[Febraury 21, 2001] New Launcher to Come in Six Years Chinese space officials reveals that China's new generation launch vehicle will
be put into service in six years. The new launcher, based on stages with maximum diameter
of 5m, will use two types of engines, the 120 ton thrust kerosene / liquid oxygen engine
and the 50 ton thrust cryogenic engine. It is capable of putting up to 25 tons to LEO and
14 tons to GTO. (SpaceChina)
[Febraury 21, 2001] Shenzhou 2 Orbital Module Raised Again The lastest orbital data show that the Shen Zhou 2 orbital module manoeuvred
again, raising its orbit from 375x391km to 389x403km. The manoeuvre took place on Feb 20,
more than one month after the orbital module's first manoeuvre. It seems the module is
working smoothly.
[Febraury 21, 2001] Taiwan May Scrap Satellite Launch Contract with India Taiwan may have to scrap its satellite launch contract with India, an official
said Thursday. The Taipei-based China Times reported that Taiwan's National Space
Programme Office (NSPO) has initially decided to end the contract because of pressure from
Washington, "The US has objected the satellite with US-made parts and
components be launched by India," the paper said. But no final decision has been made
on the fate of the contract with India's state-run Antrix company. Antrix was awarded the
contract late last year, but the price was not available. The launch schedule, currently
on 2002, already delayed due to contract problems in manufacturing the satellite, would be
postponed again. China alleged that the satellite could be diverted by Taiwan as a spy
satellite. (AFP)
[Febraury 9, 2001] China to Loft Intelsat APR-3 in 2002 Intelsat announced that it has finalized an agreement to purchase an all Ku-band
satellite that will be used to create a new orbital role at 85 Degrees E. SINOSAT,
the Chinese satellite operator, has acquired rights to use six transponders on this
satellite during the entire orbital maneuver life of the satellite, which will be
manufactured by Astrium SAS of Toulouse, France. China Great Wall Industry Corp. is
scheduled to launch the spacecraft, which will be known as the Intelsat APR-3 satellite,
in the Spring of 2002. As part of this arrangement, SINOSAT also has acquired rights
to use two C-band transponders on the Intelsat satellite at the 178 Degrees E location,
scheduled to be operational by October 2003. (Intelsat)
[Febraury 6, 2001] New Launcher Details Unveiled The latest issue of Aerospace China magazine revealed many
details of China's new generation space launcher. The new launche vehicle employs a
modular design that consists of three types of core stages with diameter of 2.25m, 3.35m
and 5.0m and two types of engines using kerosene/LOX and LH2/LOX. Various models have been
planned based on a 1.5-stage basic configuration that uses 5.0m core stage and 3.35m
strap-ons. Also planed are the 3.35m core stage, 2.25m strap-ons medium launcher and the
2.25m core stage small launcher. The new launcher is capable of lifting up to 25t to LEO
and up to 13t to GTO.
[Febraury 2, 2001] China Denies Shenzhou Landing Problems More than two weeks after China's Shenzhou II spaceship
returned to earth the state-controlled media has kept up an unusual silence on the
mission, prompting space officials to deny Thursday that crucial systems failed during
descent into the atmosphere. "Nothing went wrong," Zhang Xiaodong, a
spokesman for China Aerospace Science and Technological Consortium (CASTC) told AFP. (AFP)
[January 26, 2001] Media Questions Shenzhou-2 Landing Unlike Shenzhou-1 in November 1999, one week after the landing, there are still
no landing and re-entry capsule photos and further reports on status of the capsule. It
raised speculations that the landing met some troubles. SpaceDaily, a well-known space
news web site, suggests in a recent article that the capsule might have been damaged
during landing and recovery operations. However Chinese media still insist on it was a
perfect mission.
[January 26, 2001] China and Sweden to Share TT&C Network China Satellite Launch and Tracking Control General(CLTC) and Swedish Space
Corporation(SSC) recently signed a co-operation agreement on mutual ground station
support. China's TT&C network consists of ground stations located all over China, one
ground station in the South Tarawa Island of the Republic of Kiribati and mobile stations
and ships. SSC operates control centres and ground stations in Sweden, and a 50% owned
station in Norway. The first Swedish support for Chinese mission is expected in late 2001.
