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

[gpit]

Chang’e-2 orbital trajectory to L2. Credit: ESA

...

L2 lies in the Earth’s shadow and is exposed to less sun radiation than other Lagrangian points. That makes it an ideal place for scientists to put space telescopes when they want to observe the universe. Several US and European satellites now occupy that spot. China has never tried to send a satellite so far before. Chang’e-2’s new mission will pose a big challenge to the country’s ability to track and control (satellites) in deep space. This is the first time scientists have tried to pilot a satellite out of a moon orbit and take it to the L2 point. Previous satellite trips to the point have all started from Earth. The new mission therefore places great pressure on scientists to accurately calculate the point at which the Chang’e-2 must leave its orbit around the moon and make off for the Lagrangian point.

...

Chang'e-2 finishes main mission | NASA Lunar Science Institute

 

[Martian2]

http://www.popsci.com/technology/article/2...it-around-earth

"Chinese Scientists Plan to Pull an Asteroid into Orbit Around Earth
By Clay Dillow
Posted 08.31.2011 at 2:58 pm

Pictured: Humans Tempting God to Smite Them Hexi Baoyin, Yang Chen, Junfeng Li via arXiv

Last week Chinese scientists wanted to divert an asteroid away from Earth. This week, they want to pull one into orbit around the Earth. What’s possible objections could anyone have to this idea?

The notion stems from a phenomenon the researchers from Tsinghua University in Beijing noticed from time to time with Jupiter. Every now and then our solar systems biggest planet pulls in an object from space, which orbits the planet for a time before jetting off into interplanetary space again.

We could do something similar with a number of near earth objects (NEOs) that will pass near Earth in the coming years and decades. None of these objects will pass close enough to be naturally captured by Earth’s gravity, but a few will come so close that a small nudge in the right direction would put them in orbit--likely a temporary orbit--around Earth.

The idea isn’t simply to flirt with cataclysmic danger, but to bring a small object (they suggest a 10-meter object called 2008EA9 that will pass nearby in 2049) into a loop around the Earth so we can study it closely for a few years. If we can get the art of capturing asteroids orbitally down to a science, we could use it to temporarily make asteroids into Earth-bound satellites (orbiting at about twice the distance of the moon), mine them for minerals, and then send them on their ways.

Read the paper at arXiv.

[Technology Review]"

 

[Martian2]

SOARING SUCCESS: Technicians assembling Chang'e-II at the Xichang Satellite Launch Centre prior to October 1, 2010 launch. (Photo: Xinhua)

"Diagram of the Lagrange Points associated with the Sun-Earth system (not to scale). Lagrange points are analogous to geostationary orbits in that they allow an object to be in a fixed position in space rather than an orbit in which its relative position changes continuously."

Chinese Moon Probe Reaches New Deep Space Destination | Chang'e 2 & Chinese Space Program | Moon and Deep Space Exploration | Space.com

"Chinese Moon Probe Reaches New Deep Space Destination
SPACE.com Staff
Date: 01 September 2011 Time: 04:07 PM ET

Several months after departing from the moon, a Chinese spacecraft has arrived at a new destination about 930,000 miles (1.5 million kilometers) from Earth, according to news reports in China.

The Chang'e 2 moon probe arrived at Lagrange Point 2 (L2) — a place where the gravity of Earth and the sun roughly balance out — on Aug. 25, the Xinhua news service reported Tuesday (Aug. 30). Chang'e 2 had left lunar orbit in early June to head for deeper space.

China is now the world's third nation or agency to put a probe in L2, one of five spots in near-Earth space that serve as a sort of parking lot for spacecraft to hover without being pulled toward any planetary body. NASA and the European Space Agency have also accomplished the feat.

Officials from China's State Administration of Science, Technology and Industry for National Defence (SASTIND) said that Chang'e 2 will carry out exploration activities around L2 over the coming year, Xinhua reported. SASTIND also plans to launch two "measure and control stations" into outer space by the end of 2012, and Chang'e 2 will be used to test the stations' functionality at that time.

Chang'e 2 launched on Oct. 1, 2010, and arrived in lunar orbit five days later. The probe is the second step in China's three-phase moon exploration program, which includes a series of unmanned missions to explore the lunar surface.

