China Outer Space Science, Technology and Explorations: News & Updates

[cirr]

China aims for potent new solid-fuel rockets

2018-03-08 08:30 China Daily Editor: Li Yan

China Aerospace Science and Industry Corp, the nation's largest missile maker, is striving to build solid-propellant, heavy-lift carrier rockets as powerful as existing liquid-fuel types, according to a senior researcher.

Hu Shengyun, a senior rocket designer at the CASIC Fourth Academy in Wuhan, Hubei province, said CASIC intends to offer solid-propellant rockets as alternate launch vehicles for heavyweight spacecraft.

All of China's heavyweight spacecraft, including large satellites and manned spaceships, use liquid-fuel rockets as launch vehicles because their lift capacity is greater than existing solid-fuel models.

But solid-propellant engines have advantages－they are less complicated, need less time for prelaunch preparations, place fewer demands on launch facilities and are more mobile.

The key to a solid-propellant, heavy-lift rocket is a powerful, reliable engine, which is under development at the CASIC Fourth Academy, Hu said.

"The engine will have a diameter of more than 4 meters and a liftoff thrust of more than 1,000 metric tons," he said. "These specifications will make it the largest solid-propellant rocket engine in the world, surpassing the current record held by the United States, with a diameter of 3.7 meters."

Engineers have had to overcome a host of technical obstacles because China had never developed such a large and sophisticated solid-propellant engine. That meant there were some gaps in their knowledge of structure, materials and mechanics, Hu said.

"The bigger a rocket engine is, the harder the research and development are. It will weigh hundreds of tons. Its ultralarge size will generate a number of technical or manufacturing problems for engineers and workers," the designer said. The engine will undergo some major tests this year, he added.

Once that type of engine becomes operational, it will be used on the academy's new-generation rockets－Kuaizhou 21 and 31－which are in the design phase at the academy.

Zhang Di, a vice-president at the academy, said Kuaizhou 21, with a diameter of 4.5 m, will have a launch capacity roughly comparable to that of U.S. rocket maker SpaceX's Falcon 9 Full Thrust. That means it will be capable of sending a 20-ton spacecraft to a low-Earth orbit. It also will be powerful enough to transport supplies to the country's future space station or to ferry robotic probes to planets far from Earth, he said.

As part of a longer-term goal, the more powerful model, Kuaizhou 31, should be able to transport a 70-ton payload to a low-Earth orbit, Zhang said. If its development is successful, Kuaizhou 31 will be almost three times more powerful than the Long March 5, now the country's biggest and mightiest rocket.

CASIC began to develop the Kuaizhou series in 2009 as a low-cost, quick-response product for the commercial space market. It has launched three: two Kuaizhou 1 rockets and one Kuaizhou 1A.

The State-owned space and defense giant has plans for at least five Kuaizhou launches, including the maiden flight of its Kuaizhou 11.

http://www.ecns.cn/2018/03-08/294967.shtml

 

[JSCh]

The enhanced X-Ray Timing and Polarimetry mission, planned for launch around 2025, would probe x-rays from violent, fast-changing cosmic events.
INSTITUTE OF HIGH ENERGY PHYSICS
China unveils plans for x-ray satellite to probe most violent corners of the universe
By Dennis Normile
Mar. 7, 2018 , 3:00 PM

China is raising the stakes in its bid to become a major player in space science. At a kick-off meeting in Beijing last week, China's National Space Science Center, part of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), began detailed design studies for a satellite that would round out an array of orbiting platforms for probing x-rays from the most violent corners of the cosmos.

The enhanced X-Ray Timing and Polarimetry (eXTP) mission would be China's most ambitious space science satellite yet—and its most expensive, with an estimated price tag of $473 million. To pull it off, China is assembling a collaboration involving more than 200 scientists so far from dozens of institutions in 20 countries. If the eXTP mission passes a final review next year, it would launch around 2025.

Chinese scientists "are becoming leaders in the field of x-ray astrophysics," says Andrea Santangelo, an astrophysicist at the University of Tübingen in Germany and eXTP's international coordinator. Last year, the National Space Science Center launched the Hard X-ray Modulation Telescope, which is observing high-energy objects such as black holes and neutron stars. As early as 2021 it will be joined by the Einstein Probe, a wide-field x-ray sentinel for transient phenomena such as gamma ray bursts and the titanic collisions of neutron stars or black holes that generate gravitational waves. "For years we have used data from U.S. and European missions," says eXTP Project Manager Lu Fangjun, an astrophysicist at the CAS Institute of High Energy Physics in Beijing. Now, he says, "We want to contribute [observational data] to the international community."

