In what will likely be Chang Zheng’s last launch before the Chinese New Year, a Chang Zheng 2D recently lifted 14 payloads into a sun-synchronized orbit. The rocket lifted off at 03:14 UTC on Sunday, January 15 and demonstrated that it had indeed accomplished its mission. The launch comes at the end of a week that has also seen news of a reusable YF-100 engine, while China has yet to get in touch with its Zhurong Mars rover.
One of the project’s payloads, the Luojia-3 01 payload, a remote sensing satellite built through DFH Satellite Co. Ltd. et, will be operated through Wuhan University, among others. According to previous reports, the goal of the satellite project may simply be to allow users to transmit photographs taken from orbit to a mobile device within 10 minutes of taking the photographs.
To facilitate this, the conversion of knowledge into user-friendly imagery is placed on the satellite rather than this step taking place after the knowledge has been transmitted through the floor stations. -Frequency microwave transmitter via Chinese communication satellites to share and transmit more.
Another payload of this project is Tianzhi-2D, which will demonstrate the generation of remote sensors for emergency monitoring, intelligent city control and agricultural control.
Two Qilu satellites were also on board the rocket. These are high-resolution optical terrestrial satellites that basically collect knowledge related to Shandong Province. They have a resolution of 0. 7 meters and also feature thermal infrared imaging capabilities.
Jinzijing 3, 4 and 6 also participated in the mission. These are remote sensing satellites that practice targets on the ground. The first satellites in this series were deployed in April 2021 in a shared launch of Chang Zheng 6, and several more have since been deployed.
Other payloads included several Jilin-1 satellites supporting Chang Guang Satellite Technology Corporation’s remote sensing satellite system. The Jilin-1 spacecraft at Sunday’s launch included the Jilin-1 Gaofen 03D-34 remote sensing satellite. Mofang 02A-03, 02A-04 and 02A-07, and the Jilin-1 Hongwai 02A-07 and 02A-08 infrared imaging spacecraft.
The deployment of the JIlin-1 constellation began in 2015 and since then, 80 remote sensing satellites have been introduced in the series, flying on various Chinese rideshare missions. They come with multispectral satellites that can analyze express wavelengths and high resolution. satellites to provide photographs of the Earth.
The launcher of this project, the Chang Zheng 2D (CZ-2D). It is the existing workhorse of China’s rocket fleet and has made 15 flights in 2022. Sunday’s launch is the time of the rocket’s flight in 2023, which will likely have many more projects. to be carried out in the rest of the calendar year. The CZ-2D rockets are manufactured through the Shanghai Academy of Space Flight Technology (SAST) and consist of two stages. They are basically used to place payloads in low Earth orbit (LEO) or sun-synchronous orbit (SSO), with a payload capacity of about 3,500 kg at LEO.
Djibouti Spaceport Agreement
Earlier this week, ahead of the launch of the CZ-2D, the Hong Kong-based China Aerospace Science and Technology Group (HKASG) announced a memorandum with the Republic of Djibouti for the structure of a billion-dollar rocket and satellite launch center. on the African continent. The proposals call for the new facility to have up to seven release pads and several control benches. Lately it is expected to be completed until the end of 2027.
The Republic of Djibouti has been part of China’s “One Belt, One Road” task in recent years, in which Chinese corporations forge strategic alliances with foreign corporations and governments. Although confirmed, the commitment of an alliance to build this new spaceport can only mark an extension of this plan.
Meanwhile, China’s restartable YF-100N engine made back-to-back starts on the bench in a recent ArrayThis is the fourth time in less than two months that the kerolox-powered engine has demonstrated its ability to restart.
The YF-100 is the engine that powers the thrusters of the Chang Zheng Five (CZ-five) rocket, lately the largest launch vehicle in China, and the first level of the Chang Zheng 6, 7 and 8. The upgrade to the YF-100N is part of a plan to make the levels of this engine reusable. The most important task this generation needs to use is the upcoming Chang Zheng fiveG rocket, a triple-core edition of the CZ-five. It will be powered by seven YF-100N motors in each of its 3 cores.
CZ-5G is one of the cornerstones of China’s ambition to send a Chinese astronaut to the moon. Its capacity is necessary to send the apparatus necessary for such a project to Earth’s nearest neighbor. It was previously known as the “921 Rocket” and capable of lifting 25 tons in translunar injection. Lately, its inaugural release is not scheduled until 2027.
Recent reports have raised considerations for China’s Mars Rover, Zhurong. The first Chinese rover to operate on any other planet, Zhurong was a component of the Tianwen-1 project that effectively landed in May 2021. Like the first American rovers, Zhurong went into standby mode. in May 2022 to withstand the harsh situations of the Martian winter when power generation becomes extremely difficult. It was expected to wake up from its winter eve in December, once generating electrical power using solar panels was more feasible again.
A month after the scheduled awakening, you still have to re-establish your connection to Earth and verify that you have started your automatic awakening sequence. The explanation for why this is not clear at present, and may be due to existing situations that do not yet allow the rover to generate enough force, so it may not succeed at the force point required to awaken. If this were the case, then it could be to reconnect once the force point increases in the last component of Martian Spring. .
It may also be that the rover has failed in its winter hibernation and can no longer resume communication with Earth. So far, no final decision has been made on the rover’s fate.
(Main image: Zhurong rover rover “group selfie” with Tianwen-1 lander, taken via Tianwen-1 deployable remote camera. Credit: China News Service)
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