(SpaceDaily)
[January 21, 2001] China Unveils Three-Phase Space Station Plan China will have a space station in this decade. According to Mr. Wang Yongzhi,
Member of China Academy of Sciences, China has drafted a three-phase station plan. The
first phase of the plan is to establish a manned space transportation system and will be
completed by the first manned Shenzhou flight. The second phase will primarily focus on
docking and EVA technologies and will build a human tended space laboratory. The final
stage will be a larger, permanent space station. (Beijing Daily)
[January 18, 2001] Shenzhou 2 Orbital Module Manoeuvres Shenzhou 2 orbital module performed an expected manoeuvre during January 17.
Orbital data indicates that the spacecraft was raised from its original 330 x 345 km orbit
to a significately higher 388 x 404 km orbit. It shows that Shenzhou orbital module is
designed as an independent spacecraft with larger thrusters than expected. The orbital
module of Russian Soyuz has so such capability and is also without its own solar arrays.
Chinese reports suggest that the Shenzhou 2 orbital module is actually an initial
prototype of future Chinese space station.
[January 17, 2001] Shenzhou 2 Orbital Module Starts Operation
After the re-entry module returns, the orbital module of Shenzhou 2 has started normal
operation that may last months. According to information from Beijing Space Command and
Control Center, the orbital module has been swicthed to the working mode. Currently all
onboard systems including power, atitude control, telemetry and data management systems,
are working well. Scientific payloads have also been turned on. (Xinhua)
[January 16, 2001] Shenzhou 2 Successfully Landed
The re-entry module of Shenzhou 2, China's second unmmaned spaceship, landed safely
in Inner Mongolia today at 19:22 Beijing time (11:22 GMT). The 6 days 18 hours and 21
minutes mission has been fully successful. (CCTV, Xinhua)
[January 15, 2001] China to Launch HY-1 in July
China's first ocean satellite HY-1 (Haiyang-1) has been ready for launch in July. A ground
station in Hainan will be completed soon. According to the plan, China will launch 2-4
ocean satellites in next five years. (China Youth)
[January 13, 2001] Shenzhou 2 Working Smoothly
Xinhua reported that Shenzhou 2 is working smoothly these days. It has circled the earth
for 60 orbits and successfully completed hundreds of actions by ground control. These
actions include solar panel deployment, orbit keeping and two major orbit manoeuvres. The
latest one happened on January 12 and raised the spacecraft a few kilometers. On the other
side, scientific experiments including biological and astrophysical experiments, as well
as voice and image communication tests, perform well as expected.
[January 12, 2001] Shenzhou 2 Orbital Module Will Work for Six Months
China Space News, the most important newspaper published by Chinese space industry,
confirmed in a report that Shenzhou 2 will fly for seven days, and the orbital module will
work for six months in space for scientific experiments. It also suggests that the next
Shenzhou flight will be in late this year.
[January 11, 2001] Shenzhou 2 is A Space Lab
Shenzhou 2 is not only a manned spacecraft but also a space science laboratory. It carries
64 scientific payloads onboard, of which 15 are inside the re-entry module, 12 are inside
the orbital module and 37 are installed on the attached segment. The latter is the fourth
component of the Shenzhou spacecraft, possibly an exposure facility and could be replaced
by a docking unit in later docking missions. Payloads include micro-gravity experimental
devices such as the crystal growing device, life science experimental devices covering 19
species of animals and plants, space ray and particle detectors and other scientific
equipment. Shenzhou 2 is actually the largest scale space science mission in Chinese space
history. On the other side, unofficial information on Internet indicates that the orbital
module will stay and work in orbit for six months. (SpaceChina, Sina BBS)
[January 11, 2001] Shenzhou 2 Raised to Higher Orbit
According to orbital data released by USSPACECOM, the perigee of Shenzhou 2 (Catalogue
Number 26664) has been raised significantly to an orbit of 329km x 334km around 13:25GMT,
Jan 10. More manoeuvres are expected in next few days.
[January 10, 2001] More Details About the Shenzhou 2 Launch
Chinese media call Shenzhou 2 "the first unammned spaceship", comparing to
Shenzhou-1's "Exprimental spaceship". This difference shows that Shenzhou 2 has
been equipped with full functional systems, as claimed by Chinese reports that it is
"basically identical to a manned spacecraft". The Chinese TV footprint shows a
computer rendered animation in which the second pair of solar panel on the obital module
is fully deployed. A report mentioned that among differences with Shenzhou 1, a new
"stay-in-orbit operation" expriment will be conducted this time, which suggests
the orbital module, with independent power supply, will stay in orbit for more testing.
