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

[JSCh]

央广军事​

13分钟前 来自 微博 weibo.com​

【#遥感三十一号02组卫星发射成功#】2021年1月29日12时47分，我国在酒泉卫星发射中心用长征四号丙运载火箭，成功将遥感三十一号02组卫星发射升空，卫星进入预定轨道。卫星主要用于开展电磁环境探测及相关技术试验。此次任务是长征系列运载火箭的第359次飞行。（奉青玲 王明艳 汪江波 姚军鹏）​

China National Radio Military
13 minutes ago from Weibo

[Successful launch of Yaogan-31 group 02 satellite]

At 12:47 on January 29, 2021, China used the Long March 4C carrier rocket at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center to successfully launch the Yaogan-31 group 02 satellites into the sky, and the satellites entered the scheduled orbit. Satellites are mainly used to carry out electromagnetic environment detection and related technical tests. This mission is the 359th flight of the Long March series of carrier rockets. (Feng Qingling, Wang Mingyan, Wang Jiangbo, Yao Junpeng)

 

[vi-va]

Tianwen-1 (TW-1) will arrive Mars on China New Year.

 

[vi-va]

Tianwen-1 (TW-1) will arrive Mars on China New Year.

China's Tianwen-1 spacecraft will reach Mars orbit on February 10

The rover won't land on the Red Planet until May.

www.space.com

 

[samsara]

From Henri Kenhmann at East Pendulum on 2021.02.03:

The Chinese Martian probe Tianwen-1 will perform its braking maneuvers to enter Martian orbit on February 10. The craft has traveled 450 million km and is currently about 170 million km from Earth.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1356904908654485504

An article at Sohu (in CN), Feb. 03, 2021:

"Tianwen-1" is about to arrive on Mars, experts have revealed the difficult observation of "super telescope" 190 million kilometers away
...
In an exclusive interview with a reporter from Chinanews.com, Liu Qinghui revealed that the "Super Telescope" team has observed (Tianwen-1 probe) nearly 100 times, with a measurement accuracy of 0.1 nanoseconds. The way of observation is through the "Super Telescope" composed of four places in China, with the radio source outside the galaxy [outside our Milky Way] as the reference, to detect the location of the Tianwen-1 probe. He explained that these radio sources have been measured by astronomers for decades, and their positions are accurately known, and they are relatively close to the azimuth angle of the Tianwen-1 probe relative to the earth, and their signals almost reach the "Super Telescope" on the same path, which is helpful for us to calculate various delays of the probe reaching the earth telescope.

The "Super Telescope" is actually called VLBI (very long baseline interferometry) orbit measurement subsystem consists of those stations at Beijing, Shanghai, Kunming and Urumqi, as well as the VLBI data processing center at the Shanghai Observatory. The formed telescope is equivalent to combining several small telescopes to achieve the observation effect of a large integrated-aperture radio telescope with an aperture of more than 3,000 kilometers in resolution. VLBI orbit measurement subsystem is involved in the orbit determination tasks of the Tianwen-1 during the stages of ground fire transfer, Mars capture and off-orbit landing.

(...)

https://www.sohu.com/a/448476999_162522

 

[Polestar 2]

Tianwen-1 (TW-1) will arrive Mars on China New Year.

China's Tianwen-1 spacecraft will reach Mars orbit on February 10

The rover won't land on the Red Planet until May.

www.space.com

Need to salute those CNSA employee who still need to work even during lunar Chinese New year.

 

[LKJ86]

 

[vi-va]

View attachment 713535

Ground-Based Midcourse Defense
GMD test succeed, announced officially.

 

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View attachment 713535

 

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View attachment 713535

View attachment 713572

China announces success in land-based intermediate-range missile interception test - Xinhua | English.news.cn

www.xinhuanet.com

China announces success in land-based intermediate-range missile interception test
Source: Xinhua | 2021-02-05 00:20:35 | Editor: huaxia

BEIJING, Feb. 4 (Xinhua) -- China on Thursday successfully conducted a land-based intermediate-range missile interception test within its territories, said the Ministry of National Defense.

The test has reached the expected goals, the ministry said, adding that it was defensive in nature and did not target any country.

