China's Space Program Thread II

[by78]

The latest satellite image shows the Zhuque-2 rocket has been erected in preparation for launch (note the shadow showing the rocket's upright position).

Mission patch for the upcoming second launch of Zhuque-2.

The second launch of the Zhuque-2 rocket is scheduled for July 12, 2023.

 

[HereToSeePics]

The second launch of the Zhuque-2 rocket is scheduled for July 12, 2023.

If successful, this would be historic. They would be worlds first methalox powered rocket to reach orbit. Their previous attempt last year was almost successful, but the payload didn’t reach orbit due a second stage failure. Following that attempt, two other launch companies also tried methane powered launch vehicles, SpaceX’s Starship and Terran-1, and those also failed(quite spectacularly in Starship’s case)

 

[by78]

China's Deep Space Exploration Laboratory and the

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have signed a letter of intent to cooperate in lunar exploration, including the planned International Lunar Research Station.

 

[by78]

Launchpad No. 2 of the Hainan Commercial Spaceport, which is currently under construction, will be capable of launching 10 models/configurations of rockets:
- An unnamed rocket (3.8-meter-diameter, with or without boosters) from the 8th academy of CASC.
- Tianlong-3H and -3M from Tianbing Technology
- Hyperbola-3, -3A, and -3B from i-Space/Interstellar Glory.
- Pallas-1A, -1B, -1C, and -1D from Galactic Energy

A bidding document for a

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for the launchpad No. 2 of the Hainan Spaceport for Commercial Launches. The document also lists some of the rockets this launchpad is expected to launch in the future, which include XLV22, SQX-3B, TL-3, XY-1, ZS-1B, XZY-1, and ZQ-3.

 

[anzha]

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Can't imagine why they'd be studying that.

 

[taxiya]

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Can't imagine why they'd be studying that.

don't know if you are asking a serious question, but anyway the purpose is for water extraction from the permenant crater near the pole.

 

[anzha]

don't know if you are asking a serious question, but anyway the purpose is for water extraction from the permenant crater near the pole.

It was not serious. I was being a little flippant based on what we know even here for the Chinese plans for the south pole. I'll tone back the snark. My apologies.

Another paper about a wind tunnel for simulating Mars:

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[by78]

The Chinese company Yidong Aerospace (易动宇航) has completed the initial ignition test of a Hall thruster that uses argon propellant, which is much cheaper than the traditional xenon and krypton propellants. During the test, the thruster achieved successful ignition and stable operation. Measured power consumption ranged from 200 to 1200W, thrust ranged from 6 to 46mN, and specific impulse ranged from 700 to 1900 seconds.

【易动宇航氩工质霍尔电推点火测试成功】氩气工质霍尔推力器的成功研制和运行测试，对保障高性能电推进产品在我国星网等低轨互联网卫星星座的大规模应用、降低建设和运营成本，具有重要意义。

近日，北京易动宇航科技有限公司研制的氩气工质霍尔推力器成功完成了点火试验和测试。试验中，在200~1200W超宽功率范围内，均实现了氩气工质霍尔推力器的可靠点火和稳定运行。实测性能参数为：功率200~1200W，推力6~46mN，比冲700~1900s。

试验测试表明，相对传统氙气工质，在相同工作电压下氩气工质可获得更高的比冲性能。如在1200W/300V条件下，采用氩气时的比冲超过1900s，而采用氙气时的比冲约1600s。这是由于氩气分子质量更小，在相同电场下可以被加速得更快。高比冲带来的直接好处是卫星的推进剂耗量更少，卫星可以做得更轻、发射更经济。

采用氩气工质的最主要好处是，将电推进的推进剂由原来的稀有昂贵气体变为常规气体，从而解决电推进大规模空间应用时面临的稀有气体总产量太低和卡脖子问题。众所周知，目前电推进主要采用氙、氪稀有惰性气体作为推进剂，每年全球氙、氪的总产量分别仅有数十吨和数百吨。

除了电推进应用之外，还广泛应用于半导体、医疗、光源、核物理等多个领域。由于产量稀少和供不应求，近两年氙、氪的市场价格曾一度超过10万元/kg和1.5万元/kg，高昂的价格直接限制了电推进在航天领域的大规模应用。

而氩气作为空气中的第三大组分气体，在空气中的含量接近1%，仅次于氮气和氧气。其含量约为氙气的10万倍、氪气的9300倍。因此其产量十分丰富，成本也仅为氙、氪的千分之一。

国外，美国星链巨型低轨互联网星座自V2 Mini版卫星开始，已将星上霍尔电推进系统的推进剂由氪气换为了氩气。目前星链V2 Mini卫星已发射了4批共86颗卫星。

综上，氩气工质霍尔推力器的成功研制和运行测试，对保障高性能电推进产品在我国星网等低轨互联网卫星星座的大规模应用、降低建设和运营成本，具有重要意义。（易动宇航）

 

[by78]

An image taken a month before the Mars rover went into hibernation. You can see the significant dust accumulation all over the vehicle.

 

[Kalec]

CASC will launch the first batch of Chinese starlink in Q3 this year. According to the plan, well hardly anything goes with plan in the space industry, they plan to launch 13,000 Starlink satellites in the next four year. My personal take that it is bullish enough to complete the plan until the next decade and the starlink satellites also need continuous launching due to orbit decay.

Machine translation:
The first launch of Chinese Starlink is expected to be in the third quarter of this year.

The core of developing satellite communication is to enhance the data transmission capability and communication coverage of China's communication satellites. Satellite orbit is a unique resource. The current number of satellites in orbit, China has about 600, while the United States has about 4,000, a large gap. In order to catch up with overseas in the field of satellites, China is actively developing the star chain program and has made plans for the launch of 10,000 satellites.

According to plan, China will launch nearly 13,000 satellites in the next four years, comparable to the launch target of SpaceX.

中国星网的首颗星发射预计会在今年三季度，时间点正在临近，今年会是中国星网的元年。

发展卫星通信，核心是为了提升我国通信卫星的数据传输能力和通信覆盖范围。卫星轨道是一种稀缺资源，目前我国在轨卫星数量约600颗，而美国大约在4000颗左右，差距较大。为了在卫星领域赶超海外，我国正在积极发展星链计划，并做了万颗级别的卫星发射规划。


根据上述计划，我国将在未来4年发射近1.3万颗卫星，与马斯克建立的SpaceX发射目标相当。

On civilian side, November 26, 2021, China's "G60 starlink" landed in Shanghai Songjiang, Shanghai, jointly with the Yangtze River Area 9 major cities to build the country's first satellite Internet industry cluster, a project is expected to launch more than 300 satellites, the long term planning to launch 1,000, single-satellite cost planning down 35%, G60 landing means that the domestic satellite Internet industry chain in the manufacturing side and application side further.

民用层面，2021年11月26日，我国“G60星链”落地上海松江，上海联合长三角9大城市共同打造全国首个卫星互联网产业集群，一期项目预计发射卫星300余颗，远期规划发射1000颗，单星成本规划下降35%，G60的落地意味着国内卫星互联网产业链在制造端和应用端的更进一步。

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