No
new messages? Let me add one [9/10/98]
vc : 1) how many DFH are still in operation
2) Looks like DFH3 also has Ku-band (from the recent
"interference" news) Webmaster may like to
update your sat page!
3) In total how many sats belong to China or Chinese
companies?
4) What remote sensing sat is used in the recent flood in
China? I heard that FY sat broke down some time ago.
[9/11/98] Chen Lan : 1) Only one - DFH 3 (Chinasat 6) launched in May
1997
2) I'm sorry that there was a mistake in the previous
news. The satellite nearby ST-1 is ChinaStar-1 (not
Chinasat-6), a Lockheed Martin built satellite belong to
China Oriental Telecommunications.
3) If you mean comsat, there are 3: DFH-3(Chinasat-6),
Chinastar-1, Sinosat-1.
4) No domestic satellite is in use. China receives
Spot(ESA) and RadarSat(Canada) during the flood.
[9/11/98] vc : This is too weak, they should step up
no money??
Globalstar [9/11/98]
vc : Do they regret using Zenit-2? A dozen sats went
up in flames...
Worse still is Globalstar may sign a deal with the
Russians... they have to use Zenit-2 anyway.
[9/11/98] Chen Lan : They cancelled remaining Zenit launches and
switched back to Delta. New Delta launches will begin
from next May. Original planned 3 Soyuz lauches are still
on schedule. The service date delayed from early 1999 to
end of 1999.
This failure is fatal to Globalstar and Zenit. It also
make planned Sea Launch in shade. 8 failures of 31
launches is a bad record among current operational
rockets in the world.
Maybe an opportunity for Long March...
DFH [9/12/98]
vc : What's the main difference between a DFH-3 and a
sat like HS-601?
[9/13/98] Chen Lan : Basic difference is: DFH-3 has 24 C-band
transpoders while HS-601 has 48 C-band and Ku-band
transpobders. DFH-3's lifespan is 8 years while HS-601
has more. Also, they have different size(body and solar
panel) and weight.
Space
Times News article [9/12/98]
He Weiting : I don't know about you, but I found the recent
article by Chuck Wu in Space Times on the Chinese space
program to be yet another insulting screed on our
country's space program. Why is it that instead of
studying factual records of our achievements, so called
"analysts" seem to get by just taking smack
about our scientists and engineers. Here are some
examples:
"China plans to send its first astronaut into
space next year, marking that country's entry into the
manned space milieu. Analysts have said China did not
have the technology or funds for a manned space flight in
the near future."
What is going on here? Which of these statements is
correct Mr. Wu? One of these must be wrong unless next
year does not qualify as the near future. Perhaps he is
trying to contrast these two statements, but then he
should have used a subjunctive form "analysts had
said". When writing in any language, you must make
sure your words say what you mean. But this wasn’t
the least of Mr. Wu’s lack of professionalism and
rigor.
"Analysts said the goal of a Chinese astronaut
was far off for China, which still lacked money and
technology to become a space-faring nation."
To add to my above comments, I sincerely doubt we have
less money that the Russian program, which cannot even
pay for the electricity at Baikonour. And how does this
genius know the Chinese space budget? Even being able to
read original Chinese sources has not helped me as so
much of the R&D is off the books as it is conducted
by the military.
"They have photobooks of what they're doing and
one of them shows a dog that I guess they are testing for
space flight, so I suspect they are between the dog and
human stage,'' said one analyst who declined to be
identified.
First any "expert" who is unsure enough about
his professional knowledge so as to conceals his identity
should always be suspect in journalistic work. He is not
speaking an inside source that should be hidden, he is
speaking as an expert and should give his name so as to
allow rebuttal or verification of credentials. As for
this photobook, perhaps you can help me Chen Xiansheng,
but if memory serves me right, the dog experiments were
conducted in the late 70’s and early 80’s on
recoverable satellites. If this incompetent fool had
perhaps seen the 1979 photograph of the human in
training, he might have given a different opinion. The
point is he was not competent to analyze the data given
him in a historical context, probably because he cannot
even speak, much less read, Chinese.
