At 1106 Hours Hong Kong SAR- Beijing Time 20th May 2024 , China- People’s Republic of China- CNSA –China National Space Administration Successfully launched Chang Zheng – Long March 2D Yao 98 Carrier Rocket ignited and took off at the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center Shanxi Province.. Successfully launch the Beijing-3C satellite the constellation was launched and the four satellites successfully entered the scheduled orbit. The launch mission was a complete success. This mission is the 523rd flight of the Long March series of launch vehicles.
According to the Shanghai Eighth Institute, this rocket is equipped with a one-stage landing area control system, that is, the grid rudder control system. In the re-entry and return section of the first sub-stage of the rocket, the flight guidance of the first sub-stage is carried out through precise control of the rudder movements. In many past flight tests, this system has achieved precise landing zone control, perfectly unlocked the new skill of “landing where you point” for the first sub-stage of the rocket, and ensured the safety of the landing zone environment time and time again. It is worth mentioning that this time the grid rudder adopts a swept-back rudder surface with the entire rudder curved backwards. The aerodynamic performance is significantly improved, which can further improve the control ability of the grid rudder; for the first time, a pneumatic pin puller is used to replace It replaces the traditional pyrotechnic pin puller, achieves low impact, and provides technical reserves for subsequent reusable rockets.
The Long March 2D carrier rocket that performed this mission is a room-temperature liquid two-stage carrier rocket developed by the Shanghai Aerospace Administration. It has a take-off thrust of about 300 tons and a corresponding capacity of 1.3 tons for a 700-kilometer sun-synchronous circular orbit. It has the capability to operate in Jiuquan, Taiyuan, The three major satellite launch centers in Xichang implement single- and multi-satellite launch capabilities with different orbital requirements.
“Long March 2D” is a medium-sized two-stage room-temperature liquid launch vehicle developed by the Eighth Academy of China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation. It is mainly used for low-Earth orbit (LEO) and sun-synchronous orbit (SSO) launch missions. The arrow is about 41 meters long (equipped with a standard 3.35-meter-diameter fairing), with both primary and secondary diameters of 3.35 meters, a take-off mass of 250 tons, a take-off thrust of 302 tons, a low-Earth orbit (LEO) capacity of 4 tons, and a 700-kilometer circle. It has a sun-synchronous orbit (SSO) capacity of 1.3 tons.
This launch is a four-satellite launch with one rocket. In order to maximize the use of the space inside the satellite fairing, the model adopts a “staggered parallel” layout of two high and two low according to the shape of the satellite. At the same time, the Chang Zheng – Long March 2D Yao 98 Carrier Rocket test team also cooperated with the satellite team to The launch site carries out a number of special reviews such as satellite safety clearance, dynamic displacement, satellite-rocket distance when the satellite sail is deployed, and satellite-rocket joint operation to ensure the complete success of the mission.
The four satellites of the “Beijing-3C” constellation were developed by the Aerospace Dongfanghong Satellite Co., Ltd. of the Fifth Academy of China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation. They are high-resolution optical remote sensing satellites. This type of satellite is developed based on a low-cost, high-performance satellite platform. It has a panchromatic resolution of 0.5 meters and a multispectral resolution of 2 meters. It has the smallest mass among the current practical (operational) 0.5-meter high-resolution optical remote sensing satellites.
The satellite is equipped with a high-performance GPU (graphics processing unit), which not only supports real-time processing of on-orbit remote sensing images, but also supports the operation of artificial intelligence algorithms such as deep learning. At the same time, the satellite supports autonomous mission planning on board, and can independently complete imaging mission planning, image acquisition, data compression, on-orbit processing, image downloading, etc. In addition, the satellite has specially designed a high-speed injection channel for APP in-orbit injection, which supports APP installation, operation, uninstallation, update and other operations on orbit.
The “Beijing-3C” constellation is a commercial remote sensing satellite constellation invested and launched by 21st Century Space Technology Application Co., Ltd. After the constellation is put into use, the four satellites will operate in an equal-phase network to meet the observation needs of daily revisits in any area around the world. The imaging information can be used in land and resources management, agricultural resource surveys, ecological environment monitoring, comprehensive urban applications and other fields.
This mission has a customized carrying design based on the shape of the satellite, using a “staggered-level parallel” layout of two highs and two lows. At the same time, this rocket is equipped with a sub-stage landing area control system (grid rudder control system). This time, the grid rudder adopts a swept-back rudder surface with the entire rudder curved backwards. The aerodynamic performance is significantly improved, which can further improve the control ability of the grid rudder. For the first time, a pneumatic pin puller is used to replace the traditional pyrotechnic puller. The pin device achieves low impact and provides technical reserves for subsequent reusable rockets.
This launch is the 90th launch of the Long March-2D carrier rocket, the 211th launch of the Long March series of launch vehicles developed by Shanghai Aerospace Corporation, and the 523rd launch of the Long March series of launch vehicles. The satellite launched this time was developed by the Aerospace Dongfanghong Satellite Co., Ltd., which is affiliated to the Fifth Academy….
Images and visuals are from their Respectives CMS China Manned SpaceCNSA-China National Space Administration
