China's Space Program Thread II

taxiya

Brigadier
Registered Member
I don’t know but I hope they dont go through with it. An excellent way to produce space debris and make ground based astronomy impossible. And for what? So rich RV owners have access to the internet?
Orbit is resource like land and water on earth. Elon Musk on behalf of US is claiming that resource at the expense of other countries. So yes, China should do the same even if we just throw some bricks or rocks into those orbits.
 

Helius

Senior Member
Registered Member
Two slides on China's Venus exploration program. Instead of firing her engines to slow down in order to enter a stable orbit, the spacecraft will use the atmosphere of Venus as a brake to achieve the necessary speed reduction. This will save some 415kg of fuel, which in turn allows the probe to be launched using the smaller Long March 3C rocket, as opposed to the larger and more expensive Long March 7.

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I think the slides refer to the CZ-3B (长三乙) which is the 4-booster model taking the place of CZ-7 for the Venus mission. 3C is the one that only has 2 boosters with a lighter payload allowance.
 

by78

General
I think the slides refer to the CZ-3B (长三乙) which is the 4-booster model taking the place of CZ-7 for the Venus mission. 3C is the one that only has 2 boosters with a lighter payload allowance.

That was a typo. Thanks for the correction.
 

by78

General
This is a pretty big deal for China's development of space nuclear power and space nuclear propulsion.

China has successfully demonstrated a 100kW closed-loop
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thermal-electric conversion system that uses helium-xenon as the working fluid. Basically, a nuclear reactor heats and expands the working fluid, which then passes over a turbine to generate mechanical energy, which is then used to generate electricity.

The first image below shows the turbine. The second image illustrates the closed-loop Brayton cycle design.

2023年3月,由中国航天科技集团六院八〇一所自主研制的基于氦氙混合工质的空间闭式布雷顿热电转换系统,顺利进行了多次系统级热试车。结合多参数联调完成了系统深度变工况运行,成功实现了百千瓦内多能级电功率输出,是我国目前空间闭式布雷顿循环热电转换系统的最大发电功率,取得了里程碑式的重大突破,这标志着八〇一所空间热电转换技术已达到国际先进水平。

基于闭式布雷顿循环的空间核电转换技术是空间动力领域十分重要的发展方向,通过涡轮将核反应堆内高温、高压气体转化为轴功率,在驱动压气机维持气体循环的同时,利用盈余轴功率驱动高速电机向外输出电能,具有高效、高功率密度的巨大优势,对于未来空间拖船、轨道转移飞行器、深空探测任务和星表能源站建设意义重大。美国、俄罗斯等国家已先我国一步开始空间核动力系统及部件的设计研发工作,目前在百千瓦及以上功率等级均推举基于闭式布雷顿循环热电转换的空间核电推进方案。



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by78

General
A minor update. The Xuntian space telescope is scheduled to be launched by the end of 2024, according to the project chief Liu Chao (刘超) at a recent presentation. The launch had been planned for 2024 since the early days, but for a time it was reported that the launch would be moved up to 2023, and now the it has been returned to the original plan.

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