 

[JSCh]

China launches new communication technology experiment satellite
Source: Xinhua| 2021-02-05 00:40:25|Editor: huaxia

XICHANG, Feb. 4 (Xinhua) -- China successfully launched a new communication technology experiment satellite from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in southwest China's Sichuan Province on Thursday.

The satellite was launched at 11:36 p.m. (Beijing Time) by a Long March-3B carrier rocket and entered the planned orbit successfully.

It will be used in communication, radio, television and data transmission, as well as technology tests.

This launch marked the 360th mission for the Long March series carrier rockets.
(Photo by Zhang Jing/Xinhua)

 

[samsara]

China announces success in land-based intermediate-range missile interception test - Xinhua | English.news.cn

www.xinhuanet.com

China announces success in land-based intermediate-range missile interception test
Source: Xinhua | 2021-02-05 00:20:35 | Editor: huaxia

BEIJING, Feb. 4 (Xinhua) -- China on Thursday successfully conducted a land-based intermediate-range missile interception test within its territories, said the Ministry of National Defense.

The test has reached the expected goals, the ministry said, adding that it was defensive in nature and did not target any country.

From OedoSoldier @OedoSoldier on 2021.02.04:

PLA today conducted mid-course ballistic missile interception test by Chinese Defense Ministry and achieved target

https://twitter.com/x/status/1357352287786569730

The Douyin footage (the 4th or last one) is said to be captured over the sky of the Bayingolin Mongol Autonomous Prefecture in the southeast of Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1357355337980936192

Some netizens captured the truth in the sky of Urumqi, Xinjiang | Land-based midcourse anti-missile interception test

 

[samsara]

China conducts mid-course antiballistic missile test, system 'becomes more mature, reliable'

By Liu Xuanzun
Published: Feb 04, 2021 10:55 PM Updated: Feb 05, 2021 12:55 AM

An HQ-16 medium-range air-defense missile system attached to an air defense brigade under the PLA 77th Group Army launched a rocket into the air at a military shooting range in desert area in late August, 2020. (eng.chinamil.com.cn/Photo by Hu yonghui)


China successfully conducted a land-based, mid-course antiballistic missile (ABM) technical test on Thursday in a move experts said showed China's mastery of the technology as the country's antiballistic missile system gradually matures and becomes more reliable.

China conducted the test within its border, and the test reached the desired objective, the country's Ministry of National Defense announced on Thursday in a statement.

The test is of defensive nature and is not aimed at any country, the statement reads.

It was the fifth land-based ABM technical test China has publicly announced and the fourth land-based, mid-course ABM technical test publicly known.

Mid-course is the most vital phase in the interception of a ballistic missile, and a mid-course ABM means to intercept the missile while it is in its free flight phase outside of the atmosphere, Song Zhongping, a Chinese military expert and TV commentator, told the Global Times on Thursday.

While the duration of the mid-course phase is relatively long, the great difficulty of an interception lies in the high trajectory, Song said, noting that the target of interception is usually intermediate-range or intercontinental ballistic missile.

China has already mastered the mid-course ABM system, and conducting the latest test shows that the system is becoming mature, and the success rate and reliability of interceptions are increasing significantly, which is very important for China to build a complete ABM system, Song said.

The flight of a ballistic missile usually consists of three phases in time order: boost phase in which the rocket booster will power the missile into sky, mid-course phase in which the booster stops as the missile traverses outside of the atmosphere, and reentry or terminal phase in which the missile reenters the atmosphere and dives on its target.

It's technically easy to intercept a ballistic missile in the boost phase, because the missile is still close to the ground and accelerating, but it is difficult to get close to the launch site which is usually deep in hostile territory; in terminal phase, the interception is challenging because the speed of the diving missile is very high, observers said.

Known ABM tests were carried out by China previously in 2010, 2013, 2014 and 2018, according to media reports and official statements.

As the Chinese military enhances its combat-preparedness, it is very important to establish an effective and complete anti-missile system, particularly against intermediate-range and intercontinental missiles which are usually equipped with nuclear warheads, so that China's national security can remain assured, analysts said.

