China's Space Program News Thread

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First batch of photos captured by Gaofen-2 was publicized in september last year.
Gaofen-2 has a resolution up to one meter. Through the photos released by the State Administration of Science, Technology and Industry for National Defense, people can see suitcase-sized things on ground.

"We can clearly see vehicles on road through the photo, and we can tell whether it's a sedan or a hatchback. But we could only say there were vehicles through the photos taken in the past," said Xu Wen, director of Center for Resources Satellite Data and Application under China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation.

Engineers can also measure and calculate the height of buildings via their projection in the images captured by Gaofen-2. "The height of the highest building in Shanghai's Lujiazui District is about 600 meters. We can see its projection is longer than that of the Oriental Pearl TV Tower. We can measure and calculate the height of buildings via the length of their projection in photos. Then we can judge the construction progress," said Xu.

Experts say the different sensors carried on the satellite can monitor crop growth, soil moisture and other factors related to agriculture.

"We can integrate the satellite data with our agriculture knowledge and professional models, extract professional agricultural data and provide real-time information service to ordinary farmers and farms. Now we are capable of doing this technically and we will provide the service to the society in about five years," said Chen Zhongxin, researcher with Institute of Agricultural Resources and Regional Planning under China's Academy of Agricultural Sciences (CAAS).

 

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china space news

• In early April, the Donghaijiu 118 (East China Sea Rescue 118) ship was launched in Guanzhou. It is the first of four planned 8,000 KW rescue ships. They will become the workhorses in an emergency sea recovery for future manned space missions.

• In mid-April China’s first turbopump-fed multiple re-ignitable upper stage engine completed a simulated altitude hot test firing. It will be used in the maiden flight of CZ-7.
• The DAMPE (Dark Matter Particle Explorer) and the QUESS (Quantum Experiments at Space Scale) satellites completed satellite-ground interface tests with the flight models in Sanya. The flight models of the payloads of DAMPE were delivered for satellite integration after an intensive integrated payload test in May.
• In early May, CAST completed the first phase of the landing stability test of the Chang’e 5 lander in a simulated 1/6 Earth gravity environment.
  
• In late May, the separation test of Chang’e 5 spacecraft from the CZ-5 launcher was completed.
• In early June, the project kick-off meeting for the HY-2B/C ocean dynamics satellites was held in Beijing. The HY-2B, the replacement of HY-2A, will be launched into SSO in 2017. The HY-2C will be launched into an inclined orbit in 2018 to provide all-time, all-weather ocean observation.
• In mid-June, AAPT made a successful plume flow test of the attitude control thrusters on Chang’e 5. It was the first time that China has performed such test in a vacuum environment using a liquid hydrogen heat-sink system with a 1:1 real-scale article.
• On June, the Atmosphere Environment and Pollution Monitoring Satellite completed an internal review in SAST, paving the way for its formal approval and funding.

 

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September 25, 2014: Chinese engineers have made breakthroughs in high-definition cameras used on remote-sensing satellites to capture images of earth, the Beijing Research Institute of Mechanical and Electrical Technology (BRIMET) announced at the 19th Conference on Remote Sensing of China.

Gaofen-2 carried two 2m panchromatic/8m multi-spectral high-definition cameras, and four 16m resolution wide-angle cameras to capture images of one-meter-long objects on earth in full color, the latest technology of its kind in China. However, according to BRIMET's chief engineer, Wang Xiaoyong, the newly-developed cameras can even capture images of 0.6-meter-long objects.

"We have made progress in long-focus cameras in terms of high stability and low noise. Just recently we made breakthroughs in research on two cameras. We have completed the development on one, and made a prototype of the other," said Wang.

 

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Today Gaofen-9 was launched, and we can be sure it's better than the early versions like Gaofen-2. Gaofen-2 was reported with a resolution of up to one meter.

Now "China Daily" reports: "...capable of providing photographs with a resolution of less than a meter." but doesn't explain how much less of a meter exactly...

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Development of a new model of heavy-lift rocket has entered the demonstration stage. Xu Dazhe, director of the China National Space Administration, said the new rocket will have stronger thrust than the Long March-5.

"Besides Long March-5 rocket family, we will develop new heavy-lift rocket with stronger thrust as a transportation tool for accessing the space. China has now entered the demonstration stage," said Xu. Compared with the Long March series, the new rocket will be larger, 110 meters in height and 10 meters in diameter.

"We are striving to make technological breakthrough. We plan to tackle the key technologies and finish further demonstration in four years. Then we will spend 12 years developing the new rocket which is expected to make its maiden flight in 2030," said Lei Fanpei, chairman of the board of China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation.

The rocket is envisaged as having a payload capacity to low Earth orbit of 130 tonnes. Once in service, it will assist missions between 2030 and 2050 and secure China's position in terms of space exploration and technology.

 

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The first voyage of LM-7 is scheduled in April of 2016," said Cheng Taoming, deputy chief designer of the rocket working at the China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology (CALT).

China's Long March rockets currently in service include the Long March-1, Long March-2, Long March-3 and Long March-4 series. Compared with others, the Long March 7 not only owns better cargo capacity, but also smarter as it has some self-test functions.

"The equipments now are installed intelligent chips and have self-test function, so it doesn't need so many ground equipments to run tests," said Cheng.

 

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Start of development of the project DCSS (Data Collection Satellite System) composed of 40 satellites...

It will receive information sent from numerous and various types of ground devices or sensors and will provide various services which include among others, data collection, short message communication, information broadcasting, and satellite AIS (automatic identification system).

 

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Mars 2015: China has run tests close to the moon simulating an unmanned docking procedure needed in the country's next lunar mission.

The service module of the unmanned lunar orbiter currently in space to test such techniques entered a target lunar orbit after breaking maneuvers, and flew to a suitable position for orbital docking between Tuesday and Saturday, said the State Administration of Science, Technology and Industry for National Defense (SASTIND) on Sunday.

Liu Jizhong, deputy chief commander of the SASTIND's lunar probe project, said that the service module has proven the reliability of key technology needed for the docking of two spacecraft in the Chang'e-5 mission.

"The third-phase work aims to test how Chang'e-5's ascender can leave the moon and enter into the lunar orbit on its way home and test how we can complete remote control," Liu said.

"The three-phase experiments helped test three key technologies for Chang'e-5. We will test other technologies including samples collecting on the moon and packaging," Liu added.

 

[Quickie]

"..... The Chang'e-5 will .....ascend from the moon without a launching tower for the first time. ....."

What does it mean?

It should mean the Chang'e 5 returning spacecraft will launch itself from the surface of the moon without a launch pad and tower, a first for any spacecraft from China.

 

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"..... The Chang'e-5 will .....ascend from the moon without a launching tower for the first time. ....."



It should mean the Chang'e 5 returning spacecraft will launch itself from the surface of the moon without a launch pad and tower, a first for any spacecraft from China.

But is it not obvious? The Apollo landers did not have any launching tower.