Three new Chinese launchers
Three new Chinese launchers
On September 19, 2015 at 23:01:14,331:20 UTC (in China it was already September 07, 01:14:6), the Chang Zheng launch vehicle was launched from the new launcher of the sixteenth launch complex of the Taiyuan Space Center. (Shanxi Province) 1 with serial number Y05. The launch had an internal code “operation 48-529. Fifteen minutes after takeoff, the last stage of the rocket is in orbit around the Earth. It was synchronous with the movement of the Sun and had the following parameters: perigee - 552 km, apogee - 97,46 km, inclination - 915. Between 989 and XNUMX seconds of flight, ten satellites were disconnected from the adapter installed on the third stage. Four of them, over the next few days, began to release sub-satellites from their bowels, the number of which is not exactly known and ranges from six to ten. Where does this uncertainty come from?
Well, the Chinese have not yet published an official list of launched satellites and the data is obtained from various sources. These include the companies or universities that built these satellites (eight and twelve, respectively), measurements from the US Network for Observing Objects in Orbit (NORAD), and the registered identities of amateur radio stations installed at almost half, i.e. on nine elevated points. of interest. Most sources agree that a total of twenty cargoes were taken (two of them, apparently, for their intended purpose, have not yet separated from the rest), of an experimental and technological nature. Their mass ranged from 0,1 kg to 130 kg, so they could conditionally be classified as pico-, nano-, micro- and mini-satellites. The small size of the former has been and remains the greatest difficulty in their detection and identification. The unofficial payload list includes the following items:
1. Xinyang-2 (XY-2, Kaituo-2)
2. Žeda Pixing 2A
3. Zeda Pixing 2B
4. Tiantuo-3 (TT-3, Luliang-1)
5. XW-2А
6. XW-2B
7. XW-2С
8. XW-2Д
9. XW-2E, disconnected from 5.
10. XW-2F, disconnected from 5.
11. DCBB (Kaituo-1B), disconnected from 1.
12. LilacSat-2
13. NUDT-PhoneSat, disconnected from 4.
14. Nasin-2 (NS-2)
15. Zijing-1 (ZJ-1), separated from 14.
16. Kongjian Shiyan 1 (KJSY-1), detached from 14th.
17. Xingchen-1, detached from 4.
18. Xingchen-2, detached from 4.
19. Xingchen-3, detached from 4.
20. Xingchen-4, detached from 4.
It's time to introduce a new space rocket from China. The Chang Zheng-6 (Long March) lightweight expendable launch vehicle uses the genetic name of a Chinese rocket family, in line with a 45-year tradition, but belongs to a completely new generation. Three airlines - CZ-5, CZ-6 and CZ-7, starting next year, will become the basis of the space program of this powerful Asian country.
These missiles will belong to:
□ heavy class (carrying capacity in LEO, near-Earth orbit 18-25 tons, in GTO, transition to geostationary orbit 6-14 tons, depending on the version);
□ light class (capacity 1500 kg in LEO, in SSO, 1080 kg synchronously with the movement of the Sun);
□ middle class (carrying capacity for LEO 18-25 t, for GTO 1,5-6 t depending on modification).
These designs will be fundamentally different from previous lines of missiles from CZ-1 to CZ-4. The first cardinal difference will be their modularity not only within the line, but within the entire family. This will make it possible to adjust the rocket's carrying capacity depending on the needs, using not a dozen or two different stages and almost the same number of engines, but only five unified modules equipped with only three types of engines. Another breakthrough will be the replacement of the existing fuel/oxidizer pair (nitrogen tetroxide and asymmetric dimethylhydrazine), which is long stored but extremely toxic, with two environmentally friendly kerosene/liquid oxygen pairs, or a cryogenic liquid hydrogen/liquid oxygen pair.
The demand for a light rocket arose as a result of a technological breakthrough in the field of electro-optics. In recent decades, a number of remote sensing or reconnaissance satellites (differing from each other mainly only in the end user, but not in design or mass) have been launched into heliosynchronous orbits using CZ-2 and CZ-4 rockets, with a payload capacity of 1,5 rev.
At present, satellites of this type have a mass not exceeding 500 kg, and at the same time they have much better characteristics in terms of image resolution. Forecasts show that the share of light satellites in the international remote sensing market will continue to grow, which has made the Chinese missiles used so far economically less competitive.