China conducts mid-course antiballistic missile test, system 'becomes more mature, reliable' - Global Times

www.globaltimes.cn

The missile seemed to be fired from Taiyuan, Shanxi and the captured interception scene was seen in the sky of Urumqi, Xinjiang, the aerial distance between the two capital cities is over 2,200 km.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Schematic diagram of land-based mid-course antiballistic missile interception system

by 知乎 @OwlLite

 

[samsara]

China Claims It Has Conducted A New Midcourse Intercept Anti-Ballistic Missile Test

China is developing multiple ballistic missile interceptors, some of which could also double as anti-satellite weapons.

By Joseph Trevithick - February 4, 2021

Details are still limited, but the Chinese government says that it has carried out an anti-ballistic missile test. State media reports say that the goal was to demonstrate capabilities to intercept an intermediate-range ballistic missile, or IRBM, during the midcourse portion of its flight. However, these kinds of interceptors can also double as anti-satellite weapons.

China's Ministry of Defense announced the test on Feb. 4, 2021, and said it achieved all of its goals, but offered no additional details, including whether an actual intercept of any kind had taken place. Chinese authorities also insisted that the test was purely defensive in nature and was not meant a signal to any country in particular.

Unconfirmed video of a possible rocket or missile launch emanating from northern China has emerged on social media. The clips are similar to imagery that appeared online after another anti-ballistic missile test in 2018, but are also what one would expect to see from any large rocket or missile launch. If this footage is from this test, it could indicate a launch from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center in Shanxi Province, which is also a major Chinese ballistic missile test facility.

This test may also help explain the presence of a U.S. Air Force RC-135S Cobra Ball that was observed flying in the Yellow Sea earlier this week via online flight tracking data. There are only three of these aircraft in total, which are specially configured to gather telemetry and other electronic intelligence, from missile and other large rocket launches, making them very-low-density, but high demand assets.

The appearance of one of these aircraft, which you can read about in more detail in this past War Zone piece, in any particular area can often be a sign of an imminent missile test. Flying in this particular area of the Yellow Sea would have put the RC-135S as close as possible to Taiyuan while remaining in international waters.

The 2018 test was also described as being a demonstration of midcourse ballistic missile intercept capabilities. So far, China has not yet released any specific details about work on such an interceptor, including any official designation. The country is "developing kinetic-kill vehicle technology to field a midcourse interceptor, which will form the upper layer of a multi-tiered missile defense," according to the most recent annual public report from the Pentagon on Chinese military capabilities, which it released last September.

A "kinetic-kill" interceptor, also known as a hit-to-kill type, is designed to destroy its target by physically slamming into it, rather than via a traditional warhead or some other kind of effect. The U.S. military's own Ground-based Midcourse Defense (GMD) interceptors, a test of which is seen in the video below, use a kinetic kill vehicle. Difficulties in the development of that vehicle have become a major issue for the GMD program in recent years.

The interceptor itself only one part of the puzzle of midcourse ballistic missile defense, which you can read more about broadly in this previous War Zone piece. This involves detecting, tracking, and then engaging longer-range ballistic missiles, including IRBMs and intercontinental ballistic missiles (IBCM), after they "go cold" from entering the vacuum of space, as well as discriminating between them and any decoys. This presents significant challenges and requires a robust, multi-layered sensor network that would include assets in space, in addition to ones on the Earth's surface.

Interesting, after the 2018 test, a story in the People's Daily newspaper in China, an official media outlet of the Chinese Communist Party, including the graphic below outlining the principles of midcourse ballistic missile defense using components of the U.S. military's system, including the GMD interceptor, Sea-based X-band Radar (SBX), a portion of the land-based Solid State Phased Array Radar System (SSPARS), and a Defense Support Program (DSP) satellite. In recent years, the U.S. military has continued to work toward adding additional sensor nodes, especially in space, to its overarching missile defense ecosystem.

In addition, it's important to point out that the line between midcourse ballistic missile interceptors and anti-satellite weapons is extremely thin. The U.S. government has gone so far as to accuse China of using such ballistic missile defense tests as cover for anti-satellite weapon testing in the past.

It may well be that China's midcourse interceptor is an extension of work the country had done on the Dong Neng series of anti-satellite interceptors, which themselves use boosters from ballistic missiles, such as the DF-11. Reports have said that Dong Neng-3 (DN-3) was the interceptor employed in the 2018 test, reportedly knocking down target in the form of a DF-21 medium-range ballistic missile (MRBM).