The eXTP mission would fill a unique niche in x-ray astronomy. Two pioneering x-ray telescopes launched in 1999, NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory and Europe's XMM-Newton, capture x-rays from the distant universe, gleaning clues to the formation and evolution of stars and galaxies. eXTP will probe neutron stars and black holes closer to home and monitor how they and their environments change on short timescales. "The goal is to study fundamental physics in the most extreme conditions in terms of density of matter, magnetic fields and gravity that you cannot reproduce in labs," Santangelo says.

eXTP would be able to collect more photons at a wider range of energies than previous telescopes. Three of its instruments would simultaneously measure energy spectra and polarization of x-rays from cosmic sources, and track how emissions change over microseconds to milliseconds as objects pulsate or rotate. "This powerful payload is absolutely unique," Santangelo says. Paul Ray of the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory in Washington, D.C., principal investigator of a similar proposed mission called STROBE-X, says: “Recent advances in solid-state x-ray detector technologies have been incorporated into several mission concepts including … STROBE-X and eXTP. … These new instruments will be critical in the era of time domain astronomy.”

Such data would provide clues to how matter behaves when compressed to the extreme densities thought to exist in the cores of neutron stars, and could reveal whether the stars really are made of neutrons or whether the particles have disintegrated into their constituent quarks or other exotic states. eXTP could also measure how matter behaves in the strong gravity close to black holes. Albert Einstein's general theory of relativity, which describes gravity, makes predictions, but these have never been tested under such extreme conditions. And eXTP's suite of instruments would look for evidence to support predictions about how light and matter interact in the powerful magnetic fields associated with certain neutron stars.

The eXTP Wide Field Monitor, in the meantime, would observe a large swath of sky for flashes of x-rays from transient events, for example from merging black holes and neutron stars. Other eXTP instruments, as well as visible light and gravitational wave observatories on the ground, could then train their sights on the object of interest.

Europe and China had each contemplated going it alone on a next-generation x-ray satellite before opting to team up. A European consortium has pledged to build two of the satellite's four scientific instruments. And European and Chinese scientists will provide electronics and detectors for each other's instruments. Europe could ante up further hardware or even funding if the European Space Agency (ESA) comes in on the project, which Santangelo calls "desirable and probable."

eXTP will be "a flagship mission for astrophysics" until other observatories come online, Santangelo says. These include ESA's Advanced Telescope for High-Energy Astrophysics, which, if given a final go-ahead, could be launched around 2028.

Ray and his colleagues are working on a science case and design for STROBE-X which will then be assessed by the decadal survey for astrophysics in 2020. It has similar aims as eXTP, but could have up to twice the budget. "eXTP will get good estimates of the radii of a few neutron stars, but really mapping out the parameter space nature provides will require STROBE-X," says team member Thomas Maccarone of Texas Tech University in Lubbock. A handful of U.S.-based scientists are helping define eXTP's science objectives and will likely analyze data, which Lu expects to share openly.

With reporting by Daniel Clery.


China unveils plans for x-ray satellite to probe most violent corners of the universe | Science | AAAS

 

[cirr]

China eyes development of liquid hydrocarbon-powered reusable launch vehicles

2018-03-08 09:56 Global Times Editor: Li Yan

China is developing a reusable launch vehicle fueled by liquid hydrocarbon which will greatly reduce the cost of launching rockets, aerospace experts said.

The research team has made progress in several key technologies, such as the thrust adjustment, multi-startup and repeated hot-fire engine tests, Liu Zhirang, head of the Sixth Research Institute of the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation and also a deputy to the 13th National People's Congress (NPC), told the Science and Technology Daily. [Special coverage]

China is expected to safely recover the rockets in the near future and plans to conduct research on reusable engines fueled by liquid hydrocarbon. The engine poses the greatest challenge in developing reusable rockets, Liu said.

The reusable rockets increase the cost of technologies, such as sensing devices on the recovery system, but could reduce the cost in other aspects, Song Zhongping, a military expert and TV commentator, told the Global Times.

