China's Space Program, News & Views

Tech base established for Beidou navigation system

A base for promoting technological innovations for China's Beidou satellite navigation system has been established in Shanghai, according to a Wednesday statement from the system's management office.

The base is intended to help make major breakthroughs concerning positioning technology research, as well as increase the number of related Chinese patents and establish three to five Beidou-related enterprises, the statement said.

The navigation and positioning service industry has maintained an annual growth rate of 50 percent in recent years, becoming one of the fastest growing information industries, according to statistics released by the Ministry of Science and Technology.

However, inadequate technology has contained the development of the domestic industry, the statement said.

The base will be one of five bases established by the government to accelerate innovation concerning key technologies and products for the navigation and positioning service industry, it said.

The base will also drive the restructuring of the transportation, telecommunications and electronics manufacturing industries, the statement said.

Originally Posted by escobar

China will develop the dark matter particle explorer (DAMPE) sat to help detect high-energy electrons and gamma rays, as well as a telescope to study the solar magnetic field and a Sino-French joint mission to study gamma ray bursts: cas.cn/Ne/CASE/201208/t20120822_90138.shtml

Alright...it's about time!

SZ-9 has been put into a high precision orbit using Iterative Guidance Technology. It is an advanced method of guidance based on the current measurement of information in real time to calculate the optimal flight trajectory in order to put the rocket into orbit accurately. However, the technology is accompanied by risks and challenges as its algorithms relative to the existing methods are more complex (ex: how to ensure the safety of rockets in a variety of unusual circumstances).

These are the challenges overcome by the Beijing Institute of automatic control of space after hundreds of technical discussions: calt.com/ZiXunZhongXin/ZhongYaoXinWen/Detail/?ContentId=7231

YF-77 the new hydrogen-oxygen rocket engine has successfully completed his first simulated altitude heat test: calt11

Foundation stone laying ceremony has been held the 7th in Tianjin Binhai Area for the CASTC Very Large Spacecraft Assembly and Testing Center. The center will be responsible for the production and test of the next-generation large remote sensing sat, large com sat and very large spacecraft. It will have a capacity of 6-8 large spacecraft per year and covers an area of about 100,000 square meters, is divided into the final Assembly area, thermal test area, 9 functional modules such as mechanical test area, scheduled for completion by August 2014.

Originally Posted by escobar

YF-77 the new hydrogen-oxygen rocket engine has successfully completed his first simulated altitude heat test: calt11

Do you know the thrust and lift capability of this new hydrogen-oxygen engine is?

Originally Posted by Equation

Do you know the thrust and lift capability of this new hydrogen-oxygen engine is?

50t thrust

Originally Posted by Equation

Do you know the thrust and lift capability of this new hydrogen-oxygen engine is?

this is the first official news release from calt about the new hydrogen-oxygen rocket engines, but I think this is the up-graded upper stage using gas-generator cycle, not the main engine which is speculated to be using staged-conbustion tech , many people, including wiki have confused the two.

Originally Posted by LesAdieux

this is the first official news release from calt about the new hydrogen-oxygen rocket engines, but I think this is the up-graded upper stage using gas-generator cycle, not the main engine which is speculated to be using staged-conbustion tech , many people, including wiki have confused the two.

If you're talking about the YF-75D there is another news release for it.

Originally Posted by escobar

If you're talking about the YF-75D there is another news release for it.

thanks, I've just found it on calt11.

2012年5月16日，北京航天动力研究所设计的长征五号火箭芯一级试样状态第三台氢氧发动机520秒长程 试车圆满成功，此次试车为确定发动机首飞技术状态奠定了基础。

the third YF-75D engine has acomplished the 520s test successfully on may 16.

Originally Posted by LesAdieux

the third YF-75D engine has acomplished the 520s test successfully on may 16.

Yep. YF-75D is for LM-5 upper stage.

CCTV-13 has released a report on some concrete applications provided by Ompass. An early warning system associated with the mobile phone that allows: seniors to alert the center in case of health problem which can track their movements; to know the real time position of some 6,000 fishing boats from Hainan Island; vehicle owners to track the position of their vehicles stolen from their mobile or tablet and cutting electricity and fuel until the intervention of the police ...

Spaceplane Development Becomes a New Dimension of Emerging U.S.-China Space Competition: pdf

Europe space agency eyes manned flights with China

European astronauts could hitch a ride into orbit aboard Chinese spacecraft before the end of the decade, a senior official at the European Space Agency said Tuesday.

The head of ESA's human spaceflight division said his agency is exploring the possibility of joint space missions with China as part of a wider cooperation with the country. In 2003, China became only the third nation to launch a human into orbit after Russia and the United States.

"I would welcome a European astronaut flying aboard a Chinese spaceship," Thomas Reiter told The Associated Press in an interview on the sidelines of the ILA Berlin Air Show.

The German former astronaut said ESA is planning to slowly deepen cooperation with its Chinese counterpart and could aim for joint missions in "the second half of this decade."

"In fact, some of our astronauts have started Chinese language training," he said.

Despite being a member of the International Space Space program, ESA doesn't have its own means of getting astronauts into orbit but has instead paid for seats aboard Russian and American spacecraft.

Since the end of the U.S. shuttle program ESA has had to rely on Russia to get into space.

Reiter said the 19-nation agency plans to hold a series of meetings with its Chinese counterpart, the China National Space Administration, that will explore closer cooperation in the areas of astronaut training, spacecraft docking and developing life support systems.

"Then I think it's a question of political negotiations at a higher level to see if really a common mission could be achieved," he said.
Eventually, ESA would also like China to become a member of the ISS program if U.S. objections can be overcome.

"As I would welcome a European astronaut flying aboard a Chinese spaceship it would be of course a very, very powerful political sign to have China on board the ISS," said Reiter.