China is also known to be working on a surface-to-air missile system, the HQ-19, which reportedly also has some degree of exoatmospheric intercept capability. Reports also indicate that the Dong Neng-2 (DN-2), as well as another interceptor, known as the SC-19, can also engage targets in space.

The HQ-19 is also known to the U.S. Intelligence Community as the CH-AB-X-02, with the X indicating that it is still assessed to be experimental and not fielded operation. However, that naming convention would suggest the existence of another anti-ballistic missile defense interceptor, the CH-AB-01 or CH-AB-X-01, which could refer to this midcourse interceptor.

Regardless, it's not hard to see how China would be interested in both midcourse ballistic missile defenses and improved anti-satellite capabilities. The Chinese government faces potential threats from India's ballistic missile arsenal, as well as potential new ballistic missile and ballistic missile-based hypersonic weapon developments in South Korea and Japan. There is also the matter of the United States, which is in the process of modernizing its strategic ballistic missile systems. The U.S. military is also now also exploring the possibility of acquiring new IRBMs, and potentially MRBMs, following the collapse of the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, or INF, with Russia, with a specific eye toward deploying them on China's doorstep in the Pacific.

Space is also an area where there are growing concerns of potential conflict. The U.S. military, in particular, has come to heavily rely on space-based systems for a wide variety of functions, including early warning, intelligence gathering, weapon guidance and basic navigation, and communications and data-sharing. All of this has only incentivized potential adversaries to develop ways to destroy or disable American satellites, or those of its allies and partners, to neutralize those capabilities. You can read more about all of this in these previous War Zone stories. It's also worth pointing out that the U.S. government has been increasingly willing to publicly call out what it assesses to be anti-satellite tests in recent years.

All told, it will certainly be interesting to see what details emerge about this test and times goes, including from sources outside of China, especially the U.S. government.

China Claims It Has Conducted A New Midcourse Intercept Anti-Ballistic Missile Test

China is developing multiple ballistic missile interceptors, some of which could also double as anti-satellite weapons.

www.thedrive.com

 

[samsara]

胡锡进
昨天 23:36 来自 HUAWEI P30 Pro 已编辑
中国宣布4日在本国境内成功进行了一次陆基中段反导拦截技术试验。老胡认为这次试验来得非常及时，彩！

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随时随地发现新鲜事！微博带你欣赏世界上每一个精彩瞬间，了解每一个幕后故事。分享你想表达的，让全世界都能听到你的心声！

m.weibo.cn

Hu Xijin on Weibo (2021-02-04):

China announced that it has successfully conducted a ground-based mid-course anti-missile interception technology test in its territory on Thursday. Lao Hu thought the experiment could not have come at a better time.

Admiral Charles A. Richard, head of the US Strategic Command (STRATCOM), on Tuesday (02 Feb) urged the US to rethink its approach to deterring China and Russia, including considering the "realistic possibility" of nuclear war. To put it simply, he is asking the US to carry out nuclear blackmail against China and Russia, using "nuclear war" to deter China and Russia, especially to intimidate China.

Lao Hu is willing to regard China's successful test as a strong response to the arrogant clamour of the above-mentioned US commander, although China has said in the statement that the test is "not aimed at any country".
（…）

Nuclear war with China or Russia a 'real possibility,' STRATCOM commander warns (2021-02-03)

Nuclear war with China or Russia a 'real possibility,' STRATCOM commander warns

The head of U.S. Strategic Command is calling for reimagining methods of deterring aggressive action from rivals such as China and Russia, including the "real possibility" of nuclear war.

www.foxnews.com

"C-N-M-D"美国，我没有骂美国哈，别误解了【Chinese National Missile Defence 中国国家导弹防御系统】

 

[LKJ86]

China announces success in land-based intermediate-range missile interception test - Xinhua | English.news.cn

www.xinhuanet.com

China announces success in land-based intermediate-range missile interception test
Source: Xinhua | 2021-02-05 00:20:35 | Editor: huaxia

BEIJING, Feb. 4 (Xinhua) -- China on Thursday successfully conducted a land-based intermediate-range missile interception test within its territories, said the Ministry of National Defense.

The test has reached the expected goals, the ministry said, adding that it was defensive in nature and did not target any country.