[February 24, 1999] U.S. Rejects APMT Deal The United States said Tuesday it had rejected a
$450 million Hughes satellite deal with China, blocking
for the first time a satellite license to Beijing over
fears it could compromise U.S. national security. The
decision, which could further strain diplomatic ties
between the two superpowers, puts into doubt future
satellite sales and could strip U.S. companies of their
dominant position in the lucrative billion dollar
satellite market. The APMT satellite, designed to provide
mobile telephone links over much of Asia, is belong to
Asia-Pacific Mobile Telecommunications Company that is 51
percent owned by Chinese interests led by China
Telecommunications Broadcast Satellite Corporation.
Singapore Technologies Telemedia is another large
shareholder. (Reuters)
[February 22, 1999] Shanghai to Launch Three
Satellites The Shanghai Space Bureau, a major
space-technology developer in China, plans to launch
three satellites this year. These satellites, a Fengyun 1
meteorological satellite, a Sino-Brazilian resource
satellite, and a Practice 5 satellite, will be carried
into orbit by two Long March 4B carrier rockets.
According to Jin Zhuanglong, the bureau director, the new
Fengyun 1 incorporates improvements over the previous
Fengyun 1 satellites, and will be used to collect global
meteorological data. The Long March 4B has been newly
developed by the Shanghai Space Bureau and can carry both
synchronous solar orbit and synchronous earth orbit
satellites. (XINHUA)
[February 12, 1999] China to Test Reusable
Spacecraft Next Year China plans to launch its own re-usable
"space shuttle" with a maiden unmanned mission
at the end of next year, an astronomical engineer who is
in charge of one of dozens of scientific research
projects that will be aboard, said Thursday. "Among
the projects will be many experiments toward future
manned shuttle missions," said the engineer. China
has never formally announced plans to roll out a
re-usable space vehicle like those the United States
alone operates. The engineer said the lift-capacity
problems have already been resolved and he had been
briefed on the cost of the Chinese shuttle but that he
could not reveal it, as the information is classified.
(AFP)
[February 12, 1999] China Unlikely Involved in
Mir Extension Russian Space Agency director Yuri Koptev siad
Mir space station might be discarded as early as August
because investors who were supposedly planning to fund it
have backed out. He denied Russian media reports that
they could be Chinese. "China has been energetically
developing its own space program and promised to put its
first astronaut in orbit by Oct. 1 this year," he
said. "If they had been interested in flying on our
station, they would have done it a long time ago."
Two Chinese pilots have undergone preparation at Russia's
cosmonaut training center, but cooperation stopped there.
"We haven't heard from them since then,'' Koptev
said. (AP)
[February 11, 1999] China and France to Share
Satellite Control Networks China and France are to begin sharing satellite
control networks in hopes of upgrading their satellite
control capacity, the official Xinhua news agency said
Wednesday. The Xian Satellite Control Centre (XSCC) will
begin cooperation this year with France's National Centre
for Space Studies (CNES) to interconnect their networks,
the report said, without specifying by what date the
project would be operational. In addition to the central
station in northern Xian, China has six other control
stations spread across its territorial extremities, and
one station in the Pacific. China has already announced
plans for a similar accord with Brazil in an effort to
"further increase international cooperation in the
area," the Xinhua report said. (AFP)
[February 8, 1999] China Announces CZ-3B(A) During the Pacific Telecommunications Conference
in Hawaii, Zuoyi Huang, chief representative in the U.S.
market for China Great Wall Co., said his company is
developing two larger, more powerful rockets. The Long
March 2E(A) rocket will be ready for launch in 2000,
while the Long March 3B(A) will be available in 2002. The
latter rocket will be launched from the Jiuquan Satellite
Launch Center in the northwest part of China because the
existing launchpad at the Xichang Satellite Launch Center
is not able to handle such a large rocket, Huang said.
(ARMED FORCES NEWSWIRE SERVICE)
[February 8, 1999] US Institutions Intend To Join
ROCSAT-3 Project The US National Science Foundation, National
Ocean and Atmosphere Agency, and National Aeronautics and
Space Administration recently discussed joining the
launch project of ROCSAT-3, a science satellite scheduled
to be put into space in December 2002 to conduct
meteorological and ionosphere research. Tsai Ching-yen,
vice chairman of Taiwan's National Science Council, said
after the US institutions issue letters of intention,
they will formally join the project. It is expected that
Taiwan's space project authority and the US institutions
will sign letters of intention in mid-February. (CNA)
[January 29, 1999] RocSat-1 in Perfect Condition Taiwan's first wholly owned satellite is in
"perfect condition," said Tsai Ching-yen, vice
chairman of the Taiwan's National Science Council.
Initial tests showed that ROCSAT-1, which was launched
into orbit by the Athena-1 rocket Tuesday, is functioning
normally. At 10:16 p.m. Tuesday Eastern Standard Time in
the United States, the satellite established first
contact with a ground station in Hsinchu, northern
Taiwan. Within the first 27 hours after launch it had
made contact with two Taiwan ground stations seven times.
