China's Space Program, News & Views

Originally Posted by bladerunner

And I likewise. You do realise that no one is obliged to express opinions that only cater to the sensitivities of China fab -boys.

Hmm, I don't think I am the "sensitive China fab - boys" you are talking about, you on the other hand, is actually the exact of that. And no, you are not obliged to do anything, and when I reply to your post, even if you don't like it, suck it up. Name calling is so 12 year old.

---------- Post added at 07:37 PM ---------- Previous post was at 07:31 PM ----------

Originally Posted by bladerunner

And I likewise. You do realise that no one in this forum is obliged to express opinions that only cater to the nationalistic sensitivities of China fab -boys.

Not that it matters, I am actually American. But I guess in your mind, it don't matter, if I don't agree with your nationalistic American fanboyism, I guess I must be a paid Chinese 50 cent.

Originally Posted by stardave

Hmm, I don't think I am the "sensitive China fab - boys" you are talking about, you on the other hand, is actually the exact of that. And no, you are not obliged to do anything, and when I reply to your post, even if you don't like it, suck it up. Name calling is so 12 year old.

---------- Post added at 07:37 PM ---------- Previous post was at 07:31 PM ----------



Not that it matters, I am actually American. But I guess in your mind, it don't matter, if I don't agree with your nationalistic American fanboyism, I guess I must be a paid Chinese 50 cent.

WEll you could have fooled me. However I must commend you with your self description. Whats more its irrelevant on what you claim to be. Its the internet afterall.

Originally Posted by bladerunner

WEll you could have fooled me. However I must commend you with your self description. Whats more its irrelevant on what you claim to be. Its the internet afterall.

Oh don't worry, you don't fool me at all, I know plenty people with your background. Sorry, not going to say it, I don't want to get into a flame war with you. You know what they say about the special Olympics, even if you win you are still retarded.

Oh and I wouldn't give a rat ass about how you think whatever myself description fits your perception or not. Try to not think about me that much, it is creepy.

STOP IT YOU TWO, (AT BLADERUNNER AND STARDAVE)! EITHER TALK ABOUT CHINESE SPACE OR GO GET A ROOM AND ARGUE ALL YOU WANT LIKE A COUPLE.

Originally Posted by Equation

STOP IT YOU TWO, (AT BLADERUNNER AND STARDAVE)! EITHER TALK ABOUT CHINESE SPACE OR GO GET A ROOM AND ARGUE ALL YOU WANT LIKE A COUPLE.

lol. You deserve to be a new mod.

The TDRS TL-1 (03) launch is scheduled on July 24 GMT.

Originally Posted by kroko

lol. You deserve to be a new mod.

LOL...thanks for the complement Kroko, but with my busy schedule as it is, I don't think I have the time to keep up with the demands.

The three astronauts complete their 14 days of isolation and meet journalists. They will begin a recovery period of 3 months and then return to the training.

First Look: China’s Big New Rockets


Images illustrate the diversity of activity under China’s heavy lift rocket program.Top graphic depicts a Long March 5 mission with liquid booster and satellite separation. Chart highlights Long March 5 and Long March 9 vehicles, while a Long March 5 propellant tank is at right.

Images from China’s new heavy rocket development program show spotless production facilities with advanced tooling to build China’s new Long March 5/CZ-5 heavy rocket, along with even more advanced launchers to come.

In addition to CZ-5 hardware development, China is completing design studies on two 11 million lb. thrust Long March 9 maximum heavy lift rocket configurations. If approved for final development, one of the designs would emerge for flight in 2020-2025 with the capability to launch Chinese astronauts to the surface of the Moon.

The concepts mean that China is designing “a Super Saturn V rocket,” says Charles P. Vick, a highly experienced analyst with GlobalSecurity.Org.


The two options for China’s “Super Saturn V” rocket are the favored “Option A” oxygen/kerosene version at left and less favored oxygen/hydrogen “Option B” with solid rocket boosters on the right.

The Long March 5 and other future planned vehicles are shown here in context with each other for the first time in a major news article. Images of the construction underway at China’s new Wenchang Satellite Launch Center on Hainan island are also shown as the site is readied to fire Long March 5’s into space by 2014.

Currently, six Long March 5 vehicle configurations are planned for different missions, with a maximum payload capacity of 55,000 lbs. to LEO and nearly 31,000 lbs. to geostationary transfer orbits. This makes it more powerful than a Delta IV Heavy, depending upon the mission configuration.


Long March 5 stage is welded in modern assembly rig

Details emerging from largely secret Chinese rocket projects point up the importance of the Long March 5 to future far more powerful Chinese rockets. Whether the timing of China’s Long March 9 development is a deliberate challenge to the U. S. is unknown. But while neither China nor the U. S. professes to be in a new space race, they may well already be in one.

The most powerful version of the new U. S. Space Launch System (SLS) rocket currently under development is scheduled to be ready for flight at the same time as the CZ-9 to carry NASA astronauts beyond Earth orbit to the Moon, Lagrangian points, asteroids and eventually Mars.


Modern jig for Long March 5 welding and assembly is comparable with western manufacturing hardware.

The new Long March 9 details were revealed by Liang Xiaohong, the Communist Party Chief at the China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology (CALT), China’s largest rocket contractor. Vick at Global Security did an extensive review of Liang’s revelations.

