China's Space Program News Thread

[AssassinsMace]

I love how history is rewritten. Read the first paragraph.

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Easy to dismiss? Any advancement in anything China does panics and alarms them. Since this author likes to quote commenters' posts, I remember reading angry comments when China sent its first taikonaut into space that the US should shoot down every rocket China launches as if it were a war crime. Or how about Richard Fisher's claim that China wants to station nuclear missiles on the moon to strike the US? How is that better for China and makes the US more vulnerable? And all that because China had a space program that was to this author was dismissive and a joke.

 

[bd popeye]

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GUIZHOU, June 28, 2016 (Xinhua) -- Photos taken on June 27, 2016 shows the Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical Telescope, or "FAST," at sunset in Pingtang County, southwest China's Guizhou Province. Construction of the world's largest telescope FAST started in March 2011. The telescope will be used to detect and collect signals and data from the universe. (Xinhua/Ou Dongqu)

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PINGTANG, June 29, 2016 (Xinhua) -- Combo photo taken on Aug. 2, 2015 (L, up), Dec. 16, 2015 (R, up), March 9, 2016 (L, bottom) and June 29, 2016 (R, bottom) show different assembling stages of the reflector of the Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical Telescope, or "FAST," in Pingtang County, southwest China's Guizhou Province. FAST, the world's largest ever radio telescope, has a dish-like reflector, which is 500 meters in diameter and made up of 4,450 panels. Now technicians have assembled 99.8 percent of the panels. The assembling work of the reflector will be completed on July 3. The telescope will be used to detect and collect signals and data from the universe. (Xinhua/Ou Dongqu)

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PINGTANG, June 29, 2016 (Xinhua) -- Photo taken on June 29, 2016 shows a cabin of the Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical Telescope, or "FAST," above a dish-like reflector in Pingtang County, southwest China's Guizhou Province. Once completed, the cabin, home to a feed source which collects signals from the universe, will be suspended 140 to 160 meters above the reflector made up of 4,450 panels.

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PINGTANG, June 29, 2016 (Xinhua) -- Working staff adjust a cabin of the Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical Telescope, or "FAST," in Pingtang County, southwest China's Guizhou Province, June 29, 2016.

 

[escobar]

China announces success in technology to refuel satellites in orbit

China has successfully completed the in-space refuel of orbital satellites following last week's launch of a new generation carrier rocket, the National University of Defense Technology announced on Thursday.

Similar to air refueling for planes, the process refuels a satellite in orbit in a microgravity environment and will extend a satellite's functional life and boost its maneuver capabilities considerably. Developed by the university, Tianyuan-1 is the country's first in-space refueling system for orbital satellites. It was launched into orbit aboard the Long March-7 carrier rocket on Saturday.

A series of core independent processes were tested and verified after the launch, with data and videos recording the full process sent back to earth, the university said in a statement."The injection process was stable, and measurement and control were precise," it said, adding that the test proved that Tianyuan-1 met design requirements.

Though an area of great interest, the process is complicated and only a few countries have began experiments.

 

[Brainsuker]

But Satellites use solar panels aren't they?

 

[chinois49]

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[escobar]

The feed cabin has undergone a preliminary performance test in southwest China's Guizhou Province after construction on the main body structure of the world's largest single-dish radio telescope FAST almost came to an end.

The 30-ton-heavy feed cabin, the core part of FAST, will be suspended 140 meters above the reflector. It will be driven by cables and servomechanisms in addition to a parallel robot as a secondary adjustable system to move with high precision.

"We have done relevant debugging tests before the feed cabin was moved out of plant to ensure its good performance. After assembling it at the site, we have done another debugging test on the platform. Then we will hoist the cabin and conduct a joint test with cables," said Yao Rui, head of the feed cabin system with FAST project.

Upon completion, the feed cabin will be hoisted up and down to receive air waves by cables from six tower supports with height of about a hundred meters built in the hills around the depression."If we compare FAST to a huge eye for watching the sky, the feed cabin is its pupil that helps the eye focus so that we can see more clearly," Yao said.

 

[N00813]

But Satellites use solar panels aren't they?

Solar panels create electricity for the function of the satellite, e.g. signal relay.

But satellites also contain some fuel to power small thrusters that are used to prevent orbital decay.

 

[dingyibvs]

But Satellites use solar panels aren't they?

They do, to generate electricity. To generate thrust, you still need a propellant, until EM drives become a reality anyway

 

[escobar]

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A space debris clean-up satellite launched on the inaugural Long March 7 flight over the weekend raised concerns among observers that China may be working on the militarization of space by developing anti-satellite applications.

Aolong-1, ‘The Roaming Dragon,’ was one of four small satellites sent into orbit aboard the Long March 7 rocket along with a ballast mass and a scaled prototype of China’s Next Generation Crew Vehicle. According to the Harbin Institute of Technology, the small satellite will complete a demonstration of space debris mitigation technology by using a small robotic arm to grab debris pieces and launch them toward the atmosphere.

Aolong-1 – a product of CAST/Harbin reportedly carries a sub-satellite that will be released at some point in the mission to then be grabbed by the robotic arm. The satellite was most likely delivered to an orbit of 200 by 375-Kilometer orbit, indicating its mission is planned to be of short duration given the longevity of the orbit.

According to Chinese space officials, Aolong-1 is only the first in a series of satellites tasked with the collection of space debris as the country develops the technology needed to retrieve small debris up to entire spacecraft to be safely brought to a destructive re-entry.

Satellite servicing missions, both for repairing spacecraft and debris mitigation, have received a growing interest in recent years and both, the European Space Agency and different U.S. projects are working on spacecraft that could rendezvous with an uncooperative target satellite and then either repair or refuel it, or move it out of orbit.

However, during wartime, this technology could also be used to approach foreign satellites and deliberately disable them to eliminate vital space-based assets for communications, image reconnaissance and intelligence-gathering.
...

Another Chinese mission exploring tools of inter-satellite rendezvous and in-space grappling was launched in 2013 when a Long March 4C rocket lifted the Chuang Xin 3 (CX-3), Shiyan 7 (SY-7) and Shijian 15 (SJ-15) satellites. After their successful launch, the satellites entered a complex orbital ballet, involving SJ-15 as the active satellite and CX-3 being the initial target. The two flew at different distances before SJ-15 departed and maneuvered into a different orbit to meet up with the eight-year old Shijian-7 spacecraft, coming to within a few hundred meters based on tracking data.

SY-7 remained quiet for several months before it separated an object and pulled away from it to then close in from several Kilometers out, likely testing an optical navigation system to guide the rendezvous, followed by a robotic grappling of the separated object. According to tracking data, multiple such separation, approach and grapple exercises were performed with the two satellites remaining within five Kilometers of each other.

After three years of tests including multiple visits to Shijian-7, the SJ-15 satellite raised its orbit around December 2015 and again met up with CX-3, demonstrating multi-orbit rendezvous and satellite inspection capability.
...

 

[escobar]

Ocean Satellite Programs in China :

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