"China really doesn't have a lot to offer in
terms of money or technology or experience in space
programs that other countries don't already possess in
larger abundance,'' he said. "It's possible that
they may be trying to get some sort of track record that
would enable them to start participating more in these
international projects,'' he said.
Really?! How many satellites has Japan or Europe
recovered? Lets see, Cryogenic upper stages: US, France,
China, Russia, Japan in order of development. Gee I guess
our scientists must have uncrossed their eyes and stopped
drooling for a few minutes to actually have an idea! When
the two gentlemen do go up, that will make us the third
to do so, (and frankly Russia’s future ability to
pursue independent manned spaceflight is in serious
doubt) without us, the Meiguoren might have a monopoly in
a few years, and really, that would be sad.
Thats about all, I hope Mr. Wu is aware of these
egregious errors and misrepresentations on his part.
[9/13/98] Chen Lan : Time will tell
Does
India have a space program? [9/12/98]
J-10 supporter : Does India have a space program? If they do, it
must be insignificant compared to China's.
Hey!
Did he read your homepage? [9/17/98]
What is a secret? : [A Chinese report. Highlights:]
Chinese President Jiang Zeming and the Chinese leadership
concerned the poor national security systems. The
classified details of Chinese manned space program was
recently leaked by two Chinese newspapers. It reports
that the leakage happened initially on the Internet.
Jiang stressed that the national security departments
should study new ways to face rapid development of high
technologies.
Chinese
dragon in space [9/26/98]
Mike Lou : I just stumbled onto your excellent site on a
quiet Sat. evening; and it really made my day! I knew
that China is pretty advanced in satellite launchings,
but had no idea how advanced. From all of your pictures
and articles, I have learned that China will be sending
manned missions into space soon (hopefully sooner than
later). But I also hope that Beijing does not take any
unnecessary risk in sending astronauts up into space
without the necessary safeguards simply because it wants
to time it perfectly with Oct. 1st, 1999. My parents are
from Shanghai, and eventhough I was born and raised here
in the US, it still fills me with immense pride that my
ethnic motherland can move beyond the difficulties of
Earth and explore space. China forfeited greatness once
when the Ming emperors suspended Zeng He's naval prowess;
she should not repeat the same mistake again. Go China!
and thank you Chan Lan for creating this site! By the
way, if money is a major problem, why can't China (or the
students and ethnic Chinese overseas) raise the funds for
the space program? I am sure that there are alot of
others like me who will gladly help fund China's space
program, a little bit at a time. What do you think?
[9/27/98] Chen Lan : Thank you for the kind words. Some comments on
your post:
1. I believe Ming Dynasty will never be repeated. People
in China are totaly different from that time.
2. Money is not a problem for Chinese government. The key
is whether they realize the importance of the space
program. Overseas money is helpful but space program is
basically the responsibility of the government. A
possible way for overseas Chinese/capital to participate
Chinese space program is creating the private/joint
commercial space ventures in China, which is still an
uncultivated field in China, and will be a future
direction, I believe. It is the best way to combine
overseas capital and technology with Chinese space
experience and cheap cost. It will be very competitive in
the world.
BTW, I'm a Shanghaiese too. I'm so happy to share the
same home town with you.
CZ-2F? [10/17/98]
news reader : Phillip Clark mentioned CZ-2F at end of his
article. Is 2F the improved 2E?
Congratulations... [11/9/98]
Alt255 : Hi,
Just wanted to congratulate you on a fine site. As a
result I am not doing any study for
my exams at university! One question: Do you know
anything about the software used in the
Chinese missions? Unfortunately, I'm sure they aren't at
the same stage as the US, but I'm
just wondering how they do the complex calculations
(which I hear they are very good at) with
-out the computing power that the US affords.
Regards
Peter Yuen (Yui Chi)
[11/10/98] Chon Tang : I'm not sure what you expect what kind of
computing hardware American satellites use, but I assure
you they're not attaching Crays to the back of rockets
and launching them out there... I would imagine the
systems would be special radiation-hardened versions of
processors very similar to the Intel P2, or at least
along the same generation. I do know that in MOST
military applications (attack planes, choppers, vehicles,
etc...) there has been a major movement toward COTS
(commercial off the shelve) products such as special
embedded-motherboard versions of the Pentium series.
