mare basalt sites inside and outside south pole-Aitken, including Moscoviense, Orientale, Ingenii, and Australe. The mare basalts present in all of these locations give them comparatively flat floors -- flat, that is, for the farside. But the lunar farside is much more topographically variable than the nearside, and Wang and Liu that the lander's guidance systems will need improvements to ensure that they can land safely in the more rugged terrain.
Ivica Stošić / Jens Beyer / JAXA / Emily Lakdawalla
Possible landing sites for Chang'e 4
Chang'e 4 is targeting one of the farside maria, most likely the flat floor of the Apollo basin. A huge dark area covering much of the southern hemisphere is the south pole-Aitken basin, the oldest and largest impact basin on the Moon.
So far, the named scientific payload elements include:
- Relay satellite:
- There will be a low-frequency radio spectrometer provided by the Netherlands, which also seems to have an element on the lander.
- According to Wang and Liu, the payload may include an impact flash camera and a sodium emission monitoring camera, either "developed from scratch or acquired through international cooperation."
- Lander:
- Two of the instruments will be the same as for Chang'e 3: descent camera and topography camera. On Chang'e 3, the topography camera failed in the first lunar night; I wonder if they will be able to modify it to last longer, or if it will be the same instrument.
- New instruments include "a Lunar Dust Analyser (LDA) for lunar dust physical characteristics measurements, an Electric Field Analyser (EFA) to measure magnitude of electric field at different elevations, a Plasma and Magnetic Field Observation Package (PMFOP), a Lunar Seismometer (LS) for lunar internal structure and impact investigations, [and] a VLF Radio Interferometer (VRI) for radio astronomical observation." The seismometer is mentioned only in the Wang and Liu paper, not in the media reports.
- There will also be a neutron dosimeter to take measurements relevant to future human exploration, to be contributed by Germany for the lander. According to the Kiel University press release, the dosimeter is a thermal neutron spectrometer and therefore could measure water content of the regolith beneath the lander.
- Rover:
- The rover will carry three of the four Yutu instruments, including panoramic camera, ground-penetrating radar, and an infrared spectrometer. It will, however, not carry an alpha-particle X-ray spectrometer. While I was at the Lunar and Planetary Science Conference in March, I learned that the APXS is being removed because the Chang'e 4 rover will not have a robotic arm to place it.
- New instruments include "an Active Source Hammer (ASH) for active source seismic experiments, and a second VLF Radio Receiver (VRR)." Again, the seismology-related instrument is mentioned in the Wang and Liu paper but not in the media reports.
- There will also be an energetic neutral atom analyzer, to be contributed by Sweden for the rover. It has heritage from a similar instrument flown in lunar orbit on Chandrayaan-1.
- Finally, as reported here before, two instruments will be selected from a public competition. According to Xinhua news, the public competition has yielded 257 submissions. The results of the competition will be announced in September.
Although the Chang'e 4 mission has a stated goal to "study regional geochemistry", the removal of the APXS from the Chang'e 3 Yutu instrument package -- and the lack of any replacement instrument that can get at the elemental composition of the surface -- will make it hard to do geochemistry. There is still a visible and near-infrared spectrometer, but it's not easy to get to mineralogy from spectrometry without some help from elemental chemistry. I was in a room with lunar geologists receiving a briefing on Chang'e 4 at the Lunar and Planetary Science Conference in March, and I think it's not too strong a statement to say the scientists present were dismayed by the thought of a lander being sent to the south pole-Aitken basin without such an instrument.
Instead, Chang'e 4's robust science package has more of a physics focus. It may have a seismology station with a mobile roving hammer, and ground-penetrating radar to look at the subsurface, and several instruments focused on the farside space environment, taking advantage of the bulk of the Moon to shield its sensitive radio instruments from radio frequency interference from Earth. Hopefully Chang'e 4 can set a precedent for farside lunar landings, and we'll get our dedicated geology mission someday, from China or NASA or somebody else. While I'm daydreaming: maybe successes of Chang'e 4 and Chang'e 5 will pave the way for a future farside sample return mission -- a future Chang'e lander? or something like MoonRise? We can do lunar geochemistry much more effectively with returned samples than with the limited capabilities of a lander.
On that note, one other interesting items from the Wang and Liu article: The relay satellite will use "standard CCSDS protocols...to ensure international compatibility," and they suggest that other nations could use it for relay in future missions. It wouldn't be the United States, because federal funding can't be used for cooperation with China. But it could be available for anyone else.
