China Space Military：Recon, Satcom, Navi, ASAT/BMD, Orbital Vehicle, SLV, etc.

[JSCh]

Deputy chief engineer says BeiDou still faces two major challenges
2020-09-06 16:56:11 GMT+8 | cnTechPost

At present, BeiDou and GPS III are a new stage in the development of the Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS), but they still face two challenges, said Zhang Lixin, deputy chief engineer of BeiDou at China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation.

He made the remarks at the 2020 China International Fair for Trade in Services forum on September 6.

One of the challenges BeiDou faces, he said, is that users in some industries are demanding increasingly high service performance that cannot be met at present.

He said that users in some critical infrastructures, such as finance, power grids, and communications, require high security, high availability, and anti-spoofing, while users of automated driving and intelligent transportation require high precision, high integrity, and dynamic decimeter-centimeter levels.

Another challenge is that the "fragility" of satellite signals leads to limited applications in complex environments. For example, complex terrain environments are susceptible to obscuration and multipath complexity, while complex electromagnetic environments are susceptible to interference and spoofing.

"The only way to develop BeiDou is with an integrated PNT system," Zhang said.

The BeiDou satellite navigation system, he said, will be developed in parallel with pulsar navigation, ground-based augmentation, land-based navigation, underwater navigation, indoor navigation, and other systems to form the BeiDou integrated PNT system, which will achieve "unified standards, safety, credibility, efficiency, and convenience".

The key way to build BeiDou integrated PNT is "convergence", from the convergence of BeiDou systems to the convergence of BeiDou integrated PNT systems, to the construction of systems that are open to the world and the future, such as PNT inter-system and all-source.

Referring to the future BeiDou satellites, Zhang said that the BeiDou satellites will be "all-digital" in the future, moving from baseband to RF and processing RF digital signals directly.

The BeiDou project started in 1994, and the construction of BeiDou I was completed in 2000, and BeiDou II was completed in 2012.

The BeiDou III global satellite navigation system was fully completed and opened for service, marking China as the third country in the world to independently own a global satellite navigation system.

At present, the BeiDou system is used in more than 120 countries and regions around the world.

 

[JSCh]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1302652435425570816

 

[JSCh]

航天见闻 ​

今天 13:47 来自 航天见闻超话​

【“行云二号”两颗卫星实现双向通信，激光链路技术得到成功验证】近日，“行云二号”01星、02星之间实现了建链流程完整、遥测状态稳定的双向通信，这意味着“行云二号”卫星搭载的激光通信载荷技术得到成功验证，我国卫星物联网星座实现星间激光通信零的突破。至此，两颗卫星自今年5月12日发射入轨开展在轨技术测试以来，所有核心技术均得到充分验证。​

​

目前，星间激光链路技术已成为全球卫星通信系统发展的关键技术。公开资料显示，全球中低轨道星座项目中，仅有美国的Starlink星座、LeoSat星座提出了采用星间激光链路实现空间组网的计划。而在国内，行云公司抓总研制了国内最小的星间激光通信载荷，实现了国内卫星物联网星座激光通信零的突破，打通了卫星物联网星座间信息传输的瓶颈制约。​

Aerospace experience
Today 13:47 from aerospace

[Two satellites of "Xingyun-2" realize two-way communication, and the laser link technology has been successfully verified]

Recently, "Xingyun-2" 01 and 02 have achieved two-way communication with full complete link establishment under stable telemetry status. This means that the laser communication payload technology carried by the "Xingyun-2" satellite has been successfully verified. Ever since the two satellites were launched into orbit on May 12 this year to carry out in-orbit technical testing, all core technologies have now been fully verified.

At present, inter-satellite laser link technology has become a key technology for the development of global satellite communication systems. Public information shows that among the global low and medium orbit constellation projects, only the Starlink constellation and LeoSat constellation in the United States have proposed plans to use inter-satellite laser links to achieve space networking. In China, Xingyun has developed the smallest inter-satellite laser communication payload in China, achieving a breakthrough in laser communication, and fixed the bottleneck of inter satellite information transmission of IoT constellation.

China's homegrown space-based IoT network to see 12 more satellites next year: developer
By Deng Xiaoci Source: Global Times Published: 2020/9/6 17:33:40

Photo: CASIC

China's first homegrown space-borne Internet of Things (IoT) satellite network Xingyun-2 has completed its first stage constellation, and will launch 12 second-stage satellites next year, further enhancing its global service capability, developers said.

The project developer, along with LEOBIT Technology Co of the Wuhan-based Sanjiang Group, a subsidiary under the state-owned China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation (CASIC), revealed the information to the Global Times on Sunday.

