China's Space Program News Thread
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escobar
Brigadier
Jiasheng WANG, the chief engineer of these sat explains their difference with its NASA TDRS.
[video=youtube;BZxpzM2Sbgs]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BZxpzM2Sbgs[/video]
Schema to illustrate the positioning.
Jin Liu, the deputy chief engineer of TL-1 sats. He is also the assistant chief engineer of the manned program.
[video=youtube;BZxpzM2Sbgs]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BZxpzM2Sbgs[/video]
Schema to illustrate the positioning.
Jin Liu, the deputy chief engineer of TL-1 sats. He is also the assistant chief engineer of the manned program.
escobar
Brigadier
On chinese forums (like ) there are talks about what seems to be a sub-orbital launch of the CZ-2C rocket from TSLC at around 16:00 UTC on July 24. Keywords like "90 days", "Back on Earth", "Congratulations from the Party", "CAEP (China Academy of Engineering Physics)" were used. I wonder if it was a test of Shenlong spacecraft ?????
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escobar
Brigadier
Tracking station, office and living area
With the construction of a new space launch centre underway in Wenchang, Hainan Island, more details about the launch centre began to emerge on the Internet.
Background
The Hainan Satellite Launch Centre is the fourth space launch facility in China, after Jiuquan, Taiyuan and Xichang. Construction of the launch centre began in August 2007 and will complete in 2013, with the first launch expected in 2014. Once fully operational, it will replace the existing launch centre in Xichang for geostationary orbit launch missions as well as the launch of heavy space station modules and deep space probes.
The proximity of the launch centre to the equator (19° north) gives an orbital speed bonus gained from the Earth’s rotational speed for the launch vehicle. The effectively reduces the amount of propellants required for the satellite’s manoeuvre from the transfer orbit to GEO. The coastal location of the launch centre also allows rocket debris to fall into the sea.
The local Hainan government is also planning to build a space theme park nearby, where spectators will be able to watch space launches taking place. The theme park will include an aerospace museum and spaceflight simulators.
Satellite Images
The latest satellite map of search engine Bing provided some valuable images of the construction site at Wenchang. From the images it can be clearly seen that a launch complex with two launch pads are currently under construction. Launch vehicles will be rolled out from the vehicle assembly building to the launch pad via a rail track about 2.8km in length. To its north is a large technical area for rocket and spacecraft preparation and checkout.
Launch pad #1 will be used for the launch of the 5m-diameter Changzheng 5 heavy-lift launch vehicle, while launch pad #2 will be used for the launch of the 3.35m-diametre Changzheng 7 launch vehicle. The two launch pads will each have its own vehicle assembly building, so that two launch campaigns can be conducted simultaneously.
Satellite image showing the layout of the Hainan Satellite Launch Centre
CZ-5 launch pad
CZ-7 launch pad
New Details
Close-in photos of the construction taken by anonymous amateur photographers have also been published on the Chinese Internet. A photo of the billboard on display at the construction site gave some more details about the structure of the launch centre.
According to the billboard, the Hainan Satellite Launch Centre will consist of a launch site in Longlou, an office and living site in Wenchang City, and a second office and living site in Hainan. Launch vehicles in ascent will be observed by two tracking stations using radar and optical tracking. The first tracking station will be located at Tongguling, about 5km east of the launch site. The second tracking station will be located in the Paracel Islands (known as Xisha Islands in Chinese), about 380km southeast of the launch site.
Quickie
Colonel
Perhaps the CE-3 should do a blast crater experiment i.e. how much of an effect the rocket engine exhaust would have on the moon surface in respect of, for example, creating a crater. The moon conspiracy theorists or the debunkers will probably be very interested in the outcome.
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