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China's First Digitally Designed Rocket Program: CZ-7 (Long March 7)

Watching now.

Wish everything will be going well.

:china:

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:-)

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China’s most powerful rocket set for maiden flight

June 24, 2016 Stephen Clark


The Long March 7 rocket, standing 174 feet (53 meters) tall, emerged from its vertical assembly building to travel to a launch pad at the new Wenchang spaceport Wednesday. Credit: Xinhua
A brand new Chinese launcher powered by kerosene-burning rocket engines could take off on its first flight as soon as Saturday, also debuting a new spaceport on Hainan Island in the South China Sea.

The Long March 7 rocket, tailored to send medium-class payloads into low Earth orbit, will become a centerpiece in China’s new family of launch vehicles that will eventually replace the country’s aging decades-old rocket designs.

The launch window opens Saturday and extends through Wednesday, according to the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corp., the Chinese space program’s state-owned prime contractor.

Chinese officials have not officially disclosed a target launch date or launch time, but a notice to mariners in the South China Sea pointed to a launch window each day opening at approximately 1200 GMT (8 a.m. EDT).

The 174-foot-tall (53-meter) rocket rolled out of its vertical assembly and test building Wednesday. Mounted on top of a mobile launch table, the Long March 7 made the 1.7-mile (2.7 kilometer) journey in about three hours, the China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology said in a statement.

China’s official Xinhua news agency reported Friday that all preflight tests on the Long March 7 have gone smoothly. Citing a deputy chief designer of the rocket, Xinhua said engineers have verified the Long March 7 airframe is airtight and completed testing of the rocket’s power system.

“Checks on the measurement and control systems will also be carried out to ensure the proper operation of its electrical systems,” Xinhua reported.

The payloads aboard the Long March 7’s first flight have not been announced, but the rocket reportedly will deploy a sub-scale prototype crew capsule for an unmanned test flight, along with several small CubeSat-class satellites.

The Long March 7 will blast off from a launch pad at the new Wenchang Satellite Launch Center, a facility spanning nearly 8 square miles (20 square kilometers) on the northeast edge of Hainan Island, which lies just south of the Chinese mainland.

Maritime advisories indicate the rocket will head southeast from the seaside launch pad on Hainan Island, dropping its four liquid-fueled boosters into the South China Sea.

Built between 2009 and 2014, the launch center sits at 19 degrees north latitude, closer to the equator than any other Chinese rocket base, giving China better access to place satellites in geostationary orbit.

Wenchang has two launch pads, each about 2,000 feet — 600 meters — from the beach. One of the launch pads is devoted to the Long March 7, while the other will host launches by the larger heavy-lift Long March 5 rocket due for its maiden mission later this year.

The launch site also has assembly buildings for vertical stacking of the rockets. The larger of the two rocket hangars, designed for the Long March 5, stands more than 30 stories (about 99 meters) tall, according to Xinhua.


The Wenchang space center lies at 19 degrees north latitude, the closest location to the equator on Chinese territory. Credit: Xinhua
The two newly-developed rockets — along with the light-class Long March 6 rocket successfully demonstrated last year — will replace China’s existing Long March launcher families, which are rooted in antiquated technology stemming from the country’s first foray into spaceflight in the 1970s.

The Long March 6 is the smallest of the bunch, capable of catapulting small satellites into low-altitude orbits. It successfully flew for the first time in September 2015, demonstrating the YF-100 engine to fly on the Long March 7 during a real launch.

The old rockets consume a toxic mix of hydrazine and nitrogen tetroxide propellants. Both chemicals are hazardous to the environment and to humans.

The new generation of booster engines burn cleaner kerosene and liquid oxygen, and flights from Wenchang go over the ocean instead of jettisoning spent rocket segments over land, as is the case at China’s other launch centers.

State media reported all the hotel rooms in Wenchang — enough for 80,000 people — are booked for the Long March 7 launch. Authorities have set up eight viewing areas for space enthusiasts to watch the launch, Xinhua said.

