China's Space Program Thread II

[by78]

AZSpace/Ziwei will launch its B300 commercial cargo ship in August, 2004. B300 comes in two versions: B300-L is non-returnable and can stay in space for one year; B300-F is designed to return to Earth intact and can operate in orbit for one month. Both versions have a cargo capacity of 300kg. In addition to transporting cargo, they are also designed to carry science experiments, which are expected to be in demand by private industry in sectors such as pharmaceuticals, material science, space biology, etc.

AZSpace/Ziwei officially unveils 1:1 models of its B300L and B300F cargo ships.

Ziwei has completed a series of tests of its B300-L cargo ship named Dier-3. The tests included electromagnetic compatibility test, payload separation test, etc. Dier-3 has now entered final assembly and launch preparation stage.

 

[by78]

New Yuanwang space tracking ship.

Apparently, the new tracking ship is named Liaowang-1 (瞭望 1) according to the latest image.

 

[by78]

(Continued from above...)

Some excerpts and illustrations from a paper on a lightning diversion system for the ship.

 

[taxiya]

What is the difference between Gaofen satellites that are part of Jilin Constellation and the Yaogan satellites? Do they all serve the same purpose?

Besides what @by78 has said, I want to emphasize that the word "Gaofen" in Jilin constellation is in its literal meaning "high resolution", all the satellites are called Jilin-1-xx. This is a commercial project. "High resolution" type of Jilin-1 is optical imaging sat.

Gaofen is also the name of a serie of satellites under project CHEOS (China High Resolution Earth Observation System). They are named as GF-xx. This is a state project. The satellites include both radar and optical and are all defined by CHEOS as high resolution.

Yaogan is another state operated serie of satellites, separate from Gaofen serie. This serie includes signal gatherring besides radar and optical imaging.

Only Jinlin-1's spec is open to public as it provides service to public, the other two only serve state agencies.

 

[escobar]

View attachment 127218

High Orbit Internet Satellite-2 launched

 

[tphuang]

High Orbit Internet Satellite-2 launched
View attachment 133437

So I saw this today too, but it’s not clear to me what its role is actually. Is this going to be like chinasat-26 or something else?

 

[escobar]

So I saw this today too, but it’s not clear to me what its role is actually. Is this going to be like chinasat-26 or something else?

Seems GW is a multi-orbit constellation.

 

[taxiya]

So I saw this today too, but it’s not clear to me what its role is actually. Is this going to be like chinasat-26 or something else?

Without knowing who owns the satellites (there was a nr. 1 launched earlier this year), it is hard to tell what it is.

Chinasat-XX seems to be a standalone net having its own UEs. The GEO sat talks directly with UE with big dishes like the old sat TV.

In 6G non-terrestrial section, there are LEO/MEO and GEO layers. See the red circle in the diagram. GEO is doing interconnection among LEO/MEO sats since these lower orbit sat can not cover both the sending and receiving UEs at the same time. GEO sector is doing the job like a trunk node that does not communicate with UE. This two satellites could be part of 6G.

 

[by78]

Apparently, the new tracking ship is named Liaowang-1 (瞭望 1) according to the latest image.

One more image of Liaowang-1 (瞭望 1).

 

[by78]

Beijing Arrowhead/Space Epoch (箭元科技公司) has unveiled its VTVL test vehicle (1st stage of XZY-1 launch vehicle). The company plans to use it to conduct a sub-orbital flight with ocean splashdown and towed recovery in the second half of this year.

Another image of Arrowhead's VTVL test vehicle, which will be used in the upcoming sub-orbital flight with ocean splashdown and towed recovery.