Another report says the Yuan Wang fleet will work for seven days in remote oceans but has
no indication of the re-entry date. Regarding animals carried in the capsule, they are
unlikely big animals like monkey, as one report says all these animals are carried in 3
boxes, instead of on the seat.
[January 10, 2001] Shenzhou 2 Status
As the first space launch of the Millennium, Shenzhou 2 launch was assigned the
International Designator of 2001-001. Ten minutes after the launch, Shenzhou 2 was
separated from the second stage of CZ-2F and entered an orbit of 197km x 335km with
inclination of 42.58 degree. There are observation reports on the Internet. Paul Maley in
Houston reported that he found the spacecraft using a binoculars just six and half hour
after the launch. The spacecraft was at magnitude +2 to +3.5 and can be seen by naked eye.
[January 10, 2001] China Launches Shenzhou 2
China's fledgling space programme launched an unmanned test flight early Wednesday, the
second in a series expected to lead to a first manned space voyage as early as next year.
The state Xinhua news agency announced Shenzhou II blasted off from Jiuquan in northwest
China, carrying a number of unidentified animals, and entered a preset orbit. The
spacecraft was launched into space on top of a CZ-2F at 01:00:03 Beijing Time. Chinese
reports indicated it's the first full-functional spaceship and will conduct a serises of
scientific experiments. (APF, Xinhua, Other Chinese reports)
[January 9, 2001] China to Launch APSTAR V in 2003
The China Great Wall Industry Corporation (CGWIC) will launch APSTAR V in 2003. Under the
agreement signed Monday, Space Systems/Loral Inc. will provide APT(HK) with the design,
manufacturing, tests and delivery of APSTAR V and is responsible for obtaining all
necessary export permits for APSTAR V. CGWIC will provide the launch services for APSTAR V
with the Long March-3B launch vehicle at the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in February
2003. The APT(HK) and the Singapore Telecommunications Limited (SingTel) signed a lease
agreement for the leasing of 15 C-band transponders of APSTAR V for the life of the
satellite. APSTAR V, with an expected mission life of more than 13 years, has 38 C-band
and 16 Ku-band transponders to provide broadcasting and telecommunications services. It
will be located at the geostationary orbital slot 138 degrees east. and will replace
APSTAR I, to expire in mid-2004. (Xinhua)
[January 6, 2001] Yuan Wang Waiting for Shenzhou 2
China Space News, the official newspaper of Chinese space industry reported on January 5
that four Yuan Wang tracking ships celebrated the New Year on remote oceans. After the
Beidou 2 launch, Yuan Wang 1 and 2 are now on the Pacific Ocean. Yuan Wang 4 had arrive in
the Indian Ocean before the first day of 2001. The report does not reveal the position of
Yuan Wang 3 but says its mission is to go to the Atlantic Ocean. The newspaper has no
indication of which task the fleet will perform. (SpaceChina)
[January 4, 2001] Official: Shenzhou 2 Launch in This Month
A spokeswomen for the China Aerospace Science and Technology Consortium (Editor:
official name should be Corporation) told AFP the flight would take place this month,
while denying reports it would happen Friday. "It will certainly not happen Friday,
the launch date is a secret, but it will certainly happen this month," she said,
while refusing to identify herself. (AFP)
[January 2, 2001] FY-2B Operational, FY-3 Kicked Off
The Fengyun 2-B meteorological satellite, which was launched to orbit last June, will
begin to offer weather information on the first day of the year 2001, according to
officials with Shanghai Aerospace Administration. Meanwhile, China has started the Fengyun
3 meteorological satellite program. The new satellite is an improved version of the
Fengyun 1 with resolution of 250m and will provide multi-spectral, three-dimensional and
quantitative analysis. It will weight at 2,200 kg with the designed life span of more than
two years. The new satellite is to be launched around early 2005. On the other side, the
Fengyun 1-D will replace the currently Fengyun 1-C in 2001 and the Fengyun 2-C will take
the place of Fengyun 2-B in 2003. (Xinhua)
