China's Space Program News Thread
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Hendrik_2000
Lieutenant General
This new rocket is the corner stone of Chinese space program . A very important development without it there will be no progress in the next moon landing,space station or mars flight program. The rocket carry China's new crew capsule that eventually will replace Shenzhou. A milestone in Chinese space progam. Here is write up from spaceflight.com
China’s first Long March 5B rocket launches on crew capsule test flight
A Chinese Long March 5B rocket climbs into space Tuesday. Credit: CCTV
Flying without astronauts on a demonstration flight in Earth orbit, a test model of a next-generation Chinese crew capsule lifted off Tuesday on top of a heavy-lift Long March 5B rocket, the same launcher configuration that will loft segments of China’s planned space station.
The 176-foot-tall (53.7-meter) Long March 5B rocket lit its 10 main engines and climbed into space at approximately 1000 GMT (6 a.m. EDT; 6 p.m. Beijing time) from the Wenchang Satellite Launch Center on Hainan Island in southern China.
A live webcast produced by China’s state-run CCTV television network showed the rocket’s final countdown and launch from the Wenchang spaceport. Wenchang is China’s newest launch site, allowing vehicles to soar downrange over the South China Sea, rather than dropping stages on land as is the case during missions from inland Chinese launch bases.
The launch video showed the Long March 5B arcing toward the southeast from Wenchang into a clear later afternoon sky.
The Long March 5B’s two hydrogen-fueled YF-77 core stage engines and eight kerosene-burning booster engines — with two engines mounted on four strap-on booster modules — powered the more than 900-ton launch vehicle off the pad with nearly 2.4 million pounds of thrust.
The rocket jettisoned its four boosters around three minutes into the flight, and the Long March 5B’s core stage was programmed to fire for around eight minutes before deploying China’s prototype crew capsule in orbit.
The China Aerospace Science and Technology Corp., or CASC, confirmed the Long March 5B placed the capsule payload into its “predetermined orbit” minutes after lifting off from Wenchang.
The Long March 5B rocket is a new version of the Long March 5 launcher, China’s most powerful rocket. Designed to loft massive payloads into low Earth orbit, the Long March 5B rocket flies without a second stage, and stands a bit shorter than the full-size Long March 5 configuration.
The launcher’s lift capability to low Earth orbit is around 55,000 pounds, or 25 metric tons, according to Chinese state media. The Long March 5B version — using a “stage-and-a-half” launch architecture — is tailored to launch large modules for China’s planned space station.
Tuesday’s launch of the Long March 5B rocket also debuted a new large payload fairing measuring more than 67 feet (20.5 meters) long and 17 feet (5.2 meters) in diameter. The payload launched inside the Long March 5B’s new nose shroud is a demonstration vehicle for China’s next-generation crew capsule, designed to eventually replace the country’s Shenzhou spacecraft to ferry astronauts to a space station in Earth orbit.
The new capsule design is more capable than the Shenzhou, according to Chinese officials. It will be capable of carrying astronauts to the moon, and can accommodate up to six crew members at a time, more than the three astronauts that can fly on the Shenzhou, Chinese officials said.
In a different configuration, the crew capsule could launch and land with three astronauts, plus up to 1,100 pounds (500 kilograms) of cargo, according to China’s state-run Xinhua news agency. The capability will allow China to return research specimens and hardware from the country’s space station back to Earth.
The short-duration orbital test flight this week is expected to conclude with a re-entry and landing in remote northwestern China, perhaps as soon as Wednesday. Few details about the test flight have been released by the Chinese government.
A view of the next-generation Chinese crew spacecraft during pre-launch processing. Credit: CCTV
The Shenzhou crew craft can return only a limited amount of cargo, and China’s Tianzhou supply ship for the country’s planned space station is not designed to bring any cargo back to Earth.
China’s next-generation crew carrier is also reusable for up to 10 flights, with a detachable heat shield built to handle higher-temperature returns through Earth’s atmosphere, such as those a capsule would encounter on a re-entry from a lunar mission.
The Xinhua news agency reported the primary purpose of the crew capsule test flight is to verify the ship’s re-entry technologies, such as its heat shield and recovery system. The capsule will return under parachutes and inflate airbags to cushion its landing on solid ground.
The Shenzhou landing module also returns under parachutes, but uses rocket thrusters to soften the blow of landing. That makes for a rougher ride for passengers.
ples from the moon’s surface and return them to Earth.
China’s first Long March 5B rocket launches on crew capsule test flight
A Chinese Long March 5B rocket climbs into space Tuesday. Credit: CCTV
Flying without astronauts on a demonstration flight in Earth orbit, a test model of a next-generation Chinese crew capsule lifted off Tuesday on top of a heavy-lift Long March 5B rocket, the same launcher configuration that will loft segments of China’s planned space station.
The 176-foot-tall (53.7-meter) Long March 5B rocket lit its 10 main engines and climbed into space at approximately 1000 GMT (6 a.m. EDT; 6 p.m. Beijing time) from the Wenchang Satellite Launch Center on Hainan Island in southern China.