The Long March 7 rocket is capable of putting a payload of nearly 30,000 pounds — about 13.5 metric tons — into low Earth orbit, and more then 12,000 pounds — 5.5 metric tons — into a sun-synchronous polar orbit up to 435 miles (700 kilometers) in altitude.

The Long March 5 scheduled to fly later this year nearly doubles that capacity, with the ability to place a 55,000-pound (25-metric ton) spacecraft into low Earth orbit.

The Long March 7’s four liquid-fueled strap-on boosters are each powered by a single kerosene-fed YF-100 engine. The launcher’s first stage is propelled by two of the YF-100 powerplants, each producing about 270,000 pounds of thrust at sea level.

Collectively, the engines will give the rocket more than 1.6 million pounds of thrust at liftoff.

Four smaller YF-115 engines, burning the same kerosene/liquid oxygen mixture, are mounted on the Long March 7’s second stage.

The Long March 7 could fly with an upper stage to place satellites into high-altitude orbits or on Earth escape trajectories.

Space program managers intend for the Long March 7 to launch resupply ships to China’s future space station set to enter service in 2022. China’s first Tianzhou cargo capsule, analogous to Russia’s Progress resupply freighter, is expected to launch from Wenchang on a Long March 7 next year and dock with the Tiangong 2 space lab, a precursor mini-space station scheduled for liftoff in September.

Like its predecessor Tiangong 1, which hosted Chinese astronauts in 2012 and 2013, the new space lab module will blast off on a Long March 2F booster from the Jiuquan launch base in northwestern China. A two-person crew is supposed to launch on the Shenzhou 11 spacecraft as soon as October for a 30-day visit to the Tiangong 2 research and test lab.

That will be China’s longest-duration human spaceflight yet.

With a steady sequence of Long March 5 and Long March 7 launches, Wenchang’s launch pads should stay busy in the coming years.

The Long March 5 rocket is assigned to send a robotic sample return mission to the moon next year. It will also put up massive modules to form the building blocks of China’s space station.

“China’s fourth launch site, Wenchang will be used to dispatch satellites, large space stations and deep space probes,” Xinhua reported. “It is designed to handle up to 10-12 launches a year. The planned space station and all attendant cargo and service launches will be handled by Wenchang.”

Chinese crews on near-term missions are still expected to launch from mainland China.


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This put us right in the business with Russia. I wonder if we can get some buck supplying these rocket kerosene engine to NASA. LOL
 
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are there any live feed video links?
the ones in the start post are too slow and have a problem in Pakistan :(
 
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CHINA TO INTRODUCE ITS NEWEST LONG MARCH 7 ROCKET TO THE WORLD
TOMASZ NOWAKOWSKI
JUNE 24TH, 2016
image: http://www.spaceflightinsider.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/164535lk3ze1lommllmnea-%E2%80%94-kopia.jpg




Long March 7 rocket transferred vertically to the launch pad in Wenchang, south China’s Hainan Province, June 22, 2016. (Click to enlarge) Photo Credit: Xinhua/Zeng Tao


China is about to introduce to the world its Long March 7 rocket, the newest addition to the country’s fast expanding fleet of launch vehicles. The booster is expected to blast off from the Wenchang Satellite Launch Center, located on the island of Hainan, most probably on Saturday, June 25; however, the exact time of the launch is still undisclosed.

The launch window extends until June 29; thus, we could see the start of the mission even in the middle of next week.

The debuting Long March 7 rocket is a 174.2-foot (53.1-meter) tall medium-lift two-stage launch vehicle. It was developed by the China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology (CALT) and is based on the Long March 2F rocket.

The nearly 600-metric-ton launch vehicle is 11 feet (3.35 meters) in diameter and is capable of lifting up to 13.5 metric tons to a low-Earth orbit (LEO) and about 5.5 metric tons to a Sun-synchronous orbit (SSO). The rocket is fitted with four strap-on boosters powered by YF-100 engines. The boosters are attached to the first stage of the launch vehicle which is 11 feet (3.35 meters) in diameter and is equipped with two YF-100 engines. The second stage has the same diameter as the first stage; however, it is powered by different propulsion units – a set of four YF-115 engines.

image: http://www.spaceflightinsider.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/CZ71008.jpg


Long March 7 rocket transferred vertically to the launch pad in Wenchang, south China’s Hainan Province, June 22, 2016. Photo Credit: Xinhua

The newly-developed rocket is designed to transport cargo for China’s planned space station and is expected to become the main launcher for future space missions. Currently, it is the country’s most powerful launch vehicle.