Compared with disposable rockets, reusable rockets should be able to return and be recycled, which sets a high requirement for the engine's thrust adjustment capability, Liu said.

The engine's lifespan should also be increased, which requires an improvement in the engine's design and the development of technologies on quick checks, life prediction and assessment of the engine, Liu added.

"The design to increase its lifespan, the reliability of its structure and stability are all challenging," Liu was quoted as saying. He said that the research team has to conduct a thorough assessment of the residue contained in the engine after being used.

"Many countries are developing reusable launch vehicles to reduce the cost of launching," Song said.

Private U.S. space flight company SpaceX has made some achievements in partial recovery and reusing rockets.

Song said China would also connect the government with private companies in the future to develop aerospace technology.

China plans to launch its reusable launch vehicle in 2020, the Xinhua News Agency reported in October 2017.

The new spacecraft will fly like an aircraft, and can transport people or payload in orbit and return to Earth, Xinhua said.

http://www.ecns.cn/2018/03-08/294997.shtml

 

[JSCh]

From China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology (CALT) weibo on their research on space tourism.

​

 

[JSCh]

Radio telescope array to build surrounding FAST for resolution enhancement
Source: Xinhua| 2018-03-10 13:50:11|Editor: Liangyu


GUIYANG, March 10 (Xinhua) -- Chinese scientists are considering setting up smaller radio telescopes surrounding FAST to increase array resolution, authorities said.

According to the FAST observation station with the National Astronomical Observatories, two to 10 radio telescopes measuring 30 meters in diameter may be set up around FAST, the world's largest single-dish radio telescope.

The resolution of the array will be around 100 times greater than currently.

FAST will have a more advanced radio receiver as early as end of April.

Located in a natural, deep round karst depression in Guizhou, southwest China, FAST, or Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical Radio Telescope, is believed to be the world's most sensitive radio telescope.

Its tasks include observation of pulsars, exploration of interstellar molecules and monitoring interstellar communication signals.

 

[Galactic Penguin SST]

Has There Been a Loss of Control?

Where will Tiangong-1 reenter?

How Difficult is it to Accurately Predict a Reentry?

Will objects from this reentry hit me or my property?

As all these questions can only expose how biased and ill-intentioned the Western propaganda machine is, hell-bent in smearing the ever more outstanding Chinese space achievements (due to desperation and jealousy as always), let us reassure all our Pakistani readers and Israeli hasbara as well, with some clarifications.

China has been working on developing laser weapons since the 1960s, and the People’s Liberation Army in 2015 published the book Light War that gives a central role to fighting a future war using lasers.

As already disclosed by the media, China is known to have operated at least 3 ASAT laser stations, in Anhui, Sichuan and Xinjiang.

In 2005, Chinese researchers have successfully conducted a satellite-blinding experiment using a 50-100 kilowatt capacity mounted laser gun in Xinjiang province. The target was a low orbit satellite with a tilt distance of 600 kilometers. The diameter of the telescope firing the laser beam is 0.6 meters wide. The accuracy of acquisition, tracking and pointing is less than 5 microradians.

Three researchers, Gao Minghui, Zeng Yuquang and Wang Zhihong disclosed plan for even more powerful ASAT lasers in The Chinese Optics journal in December 2013.

All worked for the Changchun Institute for Optics, Fine Mechanics and Physics – the leading center for laser weapons technology.

The plan proposed the building of a 5-ton chemical laser as a combat platform capable of destroying satellites in orbit. Given funding by the Chinese military, which is in charge of China’s space program, the anti-satellite laser could be deployed by 2023.

Although high secrecy is strictly enforced, one could compare the case of Tiangong-1 space laboratory with the ill-fated Phobos-Grunt Mars probe, that reentered over the South Eastern Pacific Ocean on 15 January 2011.

There was no random reentry over highly populated area. This time Tiangong-1 will also reenter over the Pacific Ocean, in a remotely controlled mode.
This suggests that China will secretly use its laser ASAT stations, to produce a thrust generated by heating the outer part of the spacecraft, thus lowering the perigee of Tiangong-1, when it had finally reached the ~140 km altitude threshold. This would eventually allow a safe reentry half an orbit later over the predesignated area over the Pacific Ocean.