The project aims to construct an 80-communication satellite in the Low Earth Orbit by around 2023, and the first stage of two satellites has been completed, the developer noted.

The satellites will be used to test applications in multiple fields, such as intelligent container monitoring, polar environmental monitoring, meteorological forecasting as well as marine transport communication, and lay a foundation for the following space-based IoT network.

The two satellites, codenamed Xingyun-2 01 and 02, are the first satellites of the network and were launched on May 12 by the China's Kuaizhou-1A commercial carrier rocket, which was developed by the Wuhan-based Sanjiang Group. In-orbit tests have been underway ever since.

The developers have completed the communication link between the first two satellites in the network, marking a historical first in the country's IoT space network, Global Times learned previously.

Another 12 satellites for the second stage of the network will be launched by 2021, developers said.

The network will be immune to weather conditions and has high reliability, they said.

 

[JSCh]

Posted on 2 August 2018 by gosnold
On July 31st, China added a new member to its Gaofen Earth Observation constellation: Gaofen-11 (GF-11) was launched atop a CZ-4B rocket. While the early Gaofen satellites were openly described by their designers, this one is a bit more obscure. It was not in the list of planned Gaofen satellites, and the launch caught observers by surprise, so most likely it is a military satellite operating under the guise of the Gaofen programme.
However, the Chinese always lift a bit of the veil of secrecy by releasing footage of the launch, with views of the rocket and of the control center, but also footage of satellite separation. Interestingly, 3D computer models are used in the control center to represent the rocket and its payload, and these models are not censored by the CCTV state television. They even showed those models with some of the military Yaogan satellites, probably as a form of strategic signaling towards their competitors. That way they can show the United States for instance that they mean business when it comes to strengthening their intelligence capabilities. Here is the footage for GF-11:


The most interesting part is this image of the satellite still attached to the third stage of the Long March rocket.

Knowing the stage has a diameter of 2.9m, and is almost completely parallel to the virtual camera, the diameter of the satellite’s aperture can be estimated at 1.7m. That means it carries a big mirror: the largest mirror carried by a commercial Earth Observation satellite is Worldview 3 & 4 ‘s 1.1m mirror, manufactured in the USA by ITT Exelis. For non-commercial satellites, the French have published images of their Helios 2 spy satellites, suggesting they have a 1.4m mirror. GF-1 beats them all, and is in fact only outclassed in its category of an optical imaging satellite by two US products:
– the Hubble Space Telescope, which has a 2.4m mirror working at optical wavelengths
– the KENNEN optical spy satellites, generally known under the KH-11 designation, which are rumoured to have a similar mirror size to Hubble. This is supported by the fact that the National Reconnaissance Office gifted two 2.4m optical mirrors it no longer had use for to NASA, which plans to use it for its WFIRST observatory. Additionally, people who have seen high-resolution images of these satellites have described them as “stubby Hubbles“.

Artist’s view of a KH-11 based on a modified Hubble image. Credit The Space Teview

The Hubble Space Telescope
So China seems to have accomplished a great leap forward in space optics. As GF-11 is positioned on a 470km circular 247x693km elliptical orbit, a 1.7m mirror would give it a ground resolution of 8 to 10cm at perigee, at around 10AM local solar time and at 20°N, right over India and the South China Sea. At the average altitude of 470km, the resolution is still 15 to 20cm, surpassing all commercial satellites and most reconnaissance satellites. This propels China into the select club of countries that can acquire NIIRS 8-9 satellite imagery, meaning the resolution is high enough to identify small hand-held weapons. Presumably the only members of this club are the US and now China, and that will continue to be the case in the foreseeable future, with maybe Russia joining them later if the Razdan program fulfills its promises.

Another view of GF-11, showing a similar architecture to Hubble
Interestingly, China plans to launch a “Chinese Hubble” to accompany its next space station, in the form of a dockable optical astronomy telescope with a 2m mirror. There are likely synergies between the developments in space optics for this national prestige project and the military satellites. Future developments will be even more impressive, and China is clearly aiming to be the new leader in this domain.

A visiting spacecraft (left) docked to the Tianhe space station

GF-11: How do you say KENNEN in Chinese?

