by78
General
The production rate of Qianfan/SpaceSail/G60 satellites at the Gesi Aerospace facility is , which tallies with earlier information.
China's Space Program Thread II
- Thread starter Blitzo
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The production rate of Qianfan/SpaceSail/G60 satellites at the Gesi Aerospace facility is , which tallies with earlier information.
Seems its the launch capacity that is restricting more faster launches more than satellite capacity issues then. Will be interesting to see if they can match Space launch rate this coming yearsThe production rate of Qianfan/SpaceSail/G60 satellites at the Gesi Aerospace facility is , which tallies with earlier information.
The famed Chengdu Aircraft Group is hiring launch vehicle designers and engineers. I wonder what it's up to?
Causing more butthurt with a seventh gen prototype.
by78
General
A concept space mining robot created by a team at the University of Mining and Technology. The six-legged robot is designed to traverse the varied terrains on the moon and asteroids. Three of its legs have wheels attached to them to help it travel in an energy-efficient manner on flat grounds. The other three legs act as claws to securely fix the robot the ground while it conducts drilling operations in microgravity environments.
by78
General
A Long March 2D rocket has successfully launched Siwei Gaojing-3 02 and Tianyan-23 satellites earlier today. This marked the 564th flight of the Long March series.
Siwei Gaojing-3 02 has sent back its first images. The satellite is operating normally.
You don't seem to understand that most of SpaceX's launches involve identical satellite models, whereas China's launches feature diverse satellite types. This indicates that China's space application R&D ecosystem is actually more dynamic. China hasn't mass-produced identical satellites simply because its development phase hasn't reached that stage yet. When the time comes, launch frequencies will naturally increase.
Regarding your previous article I didn't have time to address earlier, let me briefly respond:
1. Misunderstanding Technological Development Cycles
Your criticism about China's "slow" VTVL development compared to Falcon 9's decade-old success reveals a lack of insight. China has pursued reusable rocket R&D since the 2000s through saturation-style development (studying all major global reusable approaches simultaneously). Many achievements, including VTHL technologies, remain classified.
The reality is:
Advanced rocket development typically requires 10-year cycles.
SpaceX, founded post-2000, only achieved VTVL in 2015 after 15 years of Merlin engine refinement (critical for Falcon 9's 20:1 thrust variability).
China's CZ-6X and CZ-8R faced challenges due to engine overpowering (YF-100 series exceeding 100-ton thrust), forcing alternative designs.
Chinese private firms like Deep Blue Aerospace and Tianbing Technology have achieved Falcon 9-class rocket and engine development in 5-6 years (1/3 of SpaceX's timeline) – a testament to China's industrial spillover effects. Standard R&D cycles in China require 10 years for new rockets and 5 years for variants. Far from lagging, China's VTVL progress actually outpaces most global competitors including U.S. firms beyond SpaceX.
2. Low-Orbit Satellite Strategy
China's "delayed" LEO constellation deployment reflects strategic patience:
Current global LEO tech (including Starlink Gen1) relies on immature "bent-pipe" transponders.
China's planned three-tier architecture (access layer, metropolitan layer, backbone layer) requires laser inter-satellite links still 5-10 years from maturity.
Premature deployment would waste resources, especially before achieving reusable launch capabilities.
Commercial wisdom favors letting Western firms absorb market-creation risks – similar to how China later dominated solar and EV sectors through cost leadership. When China's LEO constellations deploy post-2030 with full-space laser networks and reusable rockets, price competition will reset the game. Tesla's erosion from 70% to <20% EV market share in China within five years previews this pattern.
Ultimately, engineering advantages rooted in China's manufacturing ecosystem (60-70% cost advantage over U.S. aerospace) will prevail. SpaceX, constrained by U.S. industrial decay and labor costs, cannot sustain long-term price competition – a structural reality no "commercial genius" can overcome.
You know it's funny because during the Apollo years and the decade after, it was the Soviet Union that had both greater launch and launch mass than the US, by a wide margin too, and American narrative was that reflect how Soviet Union's backward technology required more mass to do the same thing.
First of all launching large number of identical, simple payloads to the lowest energy orbit does not even remotely reflect space program advancement. Almost all Chinese payloads are advanced ISR and world-first high orbit payloads, and did I mention China has its own space station? Or China has an actual non-fantasy manned lunar program? Or that China is on track for world's first MSR mission?
But more importantly, you really should look at literally every other industry and think a bit on what it means when China decides to scale.
Its actially crazy what spaceX has been able to achive in such a short period of time. To be honest, its not that China jas underperformed quite on the contrary, Chinas space industry has performed fairly well. Its just that Spacex has outperformed everybody else in the game by a margin and pioneered reusable rockets early on ,which many of her competitors didn't take seriously, and funny enough nobody else still has a viable reusable rocket a la falcon9 even today, that's more than 8 years after spacex sucessfully achieved the first successful launch of a reused Falcon 9 rocket's first stage So i don't think we can say its China lagging behind. It's just that Spacex did exceedingly well..
Come on, you cant downplay what spacex and US space industry has achieved and is still doing. If we had to swap China and US in this sector today, will you make the same remark and say China is the one lagging behind?
Obvously China ia ahead in some sectors and the US is ahead in others. Nothing wrong in that. You cant be ahead in everything at the same time, excpet you havr reached a stage where you are just so much larger and far more powerful than your competitors by a wide margin..
Well, I admit US has large rockets & strong engines, also great advances in reusable tech, such as F9 & Starship. Their launch capacity & rocket reuse tech is far ahead of China.
But just because launch is easy for US, makes them launch lots of small satellites day by day, sometimes flood low orbit. I don't think it's a wise idea to waste so much space & capacity, acting like they‘re in a cutthroat competition to occupy most frequency & space before others, rather than improve payload efficiency & reduce unnecessary waste. Frequency & Space is limited, so China is trying to catch up before it's too late.
Some will argue on my opinion of "waste". But I'll give you an easy example. Remember how people's view change on US & China's AI race when Deepseek R1 came out? American has limitless money & GPU cards ($500B STARGATE), and everyone thought China was years behind because of sanctions, and shortage of high-performance GPUs.
But just because launch is easy for US, makes them launch lots of small satellites day by day, sometimes flood low orbit. I don't think it's a wise idea to waste so much space & capacity, acting like they‘re in a cutthroat competition to occupy most frequency & space before others, rather than improve payload efficiency & reduce unnecessary waste. Frequency & Space is limited, so China is trying to catch up before it's too late.
Some will argue on my opinion of "waste". But I'll give you an easy example. Remember how people's view change on US & China's AI race when Deepseek R1 came out? American has limitless money & GPU cards ($500B STARGATE), and everyone thought China was years behind because of sanctions, and shortage of high-performance GPUs.
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