Its also safe to say that specialized DSPs similar to
what TI produces commercially are used extensively...
I think its fair to say that China has similar computing
power available, if nothing else but through normal
commercial channels.
Well
done [11/10/98]
dtchung : A job well done. It's factual, up-to-date &
unbiased. Just curious..why do you work in Singapore
& I don't suppose they are going to build rockets or
satellites. It's costly & most important of all
talent. I know of many Singaporeans & most of them
are sheer big mouth, a termed they used is NATO (No
action talk only), they may have good paper
qualifications but they don't seem to have the talent to
built even a toy rocket. I also know that they don't
treat Chinese well & they called themselves
Singaporeans. They paid westerners 2-3 times that of
other people including themselves.
[11/14/98] Chen Lan : Not true for all Singaporean here. Most of them
are kind and think they have a special relationship with
China. Singapore is very small however is very
complicated, which can not be described clearly in a few
words.
Astronaut
program? [11/10/98]
Chon Tang : Just curious, but does anyone have any insight
into the astronaut selection program for future manned
missions?
I would strongly suspect that we're still a long ways
away from commercial/scientific manned missions, and that
the first decade or so would be mostly military. Does
this mean that we can expect mostly PLA test-pilots?
NASA, in contrast, has reached a stage where they place a
lot of emphasis on scientific research, and attaches
mission specialists with no paramilitary, and especially,
no piloting expertise. From my basic research into NASA
qualifications, it seems that at least one PhD in an
engineering-related field is usually necessary (but
hardly sufficient) for qualification, good physical
health, preferably another advanced degree in a different
field, suitable age (high 20s to high 30s) are also
almost always necessary for selection.
How long until China reaches that stage of manned space
flight development?
I've also enjoyed reading various sci-fi stories about
the near-future from the '50s-'70s, and it seems a large
number of them place China (mostly due to Communist
hysteria of the age, I suppose) on a competing track in
terms of space technology development (i.e., the 2001
series). Anyone has any opinions on whether we should
expect increased international cooperation with China on
space development in the future? Or will China plan
Martian exploration, Lunar Landings, Space Stations,
etc... mostly independently from other ventures?
I must say it would be a delight to see China shock the
world with the first Mars landing, but that's still a
significant amount of time away...
[11/14/98] Chen Lan : For candidate selection, there is a technical
limitation for "normal person", the high-G
overload. US shuttle is the only manned vehicle with less
than 4-G overlaod. I don't think the first generation
Chinese spacecraft will have a low G design. Pilot is the
best candidate for astronaunt.
Space cooperation with other country will be very limited
in near future. There are obvious political obstacles. US
congress even bans satellite export to China. I cannot
imagine China will participate the ISS program.
[11/16/98] Chon Tang : The high-G consideration didn't even occur to
me!
What kind of numbers in terms of G's are we talking about
in relation to likely Chinese vehicles? Any theories
about what the "long-term" Chinese goals are?
Is it just merely to enter space for morale/defense
purposes (similar to China's nuclear program) or do you
see an "expansionist" goal, where China might
actively seek out lunar/Martian landings/establishment of
a permanent space station?
China
Plans to Put Man In Space Before The Year 2000 [11/11/98]
JT : http://www.msnbc.com/news/211770.asp(a MSNBC report on Chinese
manned program)
THE CHINESE hope to put their first man in orbit sometime
in the next 14 months, possibly on Oct. 1, 1999, the 50th
anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic
of China, according to assessments from the Pentagon and
experts who are following the program.
The Chinese have published the names of their first two
astronauts, Wu Tse and Li Tsinlung, but little else is
known of their backgrounds. Even their ages are a state
secret.
[11/14/98] Chen Lan : Thanks. This is already in the news section.