Liang outlined several new Long March versions, virtually all of them testing elements that would eventually find their way into the Long March 9 that has 4 million lb. more of liftoff thrust than the 7.5 million lb. thrust NASA Saturn V. Forty-three years ago this week a Saturn V propelled the Apollo 11 astronauts to the first manned landing on the Moon on July 20, 1969.

The Long March 5 appears positioned in the development flow to function like the U. S. Saturn 1B rockets did in relation to the Saturn V in Apollo. That role was to use a powerful, but smaller launch vehicle to launch key elements of the program like the Apollo Command/Service modules and Lunar Modules for test in Earth orbit. There is one major difference with the Long March 5 however. It is powerful enough to launch a Shenzhou manned spacecraft on a lunar orbit flight, a mission the Saturn 1Bs could not duplicate.


Larger view of new Long March fleet chart shows medium class Long March 7 at center with smaller but upgraded vehicles to the left and a whole new range of Chinese heavy lift options to the right. The Long March 5 alone has 6 configurations.

For the massive Long March 9, the Chinese have both an “Option A” oxygen/kerosene powered launcher and an “Option B oxygen/hydrogen rocket. The detailed specifications for both rocket concepts are at the bottom of this article.

Option A appears to be the preferred of the two options because its first stage uses liquid propellant strap on boosters, compared with ”Option B” that combines an oxygen/hydrogen core with solid rocket boosters, an area where China lacks experience. The Option A concept would stand 321 ft. tall and have a design payload to low Earth orbit of 130 metric tons (286,601 lb.) exactly the same as the largest of two SLS versions.


Hainan Island launch pad for Long March 5 is well under way toward being ready for its first launch in 2014.

As part of an oxygen/kerosene Long March 9 project, China has already started development of a large new oxygen/kerosene rocket engine called the YF-650 that stems directly from the Long March 5 in advanced production.

“The YF-100, oxygen/kerosene engine with 120 metric tons of thrust for the new Long March-5 debuting in 2014 forms the technical basis for 330 metric tons thrust YF-330 single thrust chamber engine,” said Vick. “It in turn is being combined with a second identical thrust chamber engine to create the YF-650 engine with 650 metric tons thrust,” he said.


Rocket engine test stand fire Long March 5 engine.

This is similar to the Russian Energomash RD-180 design used on the Russian Zenit. The same engine was essentially cut in half to power the Atlas V.

“The Chinese will combine several of them to achieve 5,200 metric tons of liftoff thrust. That equates to an 11.46 million lb. thrust ‘Super Saturn V’ class rocket,” said Vick. Data on the Option A and Option B Chinese “Super Saturn Vs” compiled by Vick from Chinese sources is presented in chart form below....

Bolivian satellite operators to be trained in China

Bolivian space scientists are going to be trained in China in preparation for operating a Chinese-built satellite to be delivered late next year, the head of the Bolivian Space Agency (ABE) said Monday.

The ABE is selecting 74 scientists to receive training in China, ABE Director Ivan Zambrana said.

Specialists from all scientific fields such as chemistry, physics, mathematics, computer science, electronics and mechanical engineering are eligible to apply, he added.

Scientists and engineers aged between 30 and 50, whether recent graduates or experienced professionals, can submit their application on the ABE website for selection beginning on July 25.

"One of the main requirements is speaking English, because the majority of the courses will be given in that language," Zambrana said, adding that the training for operating the Tupac Katari satellite would last 21 months in China and three months in Bolivia.

The course, financed by satellite builder Great Wall Industry Corporation of China, will train selected Bolivian specialists to operate the satellite from two stations.

The first group of trainees will travel to China in October and return in 2013, followed by a second group to be trained in satellite design, and a third group in another area of specialty.

Zambrana noted that construction of the satellite was proceeding as scheduled and "the satellite's launching is planned for Dec. 20, 2013."

The Chinese company, a subsidiary of China's Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation, has guaranteed a set date of the satellite's production and launching, the ABE chief said.

The nearly 300 million-dollar telecommunications satellite project was announced in Beijing in August 2011.

About 45 million dollars would come from the Bolivian government and the other 250 million dollars come through a loan from China's Development Bank.

The ZX-10 sat has been delivered to the main customer, and CASC the manufacturer will ensure that the sat lifespan reaches 15 years instead of its design life of 13.5 years. CASC is also working on a new generation sat platform and on an electric propulsion: spacechina.com/n25/n144/n206/n214/c272591/content.html

Documentary series on JSLC. First episode:

* The episode begins on the road to JSLC, the only one linking the center to the outside world (except the railroad) at 2 hours by car

* The surface of the center is 20km²

* The construction of the city began in 1958

* The police officers not only ensure their normal role but also the protection of transport and astronauts

* The city TV studio

* The life of the infantry rail that protects and maintains the railway that connects the center to the outside

* the post office center, built in 1958 along with the city, which began sending mails since February 12, 1960

Second Episode:

* Guided tour in the assembly and evaluation building .

* See how the technicians train with a rod and a glass bottle, because for them it is a about the same accuracy required to assemble two stages of a CZ-2F rocket.

* See also the training of technicians in a virtual reality room. With the 3D helmet and gloves specially designed, operators can simulate assembly tasks in a virtual environment, it is very interesting.

* At the end we see the residence of the astronauts in the center.

Meteorologists from the center were honored in the third episode. The center's Office of Meteorology is one of the few entities in the Chinese manned program which has veto power in the launch process. On October 8, 1998 upon transfer of the rocket's assembly building to the launch pad, the meteorologists have banned the transfer at 8am as the wind speed exceeds 16m / s. Part of this episode is devoted to this story.