This is the least China could do, as even North Korea has already disclosed its own Korean-style Anti-Meteor Laser System, needed to protect its planned future Lunar base, back in a New Year 2018 show!

Spoiler: Links

https://defence.pk/pdf/attachments/...0/?temp_hash=a775523a2fc44b8a75ddd84168d9cac3
http://aerospace.wpengine.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/TG-1_Coverage_Plot_Annotated.png
http://www.aerospace.org/cords/reentry-predictions/tiangong-1-reentry/

▲ Map of Tiangong-1 ground track

Spoiler: Links

https://defence.pk/pdf/attachments/...1/?temp_hash=a775523a2fc44b8a75ddd84168d9cac3
http://www.russianspaceweb.com/imag...grunt/reentry/reentry_map_2012_01_15_Cb_1.jpg
http://www.russianspaceweb.com/phobos_grunt_reentry.html

▲ An official map of the Phobos-Grunt reentry released by Roskosmos by 20:00 Moscow Time on Jan. 15, 2012.
Notice the similarity with Tiangong-1 regarding the relative location of the impact zone and the ASAT laser stations!

Spoiler: Links

https://defence.pk/pdf/attachments/...2/?temp_hash=a775523a2fc44b8a75ddd84168d9cac3
http://news.k618.cn/js_37057/201307/W020130723291509035315.jpg
http://news.k618.cn/js_37057/201307/t20130723_3575267.html

▲ Space imagery of Tianshan ASAT laser station. 中国天山部署战略反卫星激光武器

Spoiler: Links

https://defence.pk/pdf/attachments/...3/?temp_hash=a775523a2fc44b8a75ddd84168d9cac3
http://
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CxBj71x2wtE

▲ At T=40:54 North Korean Lunar base hit by meteor shower; Video published on Jan 1, 2018

Spoiler: Links

https://defence.pk/pdf/attachments/...5/?temp_hash=a775523a2fc44b8a75ddd84168d9cac3
https://c1.staticflickr.com/5/4671/38881704724_bc097d03e2_b.jpg
https://www.flickr.com/photos/dprktoday/38881704724/

▲ 10 North Korean astronauts combining beams of laser to thwart a meteor shower as depicted in a New Year 2018 show

Spoiler: Links

https://defence.pk/pdf/attachments/...4/?temp_hash=a775523a2fc44b8a75ddd84168d9cac3
http://
http://
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CxBj71x2wtE

▲ At T=40:54 North Korean Lunar base hit by meteor shower; At T=41:33 Combined laser beams used to protect the North Korean Lunar base from meteor shower, in a New Year 2018 show. Video published on Jan 1, 2018

 

[Galactic Penguin SST]

Has There Been a Loss of Control?

Where will Tiangong-1 reenter?

How Difficult is it to Accurately Predict a Reentry?

Will objects from this reentry hit me or my property?

As all these questions can only expose how biased and ill-intentioned the Western propaganda machine is, hell-bent in smearing the ever more outstanding Chinese space achievements (due to desperation and jealousy as always), let us reassure all our Pakistani readers and Israeli hasbara as well, with some clarifications.

China has been working on developing laser weapons since the 1960s, and the People’s Liberation Army in 2015 published the book Light War that gives a central role to fighting a future war using lasers.

As already disclosed by the media, China is known to have operated at least 3 ASAT laser stations, in Anhui, Sichuan and Xinjiang.
In 2005, Chinese researchers have successfully conducted a satellite-blinding experiment using a 50-100 kilowatt capacity mounted laser gun in Xinjiang province. The target was a low orbit satellite with a tilt distance of 600 kilometers. The diameter of the telescope firing the laser beam is 0.6 meters wide. The accuracy of acquisition, tracking and pointing is less than 5 microradians.

Three researchers, Gao Minghui, Zeng Yuquang and Wang Zhihong disclosed plan for even more powerful ASAT lasers in The Chinese Optics journal in December 2013.

All worked for the Changchun Institute for Optics, Fine Mechanics and Physics – the leading center for laser weapons technology.

The plan proposed the building of a 5-ton chemical laser as a combat platform capable of destroying satellites in orbit. Given funding by the Chinese military, which is in charge of China’s space program, the anti-satellite laser could be deployed by 2023.