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A look into China's latest space center
Source: Xinhua | 2016-06-24 15:15:56 | Editor: huaxia
Wenchang Satellite Launch Center, June 22, 2016. (Xinhua/Zeng Tao)
BEIJING, June 24 (Xinhua) - On the northeast coast of China's tropical island, the country's fourth satellite launch center is preparing for lift off. If the small city of Wenchang was previously known to the world at all, it was for coconuts and a signature chicken dish. It is from here that, all being well, China's new generation Long March-7 carrier rocket will begin its first mission in the next few days.
The launch is scheduled for between Saturday and Wednesday. All of the city's hotel rooms -- enough for 80,000 people -- are booked out and there are eight viewing areas for space fans to observe the spectacle.
It took five years to build the center which was completed in November 2014. It covers an area of 20 sq km, featuring two launch pads and a science theme park catering to young space science enthusiasts. The operational part of the site is divided into three areas: transfer, test, and launch. Coconut groves, wetlands and ponds are scattered here and there.
The two launch pads in Wenchang Satellite Launch Center, June 23, 2016. (Wang Yongzhuo)
The two launch pads, 600 meters from the beach, have 92 meter and 86 meter gantries. Over 80 control and test rooms provide all-around technical support. Under each launch pad is a diversion ditch, which allows the huge amount of heat generated during the launch to dissipate.
The two assembly and testing buildings, June 23, 2016. (Xinhua/Zeng Tao)
Apart from the launch pads, the most outstanding structures in the center are the assembly and testing buildings. Standing 3.5 km from the sea, the two have one thing in common: immensity.
The taller one, 99 meters high, accommodates the heavy-lift Long March-5. It has 14 floors above ground and one underground. Its steel door, 81 meters high, is Asia's largest. The home of the medium-lift Long March-7, is slightly smaller but still impressive.
Long March-7 carrier rocket inside the assembly and testing building, June 23, 2016. (Xinhua/Zeng Tao)
China's fourth launch site, Wenchang will be used to dispatch satellites, large space stations and deep-space probes. It is designed to handle up to 10-12 launches a year. The planned space station and all attendant cargo and service launches will be handled by Wenchang.
China's three other launch bases -- Jiuquan, Xichang and Taiyuan -- are located in sparsely-populated inland areas. Wenchang was specially selected for its low latitude: only 19 degrees north of the equator.
The lower the latitude, the larger the centrifugal force and consequently the lower the launch cost. As long ago as 2007, Chinese Academy of Engineering carrier rocket expert Long Lehao declared that, "Hainan is close to the equator, so much energy could be saved if a satellite base was built there."
Long March-7 carrier rocket is transferred vertically to the launch pad in Wenchang, south China's Hainan Province, June 22, 2016. (Xinhua/Zeng Tao)
Satellites launched from low latitudes are expected to have a longer service life as a result of the fuel saved by a shorter maneuver from transit to geosynchronous orbit. That extra fuel can later be used to regulate and sustain orbit.
Wenchang's latitudinal advantages will allow the payload to be increased by more than 300 kg, 7.4 percent more than from any of the other three centers. That translates into a saving of 6 million U.S. dollars each launch. The current world price for rocket payload is about 20,000 U.S. dollars per kg.
Another benefit of the coastal center is that rockets will pass over open sea for up to 1,000 km, which avoids the danger of burning wreckage falling into residential areas.
Moreover, coastal Wenchang can receive deliveries of modules of large spacecraft by sea, while the other launch centers are all landlocked in remote plateau and mountainous regions that can only be reached by rail.
One of the two launch pads, June 23, 2016. (Xinhua/Zeng Tao)
However, every day is not a sunny one in low-altitude coastal areas with typhoons and thunderstorms constant threats. Wenchang's designers have used new technology to protect the launch ground against the ravages of wind and rain.
Unlike the steel structure of the launch pad at the Jiuquan center, the structure in Wenchang is made of both steel and reinforced concrete. Since 2009 when construction began, the center has withstood eight typhoons, including Rammasun in 2014, the strongest in 41 years.
Wenchang sees more than 100 days of thunderstorms each year. To deal with this threat, four 105-meter steel lightning conductors surround each launch pad, effective against 98.6 percent of thunderstorm, much higher than the 90 percent in other domestic launch centers.
A special anti-corrosion dope is used on metal surfaces to protect against Wenchang's moist, salty environment.
Source: Xinhua | 2016-06-24 15:15:56 | Editor: huaxia
Wenchang Satellite Launch Center, June 22, 2016. (Xinhua/Zeng Tao)
BEIJING, June 24 (Xinhua) - On the northeast coast of China's tropical island, the country's fourth satellite launch center is preparing for lift off. If the small city of Wenchang was previously known to the world at all, it was for coconuts and a signature chicken dish. It is from here that, all being well, China's new generation Long March-7 carrier rocket will begin its first mission in the next few days.