This photo, taken by China's Chang'e 2 lunar probe in October 2010, shows a crater in the moon's Bay of Rainbows. The image is one of the first released to the public by China's space agency. (CREDIT: China Lunar Exploration Program)

During its time orbiting the moon, Chang'e 2 took a lot of high-resolution photos to help plan out future missions, which will actually drop hardware onto Earth's nearest neighbor. China is aiming to launch a moon rover around 2012, and another rover will land on the moon and return to Earth with lunar samples around 2017, according to Xinhua.

Chang'e 2 finished up its duties around the moon in April but had enough fuel left over that officials decided to send the probe off into deeper space.

The spacecraft's predecessor, Chang'e 1, launched in October 2007 and conducted a 16-month moon observation mission, after which it crash-landed on the lunar surface by design in March 2009.The Chang'e probes are named after the nation's mythical moon goddess."

 

[gpit]

China sets launch date for historic space dock
(Shanghai Daily)08:27, September 21, 2011

China will launch its unmanned space module, Tiangong-1, sometime during the last four days of September, a spokesperson said yesterday.

The module and its carrier rocket, Long-March II-F, have been moved to the launch platform at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China's Gansu Province, said the project's spokesperson. In the next few days, scientists will conduct the final tests on all devices.

The 8.5-metric ton Tiangong-1, or "Heavenly Palace 1," will be sent into space to perform the nation's first space-docking procedure. It is supposed to dock with the unmanned Shenzhou-8 spacecraft, which will be sent into space after the Tiangong-1's launch.

Scientists also plan to test the long-term unmanned operation and the temporarily manned operation of a space station as well as carry out medical and technical experiments aboard the Tiangong-1.

The launch was rescheduled early this month due to the failed launch of an experimental orbiter.

The Long-March II-F belongs to the same series as the malfunctioning rocket that played a role in experimental orbiter SJ-11-04's failure to enter Earth's orbit in August.

The big test comes weeks after the launch of Tiangong-1, when the eight-ton craft attempts to join up with an unmanned Shenzhou 8 spacecraft that China plans to launch.

"The main task of the Tiangong-1 flight is to experiment in rendezvous and docking between spacecraft," said the spokesperson, adding that this would "accumulate experience for developing a space station."

Russia, the United States and other countries jointly operate the International Space Station, to which China does not belong. But the US will not test a new rocket to take people into space until 2017, and Russia has said manned missions are no longer a priority for its space program, which has struggled with delays and glitches.

China is still far from catching up with space superpowers. The Tiangong-1 launch is a trial step in the nation's plans to eventually establish a space station.

"Tiangong-1 is, I think, primarily a technology test-bed," said Joan Johnson-Freese, an expert on China's space program at the US Naval War College in Rhode Island.

China launched its second moon orbiter last year after it became only the third country to send its astronauts walking in space outside their orbiting craft in 2008.

It plans an unmanned moon landing and deployment of a moon rover in 2012, and the retrieval of lunar soil and stone samples around 2017. Scientists have talked about the possibility of sending a man to the moon after 2020

http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/90882/7600730.html

 

[houshanghai]

2011-10-26 China "ChangZheng-2F (or LongMarch-IIF)" rocket carried "ShenZhou-8" target capsule in China JiuQuan satellite launch center, ready for this November launch.

thx mpleio

 

[houshanghai]

"ShenZhou-8" target capsule will connect with "TianGong-1" capsule launched early to build the first chinese space station,animate: "ShenZhou-8" is coming ~!

thx mpleio

The CGI of future 1st chinese space station, the whole space project will finish at 2020.Except "TianGong-1" and "ShenZhou-8" capsules,still continue launch another 4 test/live/lab/resource capsules within next 9 years:

 

[中国万岁-ProsperThroughCo-]

Shenzhou 8 successfully launched and solar panels are deployed in orbit

 

[ChineseTiger1986]

Sorry, there is no English source, but it is from the official website of the Beidou navigation system.

And i post this because i am so excited about this news.

?????????????????

 

[SQ8]

Hmm.. not bad.

 

[houshanghai]

a very good cooperation between china and pakistan.

 

[Doctor09]

party time friends

 

[K-Xeroid]

Very well!

 

[farhan_9909]

amazing we are very behind in this field

 

[SEAL]

Current coverage map of Beidou , by 2020 it will become complete Global Navigation system.

 

[SQ8]

The Idea is to leave GPS, both for navigation and Munitions guidance.
GPS is still sole US property, and they can scramble or shut it down whenever they want.