On July 31st, China added a new member to its Gaofen Earth Observation constellation: Gaofen-11 (GF-11) was launched atop a CZ-4B rocket. While the early Gaofen satellites were openly described by …

satelliteobservation.net

我们的太空 ​

3分钟前​

【#高分十一号02星发射成功#

】2020年9月7日13时57分，我国在太原卫星发射中心用长征四号乙运载火箭，成功将高分十一号02星送入预定轨道，发射获得圆满成功。高分十一号02星是一颗光学遥感卫星，地面像元分辨率最高可达亚米级，主要用于国土普查、城市规划、土地确权、路网设计、农作物估产和防灾减灾等领域，可为“一带一路”建设等提供信息保障。这次任务是长征系列运载火箭的第345次飞行。（摄影：郑逃逃）#我们的太空#​

Our space
3 minutes ago

[Gaofen-11 02 successfully launched]

At 13:57 on September 7, 2020, China used the Long March 4B carrier rocket at the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center to successfully put the Gaofen-11 02 satellite into the preset orbit, and the launch was a complete success. Gaofen-11 02 is an optical remote sensing satellite with a ground pixel resolution of up to sub-meter level. It is mainly used for land surveys, urban planning, land right confirmation, road network design, crop yield estimation, disaster prevention and mitigation, and other area, which can provide information support for the construction of the “Belt and Road”. This mission is the 345th flight of the Long March series of carrier rockets. (Photo: Zheng tao tao)

 

[LKJ86]

 

[samsara]

Watch the past footage too:

Tengfei-1 - China’s spaceplane completed first tests

Published on 2018.09.26

Tengfei-1 is a reusable aerospace vehicle currently being developed in China. According to Zou Hong, head of the Commercial Space Administration of The Third Research Institute under China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation (CASIC), Tengfei 1 spaceplane recently completed the related flight tests with combined power, the first flight test in China that had realized the mode conversion of combined power. Tengfei-1 (腾飞一号) could be used for space tourism, astronaut transportation, satellite launching and space emergency rescue.

 

[samsara]

Tengyun Project of China Aerospace Science and Industry Co Ltd (CASIC)

China's two-stage space plane: tech verification flight test by 2025; commercial operation by 2030; horizontal-takeoff, horizontal-landing (HTHL), re-usable, for crew or cargo missions, “cheap, safe, convenient and mobile”.

Media report in September 2018 suggested that the turbine-based combined cycle (TBCC) engines in the first stage had performed the first test flight of "engine mode conversion". Seems on track toward a full-system test by 2025.

腾云工程 (Tengyun Project) -- Chinese language

http://core.casicloud.com/zone/zoneCommercial/zoneCommercial/emphasisProject.ht?project=ty

From Larry Teds @LarryTeds on 2020.09.08:

https://twitter.com/x/status/1303190595993649152

 

[jaybird]

This Remote Base With A Massive Runway Looks To Be Where China's Secretive Spacecraft Landed
The craft, which is thought to be a spaceplane designed to land on a traditional runway, also appears to have launched a small payload into orbit.

Satellite imagery that The War Zone has obtained from Planet Labs and other data suggest that China's recently tested experimental reusable spacecraft may have touched down at a remote air base with a massive runway near the Lop Nor nuclear test site in the northwestern portion of the country this weekend. The object's return to earth occurred after spending approximately two days in orbit. This strongly points to the secretive craft being a spaceplane of some kind that lands on a traditional runway. The U.S. government has also now cataloged two new as yet unidentified Chinese objects in space, which could be small satellites, that appear to be linked to this spacecraft's brief trip.

China's Secret Spacecraft Looks To Have Landed At This Remote Base With A Massive Runway

The craft, which is thought to be a spaceplane designed to land on a traditional runway, also appears to have launched a small payload into orbit.

www.thedrive.com

 

[samsara]

This Remote Base With A Massive Runway Looks To Be Where China's Secretive Spacecraft Landed
The craft, which is thought to be a spaceplane designed to land on a traditional runway, also appears to have launched a small payload into orbit.

Satellite imagery that The War Zone has obtained from Planet Labs and other data suggest that China's recently tested experimental reusable spacecraft may have touched down at a remote air base with a massive runway near the Lop Nor nuclear test site in the northwestern portion of the country this weekend. The object's return to earth occurred after spending approximately two days in orbit. This strongly points to the secretive craft being a spaceplane of some kind that lands on a traditional runway. The U.S. government has also now cataloged two new as yet unidentified Chinese objects in space, which could be small satellites, that appear to be linked to this spacecraft's brief trip.

China's Secret Spacecraft Looks To Have Landed At This Remote Base With A Massive Runway

The craft, which is thought to be a spaceplane designed to land on a traditional runway, also appears to have launched a small payload into orbit.

www.thedrive.com

View attachment 668196View attachment 668197View attachment 668198

You may wish to also post this stuff related to the China's "Reusable Test Spacecraft" at this special, more vibrant thread at this topic. Let it have the complete, consolidated info on this subject posted at PDF.