The launch is scheduled for between Saturday and Wednesday. All of the city's hotel rooms -- enough for 80,000 people -- are booked out and there are eight viewing areas for space fans to observe the spectacle.
It took five years to build the center which was completed in November 2014. It covers an area of 20 sq km, featuring two launch pads and a science theme park catering to young space science enthusiasts. The operational part of the site is divided into three areas: transfer, test, and launch. Coconut groves, wetlands and ponds are scattered here and there.
The two launch pads in Wenchang Satellite Launch Center, June 23, 2016. (Wang Yongzhuo)
The two launch pads, 600 meters from the beach, have 92 meter and 86 meter gantries. Over 80 control and test rooms provide all-around technical support. Under each launch pad is a diversion ditch, which allows the huge amount of heat generated during the launch to dissipate.
The two assembly and testing buildings, June 23, 2016. (Xinhua/Zeng Tao)
Apart from the launch pads, the most outstanding structures in the center are the assembly and testing buildings. Standing 3.5 km from the sea, the two have one thing in common: immensity.
The taller one, 99 meters high, accommodates the heavy-lift Long March-5. It has 14 floors above ground and one underground. Its steel door, 81 meters high, is Asia's largest. The home of the medium-lift Long March-7, is slightly smaller but still impressive.
Long March-7 carrier rocket inside the assembly and testing building, June 23, 2016. (Xinhua/Zeng Tao)
China's fourth launch site, Wenchang will be used to dispatch satellites, large space stations and deep-space probes. It is designed to handle up to 10-12 launches a year. The planned space station and all attendant cargo and service launches will be handled by Wenchang.
China's three other launch bases -- Jiuquan, Xichang and Taiyuan -- are located in sparsely-populated inland areas. Wenchang was specially selected for its low latitude: only 19 degrees north of the equator.
The lower the latitude, the larger the centrifugal force and consequently the lower the launch cost. As long ago as 2007, Chinese Academy of Engineering carrier rocket expert Long Lehao declared that, "Hainan is close to the equator, so much energy could be saved if a satellite base was built there."
Long March-7 carrier rocket is transferred vertically to the launch pad in Wenchang, south China's Hainan Province, June 22, 2016. (Xinhua/Zeng Tao)
Satellites launched from low latitudes are expected to have a longer service life as a result of the fuel saved by a shorter maneuver from transit to geosynchronous orbit. That extra fuel can later be used to regulate and sustain orbit.
Wenchang's latitudinal advantages will allow the payload to be increased by more than 300 kg, 7.4 percent more than from any of the other three centers. That translates into a saving of 6 million U.S. dollars each launch. The current world price for rocket payload is about 20,000 U.S. dollars per kg.
Another benefit of the coastal center is that rockets will pass over open sea for up to 1,000 km, which avoids the danger of burning wreckage falling into residential areas.
Moreover, coastal Wenchang can receive deliveries of modules of large spacecraft by sea, while the other launch centers are all landlocked in remote plateau and mountainous regions that can only be reached by rail.
One of the two launch pads, June 23, 2016. (Xinhua/Zeng Tao)
However, every day is not a sunny one in low-altitude coastal areas with typhoons and thunderstorms constant threats. Wenchang's designers have used new technology to protect the launch ground against the ravages of wind and rain.
Unlike the steel structure of the launch pad at the Jiuquan center, the structure in Wenchang is made of both steel and reinforced concrete. Since 2009 when construction began, the center has withstood eight typhoons, including Rammasun in 2014, the strongest in 41 years.
Wenchang sees more than 100 days of thunderstorms each year. To deal with this threat, four 105-meter steel lightning conductors surround each launch pad, effective against 98.6 percent of thunderstorm, much higher than the 90 percent in other domestic launch centers.
A special anti-corrosion dope is used on metal surfaces to protect against Wenchang's moist, salty environment.
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It is the same information as this one,
The gentleman said 15-20 years, if goes by 15yr, it is 2031, if 20yrs then 2036. The rocket would be the Long March 9.
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No idea how reliable is this,
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@天津日报
【长征七号即将首飞】6月25日上午9时许，长征七号运载火箭正在进行燃料加注工作，由于长征七号使用的是全新的液氧煤油燃料，无毒无污染，但24小时后将挥发，所以中国新一代火箭长征七号今天首飞的可能性非常大。（记者 邵隽）
Translation:
@ Tianjin Daily
[Long March 7 maiden flight] June 25, 09:00, Long March 7 fueling work in progress, since the Long March 7 using a new liquid oxygen and kerosene fuel, non-toxic and pollution-free, but would start evaporating after 24 hours, so the possibility of China's new generation Long march 7 first flight today is very large. (Reporter Shao Jun)
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