Now
You Too Can Search For Extraterretrial Signs of Life... [11/12/98]
JT : ... With This Remarkable SETI Stay at Home Kit!
Call Now While Supplies Last!
Ok, so maybe it isn't Chinese space related, but really,
how cool would that be? you're very own screensaver that
searches for extraterrestrial signs of life. I wonder,
would you be able to
name the ETs if it was your computer that found it?
"Nov. 4 After years of scientific effort and
fund-raising effort as well researchers say they’re
finally finishing software that will use thousands of
personal computers to sift through radio data for signs
of extraterrestrial intelligence. The first real-world
test of SETI@home will involve only
100 computers, but organizers say Internet users should
be able to download the software starting next
April."
Sijian-5 [11/17/98]
Foxtrot : Anyone know what instruments will the Sijian-5
carry? Or what is the purpose of SJ-5??
[11/17/98] Chen Lan : The only massage is there will be 11 scientific
exprimental instruments.
[11/17/98] Foxtrot : No other details?
The
Long March [11/20/98]
JT : Just how powerful is China's Long March rockets?
And how many do they have?
The reason I ask is that I'm curious if China has the
capability to launch their own space station (now that
the Russians have launched Zarya).
Is the Long March powerful enough to do so?
[11/21/98] Chen Lan : The most powerful oprational Long Mrach (for
LEO) is Long March 2E. It can deliver 9 ton payload into
200km LEO -- less than 40% of the Proton which sent Zarya
(24.5 ton with fuel) into space.
Planned Long March 2EA increase the limit to 14 ton --
still far behind the Proton.
There is also reports that a totally new family of the
heavy launcher (uses LOX/kerosene engine) is under
development. It will have the LEO capability from 20 ton
to even more, say >50 ton. If it can be confirmed,
this new launcher will be the 5th largest rocket in
history, only after Saturn-5, N-1, Energia and the
shuttle. And similar to (or exceed) Titan-4, Ariane-5,
Saturn-1B and Proton.
[11/23/98] Foxtrot : How powerful is the Ariane-5?
[11/24/98] Chen Lan : 20t to LEO, 8t to GTO
Space
for future Chinese population [11/24/98]
Cognac : If the Chinese are ready for their space
program, they should target their agenda on using space
to solve their economic dilemmas caused by the continous
growth and transformation of the motherland, like
pollution, running out of natural resources, land, water,
etc.
Two directions i can think of: 1. mine the asternoid
belts for raw materials or even colonize moon to extract
the resources there to further the growth of the Chinese
population on earth. 2. build giantic space cylinderic
colonies at the Larage orbital points, where the
gravitational forces between moon and earth are balanced.
then house the future Chinese population there, for the
motherland todays is already a bit crowdy. if you have
seen the Japanese's animation Gundam, you know what i am
driving at.
Think about preserving our existence first (food and
shelter) before aiming for those "hi-flying"
projects like searching for ET or planetary
explorations-- that my advice for you folks.
[12/1/98] heech : Uhm, I seriously question how practical either
of those solutions are...
Any country on earth is FAR from reaching the stage where
orbital mining is a reasonable way of acquiring
resources..the costs involved are beyond prohibitive.
Overcrowding will also not be solved with space
migration, unless you can convince me a large enough
habitat and some mechanism for travel can be built for
tens of millions of people per year.
China's
planned imaging and radar sats [12/4/98]
Astra : Is there any info, informed or otherwise, on the
projected resolution of the imaging and radar satellites
announced, at Zhuhai, for launch over the next two years?
Would the Chinese radar sat benefit from Russian or
Canadian tech, or do you think it will be a largely
indiginous product?
[12/5/98] Chen Lan : There are multiple imaging projects under way:
-- The next generation of ZY
-- The radar sat based on Russian or Canadian tech
-- The small sat based on CAST platform (first one will
be HY-1)
-- The small sat beased on Surrey tech (Tsinghua -1 is
the first one)
-- Next generation FSW?
Althouhg there is no information for their resolution,
you can speculate their performace: new ZY can match
SPOT, samllsat will be similar to existing Surrey sat.