Although high secrecy is strictly enforced, one could compare the case of Tiangong-1 space laboratory with the ill-fated Phobos-Grunt Mars probe, that reentered over the South Eastern Pacific Ocean on 15 January 2011.

There was no random reentry over highly populated area. This time Tiangong-1 will also reenter over the Pacific Ocean, in a remotely controlled mode.
This suggests that China will secretly use its laser ASAT stations, to produce a thrust generated by heating the outer part of the spacecraft, thus lowering the perigee of Tiangong-1, when it had finally reached the ~140 km altitude threshold. This would eventually allow a safe reentry half an orbit later over the predesignated area over the Pacific Ocean.

This is the least China could do, as even North Korea has already disclosed its own Korean-style Anti-Meteor Laser System, needed to protect its planned future Lunar base, back in a New Year 2018 show!

Spoiler: Links

https://defence.pk/pdf/attachments/...0/?temp_hash=a775523a2fc44b8a75ddd84168d9cac3
http://aerospace.wpengine.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/TG-1_Coverage_Plot_Annotated.png
http://www.aerospace.org/cords/reentry-predictions/tiangong-1-reentry/

▲ Map of Tiangong-1 ground track

Spoiler: Links

https://defence.pk/pdf/attachments/...1/?temp_hash=a775523a2fc44b8a75ddd84168d9cac3
http://www.russianspaceweb.com/imag...grunt/reentry/reentry_map_2012_01_15_Cb_1.jpg
http://www.russianspaceweb.com/phobos_grunt_reentry.html

▲ An official map of the Phobos-Grunt reentry released by Roskosmos by 20:00 Moscow Time on Jan. 15, 2012.
Notice the similarity with Tiangong-1 regarding the relative location of the impact zone and the ASAT laser stations!

Spoiler: Links

https://defence.pk/pdf/attachments/...2/?temp_hash=a775523a2fc44b8a75ddd84168d9cac3
http://news.k618.cn/js_37057/201307/W020130723291509035315.jpg
http://news.k618.cn/js_37057/201307/t20130723_3575267.html

▲ Space imagery of Tianshan ASAT laser station. 中国天山部署战略反卫星激光武器

Spoiler: Links

https://defence.pk/pdf/attachments/...3/?temp_hash=a775523a2fc44b8a75ddd84168d9cac3
http://
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CxBj71x2wtE

▲ At T=40:54 North Korean Lunar base hit by meteor shower; Video published on Jan 1, 2018

Spoiler: Links

https://defence.pk/pdf/attachments/...5/?temp_hash=a775523a2fc44b8a75ddd84168d9cac3
https://c1.staticflickr.com/5/4671/38881704724_bc097d03e2_b.jpg
https://www.flickr.com/photos/dprktoday/38881704724/

▲ 10 North Korean astronauts combining beams of laser to thwart a meteor shower as depicted in a New Year 2018 show

Spoiler: Links

https://defence.pk/pdf/attachments/...4/?temp_hash=a775523a2fc44b8a75ddd84168d9cac3
http://
http://
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CxBj71x2wtE

▲ At T=40:54 North Korean Lunar base hit by meteor shower; At T=41:33 Combined laser beams used to protect the North Korean Lunar base from meteor shower, in a New Year 2018 show. Video published on Jan 1, 2018

 

[patman]

What will happen if it falls on some kid or something like a school . This is scary $hit

 

[ZeEa5KPul]

Will SP2012 declare war on China if the space station fell on a cow?

 

[leviathan]

What will happen if it falls on some kid or something like a school . This is scary $hit

You should hide under a cave. Otherwise you might not survive this.

 

[Ultima Thule]

ISS will not likely fall from the sky as a giant meteorite. It's not even decided on what happens to it after it's life cycle. Probably the tech advances and it'll be reused for other space explorations.

Yeah, these satellites do not reach the earth surface in majority of the cases.

And the TG-1 pause a real threat, although it's just low probability, but still significant.

Remember what happened to MIR space station and Skylab also consider as threat by west and EU/rest of the world respectively, so this is a western propaganda against China and Nothing else @SOUTHie

 

[JSCh]

Aerodynamic design complete, Mars probe undergoes trials
Source:Global Times Published: 2018/3/11 23:23:39

The Mars probe's aerodynamic design is complete and undergoing trials, according to China's major aerospace science and technology researcher and developer.