A live webcast produced by China’s state-run CCTV television network showed the rocket’s final countdown and launch from the Wenchang spaceport. Wenchang is China’s newest launch site, allowing vehicles to soar downrange over the South China Sea, rather than dropping stages on land as is the case during missions from inland Chinese launch bases.
The launch video showed the Long March 5B arcing toward the southeast from Wenchang into a clear later afternoon sky.
The Long March 5B’s two hydrogen-fueled YF-77 core stage engines and eight kerosene-burning booster engines — with two engines mounted on four strap-on booster modules — powered the more than 900-ton launch vehicle off the pad with nearly 2.4 million pounds of thrust.
The rocket jettisoned its four boosters around three minutes into the flight, and the Long March 5B’s core stage was programmed to fire for around eight minutes before deploying China’s prototype crew capsule in orbit.
The China Aerospace Science and Technology Corp., or CASC, confirmed the Long March 5B placed the capsule payload into its “predetermined orbit” minutes after lifting off from Wenchang.
The Long March 5B rocket is a new version of the Long March 5 launcher, China’s most powerful rocket. Designed to loft massive payloads into low Earth orbit, the Long March 5B rocket flies without a second stage, and stands a bit shorter than the full-size Long March 5 configuration.
The launcher’s lift capability to low Earth orbit is around 55,000 pounds, or 25 metric tons, according to Chinese state media. The Long March 5B version — using a “stage-and-a-half” launch architecture — is tailored to launch large modules for China’s planned space station.
Tuesday’s launch of the Long March 5B rocket also debuted a new large payload fairing measuring more than 67 feet (20.5 meters) long and 17 feet (5.2 meters) in diameter. The payload launched inside the Long March 5B’s new nose shroud is a demonstration vehicle for China’s next-generation crew capsule, designed to eventually replace the country’s Shenzhou spacecraft to ferry astronauts to a space station in Earth orbit.
The new capsule design is more capable than the Shenzhou, according to Chinese officials. It will be capable of carrying astronauts to the moon, and can accommodate up to six crew members at a time, more than the three astronauts that can fly on the Shenzhou, Chinese officials said.
In a different configuration, the crew capsule could launch and land with three astronauts, plus up to 1,100 pounds (500 kilograms) of cargo, according to China’s state-run Xinhua news agency. The capability will allow China to return research specimens and hardware from the country’s space station back to Earth.
The short-duration orbital test flight this week is expected to conclude with a re-entry and landing in remote northwestern China, perhaps as soon as Wednesday. Few details about the test flight have been released by the Chinese government.
A view of the next-generation Chinese crew spacecraft during pre-launch processing. Credit: CCTV
The Shenzhou crew craft can return only a limited amount of cargo, and China’s Tianzhou supply ship for the country’s planned space station is not designed to bring any cargo back to Earth.
China’s next-generation crew carrier is also reusable for up to 10 flights, with a detachable heat shield built to handle higher-temperature returns through Earth’s atmosphere, such as those a capsule would encounter on a re-entry from a lunar mission.
The Xinhua news agency reported the primary purpose of the crew capsule test flight is to verify the ship’s re-entry technologies, such as its heat shield and recovery system. The capsule will return under parachutes and inflate airbags to cushion its landing on solid ground.
The Shenzhou landing module also returns under parachutes, but uses rocket thrusters to soften the blow of landing. That makes for a rougher ride for passengers.
ples from the moon’s surface and return them to Earth.
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Xinhua News Agency, Beijing, May 6 (Xinhua) According to the China Manned Space Engineering Office, the Changzheng 5B carrier rocket carried a flexible inflatable cargo return cabin test cabin for the first test verification. An abnormality occurred during the return process on the 6th. Experts are analyzing the relevant data.
【长征5B货物返回舱试验舱返回出现异常_凤凰网资讯_凤凰网】
【长征5B货物返回舱试验舱返回出现异常_凤凰网资讯_凤凰网】
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I will put things in perspective as nobody mentioned. The new spacecraft is the Chinese equivalent to NASA's Orion. It is a spacecraft that is designed to serve both near earth orbit and deep space travel (such as moon and mars), unlike the other spacecraft from SpaceX and Boeing.
The current test serves two purposes. One is the same as Orion's flight test in 2014 to test the safe return of the crew capsule from a simulated moon return. Another is to test the service/propulsion module which provided the orbit raising in the test (will be used to lunar orbit deceleration and earth return acceleration in a moon landing mission). In Orion's case, the service module is made by ESA and still not fly yet.
The current test serves two purposes. One is the same as Orion's flight test in 2014 to test the safe return of the crew capsule from a simulated moon return. Another is to test the service/propulsion module which provided the orbit raising in the test (will be used to lunar orbit deceleration and earth return acceleration in a moon landing mission). In Orion's case, the service module is made by ESA and still not fly yet.
Long March 5B can reach the moon ??
Any update on this - just a hiccup or a serious issue ?
Quickie
Colonel
That report is confusing.
According to the video above, the returning capsule has just been put into a highly elliptical orbit. The next phase is to test a high-speed earth reentry, possibly simulating a return mission from the moon?
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