China's Space Program Thread II

[TheRathalos]

Anyway, CZ-9 is seemingly getting real

Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!

某运载火箭项目土地征收成片开发方案 "Land Acquisition and Large-Scale Development Plan for a Certain Launch Vehicle Project"

Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!

It begins

Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!

Focus on supporting the three major national strategic projects [44], accelerate the planning and implementation of five major projects worth 10 billion yuan each, including the third phase of the Hainan commercial space launch site, the heavy-lift launch vehicle, the second phase of the Star-Rocket Industrial Park, traffic diversion in the space city, and the relocation and resettlement of people within the launch safety radius.

[44] Three major national strategic projects:
“Hundred Arrows and Thousand Stars”,
“Dream Boat Embracing the Moon”, and
“Long March 9 Quest for the Heaven”.

 

[taxiya]

I could be wrong but it seems the wire-control system acutally implemented on the physial recovery rig is slightly different from the one presented in the schematic diagram above. Attached is a angled top-down view of the rig's wires and another schematic diagram (can't remember if I got it from here or from over at NasaSpaceFlight.com forum) which show the current setup.

It seems to me that if the two ends of the roller mechanisms responsible for holding up a single set of wires can move independently, then the control algo can quickly adjust the overall shape of the wires into a parrallegram (from a square) to enable a higher probability for a successful catch. Just my speculation.

I think you are right. The implemented solution is different from the diagram in the paper that was quoted by me and GPT
基于地面拦阻系统的火箭垂直着陆回收机构设计 authored by 北京宇航系统工程研究所 (CALT) and published in 2022

I can not find the paper that you got the diagram from. Do you have a source of it preferrably in PDF format?

However I find a patent published by CALT in 2024 with very detailed diagrams and descriptions of how it works. I haven't got time to go through it though.
一种火箭回收系统

Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!

In case of rotation, it would work like this

 

[HereToSeePics]

It's likely self centering as long as the hooks catch. I would not be surprised if a minor amount of slack/stretch was engineered into the cable design, so once the hooks catch, the weight will naturally cause the hooks to slide to the center/lowest point of the cable between the anchor points.

 

[iantsai]

Another great image of the CZ-10B

View attachment 173131

Another picture from the same photographer:

 

[ZachL111]

The Chang'e 7 payload arrived at Wenchang yesterday, ahead of it's launch expected in August.

 

[NoetherSpudCharge]

I can not find the paper that you got the diagram from. Do you have a source of it preferrably in PDF format?

However I find a patent published by CALT in 2024 with very detailed diagrams and descriptions of how it works. I haven't got time to go through it though.
一种火箭回收系统

Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!

I'm afraid I don't know the source paper for the diagram mate; however, the diagram that you excerpted from the patent looks even better!

It's likely self centering as long as the hooks catch. I would not be surprised if a minor amount of slack/stretch was engineered into the cable design, so once the hooks catch, the weight will naturally cause the hooks to slide to the center/lowest point of the cable between the anchor points.

Yeah, I think that the diagram which I previously posted explicitly suggests that the setup is designed to allow the wire length to be adjusted to add slack (so that it'd achieve a brachistochrone shape. In light of this, I think some amount of self-cetering by a caught rocket stage is certainly envisioned by the designers. But they probably wouldn't want to depend exclusively on the self-centering effect since that may cause additional stress on the hook hinges thereby requiring strengthened (i.e. even more massive) structural elements.

 

[ZachL111]

The Chang'e 7 payload arrived at Wenchang yesterday, ahead of it's launch expected in August.

View attachment 173245View attachment 173247

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/2042689898205909177

According to this press release, the CMSA is now taking over the Chang'e program, from the CNSA. For those who don't know, CMSA is the China Manned Space Agency, with the CNSA being the China National Space Administration.

Also another separate note, if the White House gets their way in terms of the FY2027 NASA budget, the CNSA will become the most funded national space agency on the planet. (They honestly are probably much better in terms of research or output per dollar, because of cheaper labor and costs than the United States).

The budget was proposed to be cut last time, but Congress here in the US ended up saving their budget, so wonder if they can do it again. Just a little thing I noticed when I was doing some research, as CNSA is estimated to have around a 20-22 billion dollar budget. As I said, that is an estimate, could be higher or lower, as far as I know official figures are not published.

We should see a launch of the Jielong-3 in ten hours or so as well, if I am able to get some good pictures of that I will post them here.

Edit: I also realized another thing, I think China's hopper they intend to deploy will be the first of it's type, I know Japan had the LEV-1 but it was not as complex. This will be another major advancement.

 

[Asug]

An interesting point regarding budgets. I hope it stays that way. But if China becomes the country with the largest funding for space research, that also comes with great responsibility. Reusable launch vehicles are needed, extensive satellite constellations, and advancement in space science. By the way, where is the CSST at this point. And the lunar landing should happen in 2029.

 

[Tomboy]

By the way, where is the CSST at this point.

Last I heard early this year, It's been delayed once again to 2027

 

[Michael90]

By the way, where is the CSST at this poin

what’s that?