The country's first Mars probe is scheduled to be launched on a Long March 5 launch vehicle by 2020 from the Wenchang Spacecraft Launch Site in South China's Hainan Province.

The probe will hopefully orbit, land and deploy a rover on the Red Planet.

But landing on Mars poses serious aerodynamic challenges, said Zhou Weijiang, a researcher at the China Academy of Aerospace Aerodynamics, a subsidiary of the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation, Science and Technology Daily reported on Sunday.

In the primary phase, the design needs to elevate the probe sufficiently to prevent it from burning up in the high temperatures caused by air friction, said Zhou, also a member of the 13th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference.

The design must also prevent the probe from escaping its orbit or crashing by maintaining the correct flight attitude, Zhou said.

Weight is another issue. The Mars probe is relatively light, Zhou said, but " if we apply too little heat-resisting material, the probe will burn or if too much it will surpass the weight standard."

 

[Galactic Penguin SST]

Latest astrophotographies from China's 2 orbital space laboratories: Tiangong-1 and Tiangong-2

Spoiler: Links

https://defence.pk/pdf/attachments/...1/?temp_hash=e4d24499e00af15d7774fb0ec52e7788
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DYKeyPDVoAIlcka.jpg
https://twitter.com/makkisse999/status/973515308710313984
#天宮1号 (TIANGONG 1)の通過を撮影。予報1.3等級、北西から東へ。最高通過点高度29°(方位28°)。3/13, 19:06~18:08 頃、太陽高度-10°。明るい＆雲多い,と状況悪かったが、ちらっと見えました。。 露出10秒x6枚 比較明合成, 対角魚眼 トリミング

▲ TIANGONG 1 pass captured from Tanegashima on 13 March 2018, 19:06~18:08 JST, 10 seconds x 6, fisheye, APS-C10 mm, PENTAX K-5II s
Estimated Magnitude: 1.3

Spoiler: Links

https://defence.pk/pdf/attachments/...2/?temp_hash=e4d24499e00af15d7774fb0ec52e7788
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DYCk-4zU0AA1E2P.jpg
https://twitter.com/makkisse999/status/972959236274601984
#天宮2号 (TIANGONG-2)の通過を撮影。3月12日 5:20~5:21, 予報1.0等級。最高通過点高度67°。影出からMax高度を少し過ぎたあたりまで。アルクトゥルスと北斗七星の間を通過。1、2枚目が空いたのは連写用レリーズのロック忘れ。 追尾(ポータブル赤道儀) 露出20秒×4枚 比較明合成,

▲ TIANGONG 2 pass between Arcturus and Uras Major captured from Tanegashima on 12 March 2018, 5:20~5:21 JST, 20 seconds x 4, f/3.2, ISO 2500, APS-C21 mm, PENTAX K-5II s
Estimated Magnitude: 1.0

Target in range, all PLA Laser Stations ready to fire!

 

[Galactic Penguin SST]

As all these questions can only expose how biased and ill-intentioned the Western propaganda machine is, hell-bent in smearing the ever more outstanding Chinese space achievements (due to desperation and jealousy as always), let us reassure all our Pakistani readers and Israeli hasbara as well, with some clarifications.

China has been working on developing laser weapons since the 1960s, and the People’s Liberation Army in 2015 published the book Light War that gives a central role to fighting a future war using lasers.

As already disclosed by the media, China is known to have operated at least 3 ASAT laser stations, in Anhui, Sichuan and Xinjiang.
In 2005, Chinese researchers have successfully conducted a satellite-blinding experiment using a 50-100 kilowatt capacity mounted laser gun in Xinjiang province. The target was a low orbit satellite with a tilt distance of 600 kilometers. The diameter of the telescope firing the laser beam is 0.6 meters wide. The accuracy of acquisition, tracking and pointing is less than 5 microradians.

Three researchers, Gao Minghui, Zeng Yuquang and Wang Zhihong disclosed plan for even more powerful ASAT lasers in The Chinese Optics journal in December 2013.

All worked for the Changchun Institute for Optics, Fine Mechanics and Physics – the leading center for laser weapons technology.

The plan proposed the building of a 5-ton chemical laser as a combat platform capable of destroying satellites in orbit. Given funding by the Chinese military, which is in charge of China’s space program, the anti-satellite laser could be deployed by 2023.