China & Far East Column

CHINA BECOME FIRST ASIAN COUNTRY TO SUCCESSFULLY LAUNCHING A SPACEPLANE

Watch the past footage too: Tengfei-1 - China’s spaceplane completed first tests Published on 2018.09.26 Tengfei-1 is a reusable aerospace vehicle currently being developed in China. According to Zou Hong, head of the Commercial Space Administration of The Third Research Institute under...

defence.pk

 

[samsara]

.
.
From Henri Kenhmann at East Pendulum on 2020.09.07:

The successful launch of the submeter resolution Gaofen GF-11-02 optical satellite.

The takeoff of the CZ-4B rocket took place on September 7 at 05:57 UTC, at the Taiyuan Space Center, Shanxi.

It is the 25th Chinese space launch of the year, and the 2nd in September.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1302888731850883072

Some more pictures posted by Henri Kenhmann:

The Gaofen-11 02 should be the same as 01 like this image

Here is the only image I have, not sure if it is representative (Henri Kenhmann)


Some screenshots posted by Henri Kenhmann, from another source --not CCTV--
screenshots from @我们的太空 @OurSpace:

 

[JSCh]

“吉林一号”高分02C卫星发射失利​

2020-09-12 17:54:38 来源： 新华网​

​

新华社酒泉9月12日电 9月12日13时2分，我国在酒泉卫星发射中心用快舟一号甲运载火箭发射“吉林一号”高分02C卫星，火箭飞行出现异常，发射任务失利。具体原因正在进一步分析排查。​

Jilin-1 gaofen 02C satellite launch failed
2020-09-12 17:54:38 Source: Xinhuanet

Xinhua News Agency, Jiuquan, September 12th.
At 13:2 on September 12th, our country used the Kuaizhou-1A carrier rocket to launch the Jilin-1 gaofen 02C satellite at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center. The rocket flight was abnormal and the launch mission failed. The specific reasons are being further analyzed and investigated.

 

[JSCh]

China航天​

今天 21:51 已编辑​

9月13日(今天上午)，海阳东方航天港举行长征十一号 HY2运载火箭海上发射队出征仪式。10时20分左右， 发射保障船和海上发射平台开始驶离东方航天港前往目标海域，执行“吉林一号”高分03系列9颗卫星发射任务。发射时间定于9月15日，此次任务是我国第2次海上发射。
图1:我国新型海上发射平台
图2:发射保障船
图源：海阳融媒​

China Aerospace
Today at 21:51 edited

On September 13th (this morning), Haiyang Eastern Space Port held an expedition ceremony for the Long March 11 HY2 carrier rocket sea launch team. At about 10:20, the launch support ship and the offshore launch platform began to leave the Oriental Space Port to the target sea area to perform the 9 satellite launch missions of the Jilin-1 Gaofen 03 series. The launch time is scheduled for September 15. This mission is China's second maritime launch.

First Picture : The new maritime launch platform
Second Picture: Launch support ship
Source: Haiyang Financial Media

​

Video link -> China航天的微博视频

 

[JSCh]

China launches second carrier rocket at sea
By Deng Xiaoci Source: Global Times Published: 2020/9/15 9:45:49

Photo: Wang Weitong

China conducted its second seaborne space launch early Tuesday morning, with a Long March-11 solid propellant light launch vehicle lifting off from a mobile floating platform in the Yellow Sea, in waters off the coast of East China's Shandong Province.

Compared to the first launch, developers have further optimized and streamlined its sea launch capabilities by deploying a new launch vessel and putting a new coastal spaceport into operation, laying a solid foundation for more frequent and regular sea missions in the future.

The launch mission from sea successfully sent a group of nine commercial remote sensing satellites, all belonging to the Jilin-1 03 family, into the 535-kilometer Sun-synchronous orbit (SSO).

The group of satellites launched on Tuesday were developed by the Chang Guang Satellite Technology Co Limited based in Changchun, Northeast China's Jilin Province. The satellites will provide remote sensing data and a range of services including forestry, agriculture and maritime, for their clients.

"The Tuesday mission marked China's first commercial application launch from sea," Jin Xin, the deputy commander-in-chief of the Long March-11 launch vehicle, told the Global Times on Tuesday.

The Long March-11 is a light-lift solid launch vehicle, around 20 meters in length with a diameter of 2 meters, weighing about 58 tons. Before the Tuesday launch, it had conducted nine successful flights, including China's first sea launch conducted in June 2019.

