China's Space Program News Thread

[Faithlock]

As of now, of the world's global satellite positioning systems, the numbers of healthy navigational satellites in orbit is as follows:
USA's GPS: 31
Russia's Glonass: 26
EU's Galileo: 23
China's Beidou: 37

There are also also regional Satellite positioning systems developed by Japan and India. But those are a lot smaller.

 

[Faithlock]

China to launch unmanned test flight of next-generation crewed spacecraft in 2019

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Appears to be significantly heavier than Shenzhou. Return capsule scale model launched in 2016
View attachment 49238

The old Shenzhou spacecraft is 7.8 metric Ton. The next generation crewed spacecraft has two versions: one is 14 metric Ton and another is 20 metric Ton.

The new spacecraft is designed to be re-usable. That is incredibly significant. Currently, there is no manned re-usable spacecraft. Space Shuttle was re-usable. But winged spacecraft represented a very in-efficient type of spacecraft.

The next technology frontier in manned spacecraft is definitely reusability. SpaceX's new Dragon spacecraft is claimed to be manned and reusable. It is a manned vehicle. It is a reusable vehicle. But it is not a manned reusable spacecraft. SpaceX has given up on having Dragon spacecraft to perform both functions simultaneously.

Boeing still planned to continue developing its Starliner spacecraft to perform both functions (crewed + reusable) at the same time.

Note also the new rocket Long March 5B is going to be manned rated. That means Long March 5B is going to be a much more expansive rocket to develop than its un-manned brother (Long March 5A).

Just like AI and 5G, China is not just following USA's foot-step. It is actually starting to intersect key new areas. It is actually starting to be in the contest of being in number 1.

 

[taxiya]

As of now, of the world's global satellite positioning systems, the numbers of healthy navigational satellites in orbit is as follows:
USA's GPS: 31
Russia's Glonass: 26
EU's Galileo: 23
China's Beidou: 37

There are also also regional Satellite positioning systems developed by Japan and India. But those are a lot smaller.

Wiki English seems to be up to date (including the Nov 15th launch of Beidou):
It seems that there are 40 Beidou (system 2 and 3) launches so far, there are 8 retired, the rests are testing/commissioning/operational, that gives 32 healthy instead of 37.
Galileo has 26 in orbit, two unavailable and two retired, that leaves 22 healthy (commissioning/operational). The latest launch was July 2018.

Note, all 4 Beidou-1 GEO satellites have been retired and replaced by Beidou 2 GEOs, so they should not be counted.

 

[Faithlock]

Wiki English seems to be up to date (including the Nov 15th launch of Beidou):
It seems that there are 40 Beidou (system 2 and 3) launches so far, there are 8 retired, the rests are testing/commissioning/operational, that gives 32 healthy instead of 37.
Galileo has 26 in orbit, two unavailable and two retired, that leaves 22 healthy (commissioning/operational). The latest launch was July 2018.

Note, all 4 Beidou-1 GEO satellites have been retired and replaced by Beidou 2 GEOs, so they should not be counted.

I see. With all the old satellites leaving and new ones coming, it is difficult to keep track at any one time.

All I know is by 2020, when the block 3 construction is complete, it shall have 27 MEOs (Medium), 5 GEOs (Geo), and 3 IGSOs (Inclined Geo), for a total of 35.

 

[Faithlock]

A very good documentation TV on the private start-up OneSpace:

The founder/CEO is a 30 something young engineer who worked in China's aerospace industry. The chief engineer is an older engineer/executive who used to work in China's defense industry.

The parts of the rockets, rather than coming from China's aerospace industry, are mostly from China's general industry. Thus, significant cost can be saved. They also integrate and miniaturized the controller.

A fun TV program.

 

[antiterror13]

I see. With all the old satellites leaving and new ones coming, it is difficult to keep track at any one time.

All I know is by 2020, when the block 3 construction is complete, it shall have 27 MEOs (Medium), 5 GEOs (Geo), and 3 IGSOs (Inclined Geo), for a total of 35.

I think it is a very good chance that all Beidou 3 will be completed in 2019

 

[Faithlock]

Artificial Moon from China

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I think Chengdu wants to have 3 of these artificial moons. It can light up an area with a diameter of from 10 to 80 km.

At first glance, it just strikes me as a useless project. But the more I think about it, it could bring tremendous economic benefit. Any city with artificial moon at night will be a great tourist attraction. As the only city in the world with multiple moons at night, the extra tourist revenue it can generate would probably be many many times that of the satellites themselves.

In addition, this could be a great tool for disaster relief. A few satellites with orbits of varying inclination could probably cover most of the world. This can be very useful if an area just suffer a disaster and requires immediate illumination.

 

[antiterror13]

Artificial Moon from China

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I think Chengdu wants to have 3 of these artificial moons. It can light up an area with a diameter of from 10 to 80 km.

At first glance, it just strikes me as a useless project. But the more I think about it, it could bring tremendous economic benefit. Any city with artificial moon at night will be a great tourist attraction. As the only city in the world with multiple moons at night, the extra tourist revenue it can generate would probably be many many times that of the satellites themselves.

In addition, this could be a great tool for disaster relief. A few satellites with orbits of varying inclination could probably cover most of the world. This can be very useful if an area just suffer a disaster and requires immediate illumination.

the biggest question is how much it would cost and who would pay for it ?

 

[taxiya]

Bright night sounds good, but light comes with heat, heat raise temperature which destroy the natural circle of cool/warm of a day, this will destroy the planet.

Street light does it but in much smaller scale, but an artificial moon will do worse, I have to say that whoever comes up with this idea is an idiotic "genius", similar to launching oneself into the space naked. Or like digging a hydraulic dam using a nuclear bomb.

 

[Faithlock]

Bright night sounds good, but light comes with heat, heat raise temperature which destroy the natural circle of cool/warm of a day, this will destroy the planet.

Street light does it but in much smaller scale, but an artificial moon will do worse, I have to say that whoever comes up with this idea is an idiotic "genius", similar to launching oneself into the space naked. Or like digging a hydraulic dam using a nuclear bomb.

You are blowing this way way out of proportion. This will only light up an area of 10 to 80 km. About a size of a city.

So, no, it won't destroy the planet.