Although high secrecy is strictly enforced, one could compare the case of Tiangong-1 space laboratory with the ill-fated Phobos-Grunt Mars probe, that reentered over the South Eastern Pacific Ocean on 15 January 2011.

There was no random reentry over highly populated area. This time Tiangong-1 will also reenter over the Pacific Ocean, in a remotely controlled mode.
This suggests that China will secretly use its laser ASAT stations, to produce a thrust generated by heating the outer part of the spacecraft, thus lowering the perigee of Tiangong-1, when it had finally reached the ~140 km altitude threshold. This would eventually allow a safe reentry half an orbit later over the predesignated area over the Pacific Ocean.

This is the least China could do, as even North Korea has already disclosed its own Korean-style Anti-Meteor Laser System, needed to protect its planned future Lunar base, back in a New Year 2018 show!

Spoiler: Links

https://defence.pk/pdf/attachments/...0/?temp_hash=a775523a2fc44b8a75ddd84168d9cac3
http://aerospace.wpengine.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/TG-1_Coverage_Plot_Annotated.png
http://www.aerospace.org/cords/reentry-predictions/tiangong-1-reentry/

▲ Map of Tiangong-1 ground track

Spoiler: Links

https://defence.pk/pdf/attachments/...1/?temp_hash=a775523a2fc44b8a75ddd84168d9cac3
http://www.russianspaceweb.com/imag...grunt/reentry/reentry_map_2012_01_15_Cb_1.jpg
http://www.russianspaceweb.com/phobos_grunt_reentry.html

▲ An official map of the Phobos-Grunt reentry released by Roskosmos by 20:00 Moscow Time on Jan. 15, 2012.
Notice the similarity with Tiangong-1 regarding the relative location of the impact zone and the ASAT laser stations!

Spoiler: Links

https://defence.pk/pdf/attachments/...2/?temp_hash=a775523a2fc44b8a75ddd84168d9cac3
http://news.k618.cn/js_37057/201307/W020130723291509035315.jpg
http://news.k618.cn/js_37057/201307/t20130723_3575267.html

▲ Space imagery of Tianshan ASAT laser station. 中国天山部署战略反卫星激光武器

Spoiler: Links

https://defence.pk/pdf/attachments/...3/?temp_hash=a775523a2fc44b8a75ddd84168d9cac3
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CxBj71x2wtE

▲ At T=40:54 North Korean Lunar base hit by meteor shower; Video published on Jan 1, 2018

Spoiler: Links

https://defence.pk/pdf/attachments/...5/?temp_hash=a775523a2fc44b8a75ddd84168d9cac3
https://c1.staticflickr.com/5/4671/38881704724_bc097d03e2_b.jpg
https://www.flickr.com/photos/dprktoday/38881704724/

▲ 10 North Korean astronauts combining beams of laser to thwart a meteor shower as depicted in a New Year 2018 show

Spoiler: Links

https://defence.pk/pdf/attachments/...4/?temp_hash=a775523a2fc44b8a75ddd84168d9cac3
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CxBj71x2wtE

▲ At T=40:54 North Korean Lunar base hit by meteor shower; At T=41:33 Combined laser beams used to protect the North Korean Lunar base from meteor shower, in a New Year 2018 show. Video published on Jan 1, 2018

Latest astrophotographies from China's 2 orbital space laboratories: Tiangong-1 and Tiangong-2

Spoiler: Links

https://defence.pk/pdf/attachments/...1/?temp_hash=e4d24499e00af15d7774fb0ec52e7788
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DYKeyPDVoAIlcka.jpg
https://twitter.com/makkisse999/status/973515308710313984
#天宮1号 (TIANGONG 1)の通過を撮影。予報1.3等級、北西から東へ。最高通過点高度29°(方位28°)。3/13, 19:06~18:08 頃、太陽高度-10°。明るい＆雲多い,と状況悪かったが、ちらっと見えました。。 露出10秒x6枚 比較明合成, 対角魚眼 トリミング

▲ TIANGONG 1 pass captured from Tanegashima on 13 March 2018, 19:06~18:08 JST, 10 seconds x 6, fisheye, APS-C10 mm, PENTAX K-5II s
Estimated Magnitude: 1.3