The assembly of the rocket for the Tuesday sea launch mission and the rocket-satellite installation were both carried out at the Dongfang Spaceport [also referred to as Eastern Aerospace Port]. The rocket was then transferred from Haiyang port in Haiyang of Shandong Province to its designated launch site. Peng Kunya, the chief designer of the Long March-11 with the China Academy of Launch Vehicle (CALT), which is overseen by the country's state-owned aerospace giant the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC), called it a "game-changer."

This practice streamlines the previous pattern, in which the manufacturing of the rocket and launch site were separate, by reducing disassembly and assembly times. It also cuts the time for long-distance rail transfer, greatly shortening the launch chain and significantly enhancing launch efficiency, Peng noted.

Photo: courtesy of the CALT

According to Peng, it was also the first Long March-11 sea launch mission to the SSO. "The angle for a launch to the SSO is fixed, and once the launch site is verified, it will become routine for future missions."

Also, sea launches can effectively mitigate against post-launch safety risks, as rocket debris will fall away from populated land areas, Peng said.

The developer team of the Long March-11 is working on a new solid propellant rocket model which has a two-ton payload launch capability to the Low Earth orbit, and it is expected to make its maiden experiment flight from sea by 2022, Li Tongyu, commander-in-chief of the Long March-11 carrier rocket, revealed to the Global Times.

Dubbed China's fifth space launch center, construction of the Dongfang Aerospace Port as a base for sea launches of light-lift solid rockets was approved in July 2019, and concrete progress has been made, according to the CALT.

With the new port now put into operation, China has now laid a foundation for regular future sea launches, CALT said in a statement to the Global Times.

The Tuesday launch site is located some 350 kilometers to the southeast of the Haiyang port in Shandong in the Yellow Sea. The rocket was transported by the Debo-3 ship to the designated site before being launched from the same ship.

The Debo-3 is 160 meters in length and 40 meters wide, and sails at a speed of some 20 kilometers per hour.

The Long March-11 maiden flight from the sea took place on June 5, 2019, and it lifted off from the large semi-submersible barge Tairui.

Unlike the Tairui, the Debo-3 can sail by itself, and is thinner and longer, making it more vulnerable to the weather and maritime conditions.

The ship development team conducted a mock experiment before the mission, and felt the new ship would be able to adapt well to the changing environment at sea.

The seaborne launch technology meets the growing demand for low inclination satellites and helps China provide launch services for countries participating in the Belt and Road Initiative, according to Chinese experts.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1305694411469144064

 

[JSCh]

China航天​

今天 10:04​

#长征十一号成功完成海上发射# 【天基测控与数据中继团队圆满完成海射测控任务】9月15日”9时23分，我国在黄海海域采用长征十一号海射遥二运载火箭成功发射吉林一号高分03-1组卫星。火箭点火约86秒后，远在太空静候已久的“天链一号”02星及时准确捕获到火箭状态，并随即建立运载火箭与太原卫星发射中心等用户中心的返向数据中继链路，实现遥测数据的实时传输，为火箭各级发动机点火、星箭分离等重要环节提供关键支撑，成功护送9颗卫星“出海升天”，进入预定轨道。(装备科技 )​

China Aerospace
Today at 10:04

#长征十一号成功完海上发布# [Space-based TT&C and data relay team successfully completed the sea launch TT&C mission]

At 9:23 on September 15th, China launched the Long March 11 Y2 Sea Launch carrier rocket in the Yellow Sea. The rocket successfully put the Jilin-1 Gaofen 03 group of satellites into orbit.

About 86 seconds after the rocket was ignited, the long-standby Tianlian 1-02 satellite captured signal of the rocket in time and set-up two-way data relay link between the launch vehicle and user centers such as the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center. It established the real-time transmission of telemetry data, provides key support for the ignition of the rocket engines at all stages, and the separation of satellite and rocket. It successfully escorted 9 satellites to enter the predetermined orbit. (Equipment Technology)

 

[JSCh]

China航天​

今天 09:58 已编辑​

@长光卫星 “吉林一号”星座视频星对飞行中的战斗机跟踪和监测。哪位大神能从视频中分辨出这是啥子型号的战斗机啊

LChina航天的微博视频​

China Aerospace
Today at 09:58

The Jilin-1 constellation video satellite tracks and monitors fighter jets in flight. Who can tell from the video what type of fighter this is? [打call][打call]

Video link -> China航天的微博视频

https://twitter.com/x/status/1306063449428951041