China hopes that its new Long March 7 rocket will be more environment-friendly than previous launchers in the series. According to Hu Xiaojun, the rocket’s deputy chief designer assistant, the new booster relies on liquid oxygen and kerosene as fuel, cheaper and less dangerous than the propellants used by some of the earlier launch vehicles.

“During the launching process, we will also monitor all the environmental data to provide a reference for future rockets,” said Zhang Zhengping, expert of CALT.

The Long March 7 rocket is also designed to be more weather-resistant than its predecessors. The booster is waterproof and can be launched on rainy days. Moreover, the rocket is equipped with wind-resistance devices allowing it to withstand gales during its flight into space.

On its maiden mission, the Long March 7 launcher will fly into space carrying a prototype of the country’s next-generation manned capsule and several small satellites. Little is known as about the mission’s payload as the Chinese media released only brief information about the spacecraft. According to various press releases, it will be a scaled-down model of a re-entry capsule developed to test the descent capabilities of future crewed flights.

“The launch will open a new chapter in the history of Chinese space exploration,” a space scientist involved in the development of the new Long March rockets said.

The capsule features a Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) antenna, parachutes, and an antenna specially designed to prevent radio silence during hypersonic re-entry. The spacecraft is being designed with the aim to serve as a future transportation system for cargo and crews to LEO and beyond, including possible missions to the Moon.

The Long March 7 rocket was delivered to the Wenchang Satellite Launch Center in May 2016. Afterward, it was assembled, and the team conducted a set of initial checkouts to fully prepare the booster for its planned rollout to the launch pad designated Site LC-2. The rocket was transported to its launch site on Wednesday, June 22, after a three-hour journey.

After liftoff, the Long March 7 rocket will commence its short vertical ascent, powered by its four strap-on boosters for slightly more than three minutes until their separation. Then the launch vehicle will be accelerated by its first stage alone for about 15 seconds, and shortly after, this stage is expected to be jettisoned. From that moment, the rocket’s second stage will take control over the flight; however, its burn time isn’t exactly specified as it is still not determined whether the launch vehicle will fly in a configuration with a possible optional third stage, named YZ-1.

The upcoming mission will also mark the first liftoff from the Wenchang Satellite Launch Center constructed in November 2014. The center was selected for its low latitude, which will allow for a substantial increase in payload, necessary for the future manned programs. Due to its proximity to the equator, it can save fuel consumption during space launches. The launch site, thanks to its location on an island, enables easy transportation of the large rocket components by ship and ensures that rocket debris descending from the sky falls into the ocean instead of over populated inland areas.

The launch will be open to the public. Up to 25,000 spectators should be able to view it in person for the first time in the history of Chinese orbital launches. For this occasion, the government designated eight viewing areas.

The maiden flight of Long March 7 will be the eighth orbital mission for China this year. It will also be the 230th launch of the Long March rocket series. The country’s next mission is currently scheduled for July 2016 when a Long March 2D booster is slated to send the QUantum Experiments at Space Scale (QUESS) technology demonstrator into orbit from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in Gansu Province. The exact date of the launch is yet to be announced.

image: http://www.spaceflightinsider.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/Long-March-7_rollout_n2-rsz-1600x1090.jpg




Long March 7 rollout. Photo Credit: Xinhua
Read more at http://www.spaceflightinsider.com/s...ong-march-7-rocket-world/#eTfW6flFtMQgzf31.99
 
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This put us right in the business with Russia. I wonder if we can get some buck supplying these rocket kerosene engine to NASA. LOL

Depends upon the price...but keep in mind even with 4 strap on boosters the Long March 7 is still less powerful than even Elon Musk's single core Falcon 9.
 
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