Spoiler: Links

https://defence.pk/pdf/attachments/...2/?temp_hash=e4d24499e00af15d7774fb0ec52e7788
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DYCk-4zU0AA1E2P.jpg
https://twitter.com/makkisse999/status/972959236274601984
#天宮2号 (TIANGONG-2)の通過を撮影。3月12日 5:20~5:21, 予報1.0等級。最高通過点高度67°。影出からMax高度を少し過ぎたあたりまで。アルクトゥルスと北斗七星の間を通過。1、2枚目が空いたのは連写用レリーズのロック忘れ。 追尾(ポータブル赤道儀) 露出20秒×4枚 比較明合成,

▲ TIANGONG 2 pass between Arcturus and Uras Major captured from Tanegashima on 12 March 2018, 5:20~5:21 JST, 20 seconds x 4, f/3.2, ISO 2500, APS-C21 mm, PENTAX K-5II s
Estimated Magnitude: 1.0

Target in range, all PLA Laser Stations ready to fire!

 

[Galactic Penguin SST]

Construction of gravitational wave telescopes in Tibet underway

March 13, 2018

China is under smooth progress towards the world's highest altitude gravitational wave telescopes in Tibet Autonomous Region to detect the faintest echoes resonating from the universe, a project insider disclosed.

The main part for the first stage of the "Ngari plan", which was launched by China in March 2017 to eyeball the Big Bang cosmic waves at Ngari, Tibet, is almost completed, Zhang Xinmin, chief scientist of the project said on the sidelines of the ongoing first session of the 13th National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC).

The project will start operations in 2020 and observation results will arise in 2022, added Zhang, a senior researcher at the Institute of High Energy Physics in the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS).

At the first stage of the two-phased project, a telescope code-named Ngari No.1 would be constructed at 5,250 meters above sea level to enable the first measurement of primordial gravitational waves in the northern hemisphere, according to the scientist.

The first telescope is expected to be installed at the end of 2019 and operational in 2020, added Zhang, also a member of the 13th CPPCC National Committee.

The second stage, according to him, involves a series of telescopes, code-named Ngari No. 2, to be located at an altitude of about 6,000 meters, to realize more accurate measurement of the waves.

Chinese scientists are now working on design of the first telescope with a team of Stanford University, and they would cooperate more in the future, he said.

The primordial gravitational waves, different from gravitational waves produced by motions and evolution of the heavenly bodies, were generated by the first tremors of the Big Bang.

Detection of the primordial gravitational waves is of great significance to studying the origin and evolution of the universe, said Zhang.

Ngari is considered as one of the world's four best places for astronomers to gaze into the faint echoes from the earliest days of the universe given its thin air, clear skies and minimal human activity.

The other three spots to detect the tiny twists in cosmic light are Atacama Desert, Chile and Antarctica in the southern hemisphere, as well as Greenland in the northern hemisphere.

The Ngari observatory, once constructed, will be the first of its kind in the northern hemisphere for China to carry out experiments regarding detection of primordial gravitational waves.

By then, the Ngari observatory, alongside the existing South Pole Telescope and the facility in Chile’s Atacama Desert, will cover both the northern and southern hemispheres.

Both space exploration and ground-based research have been employed by China to gaze into the remote universe.

The telescope in Ngari and FAST, a 500-meter aperture spherical radio telescope in southwest China’s Guizhou province, dedicate to probing waves from ground-based research facilities, while the Taiji and Tianqin projects, proposed by CAS and Sun Yat-sen University respectively, focus on detection by launch of satellites.

Spoiler: Links

https://defence.pk/pdf/attachments/...7/?temp_hash=bb2e794117054a3680c845311932f080
http://en.people.cn/NMediaFile/2018/0313/FOREIGN201803131027000353274509026.jpg
http://en.people.cn/n3/2018/0313/c90000-9436318.html

▲ The Ngari Observatory

Spoiler: Links

https://defence.pk/pdf/attachments/...8/?temp_hash=bb2e794117054a3680c845311932f080
http://en.people.cn/NMediaFile/2018/0313/FOREIGN201803131027000592914584468.jpg
http://en.people.cn/n3/2018/0313/c90000-9436318.html

▲ The Ngari Observatory at night

http://en.people.cn/n3/2018/0313/c90000-9436318.html