Another ground station is in Tainan, southern Taiwan.
Data transmissions have been normal, Tsai added.
[January 29, 1999] Taiwan Plans More Satellites ROCSAT-1 is now in space but it has been
history. "The launch is a step in the right
direction to develop domestic space technology, but
there's still a long way to go before we see any
significant harvest," said Chu Yen-hsyang, a
professor of the Institute of Space Science at the
National Central University. "We need more talent
and more domestic companies to join the industry."
RocSat-1 features five vital components that were made in
Taiwan, including a computer built by Acer, a solar panel
and an antenna, which makes up less than 25% of the
satellite. However, that percentage is slated to increase
in subsequent satellites. The contract for ROCSAT-2 has
been awarded to the German DASA Dornier group. The
proposed ROCSAT-3 will be composed of eight
micro-satellites and about 40% of its components will be
made in Taiwan. (Dow Jones Newswires)
[January 27, 1999] Athena launches Rocsat-1
Successfully Taiwan's first fully owned satellite, RocSat-1
was launched successfully at 7:34:02 p.m. EST (0:34:02
GMT) today from Cape Canaveral Air Station, Florida. The
satellite has separated from the Athena 1 rocket 1 hour
and 5 minutes after the launch . Upon separation, the
spacecraft is designed to trigger an automatic sequence
to deploy its twin solar arrays, then await contact from
Earth. Over the next several weeks, controllers will test
and check out the satellite and its instruments. If all
goes according to plan, RocSat-1 should begin its
scientific research in mid-March. (Florida Today)
[January 23, 1999] German Company to Build
Rocsat-2 Taiwan's National Space Policy Office (NSPO) has
selected DaimlerChrysler Aerospace of Germany as prime
contractor for its Rocsat 2 technological satellite due
for launch in June 2002. The $61-million Rocsat 1, built
by TRW, is due for launch atop an Athena 1 vehicle on
January 27 (GMT). A Rocsat 3 is planned before 2006.
(LaunchSpace)
[January 22, 1999] FY-2A Works Again ! The National Satellite Meteorological Center of
China Meteorological Administration confirmed that FY-2A,
China's first geostationary meteorological satellite has
been saved successfully. It has restarted to transmit
S-VISSR data since the end of last year, although its
capability is limited to broadcast 6 times everyday. FY-2
real-time data are now can be obtained from NSMC or University
of Hawaii weather satellite server. FY-2A was lost in
last April.
[January 21, 1999] Yuanwang Fleet Upgraded For
New Tasks After one year and four months' hard working,
Yuanwang, China's space tracking fleet, completed the
modernization on Jan 18 in Shanghai. With more advanced
equipment on board, the upgraded ships are now capable of
global tracking and control. Its data transfer rate
increased by 400 times. The fleet will be put into
service this year for several satellite launches and
remarkably, a "new type of spacecraft" test
launch. For the first time, three Yuanwang tracking ships
will be deployed in the Pacific Ocean, the Indian Ocean
and the Atlantic Ocean in that test launch. (CCTV)
[January 15, 1999] Fenghuo-1 Comsat to be
Launched This Year International Aviation Magazine (http://www.iag.com.cn/
- Chinese only) reports that China plans to launch nine
satellite by six Long March rockets this year. These
satellites include 4 Iridiums, ChinaSat-8, FY-1C, SJ-5,
ZY-1 and a new communication satellite, Fenghuo-1(FH-1).
FH-1 will be launched by a CZ-3A. The magazine does not
disclose any detail of the satellite while the Chinese
name Fenghuo (messaging system used by ancient Chinese
army on the Great Wall) suggests its possible military
utilization.
[January 8, 1999] Chinese Module on ISS? An article on LaunchSpace Online edition by
Vladimir Karnozov indicated that China and Russia once
discussed to attach a Chinese module on ISS. "For
instance, they [spare docking ports] could provide
attachment points for Ukrainian and/or Chinese modules -
such a possibility has been discussed during meetings of
high-ranking political leaders.", it says. The
article does not mention when it was discussed and how is
the result. However, western analysts doubt such a
possibility because of China's space capability and the
complicated political relationship between U.S. and
China.
[January 8, 1999] FY-2B to be Launched in Early
2000 Works on FY-2B, the thrid geostationary
meteorological satellite of China has begun since later
last year. Shanghai Academy of Space Technology (8th
Academy) is the primary contractor of the satellite while
China Academy of Space Technology (5th Academy) is
responsible for many important subsystems on the bus,
such as transponders, the control system and the
propulsion system. The new satellite is scheduled to be
launched in the first half of 2000.
[January 6, 1999] Chinese Manned Flight: No
Timetable China again announced plans to carry out its
first manned space flights "by the end of this
century or the beginning of the next," the official
Liberation Daily reported Tuesday. Success would make
China the first country in more than 30 years to join the
United States and Russia -- including the former Soviet
Union -- in the exclusive club of manned mission
launchers. The front-page article, which quoted an
unspecified news source in the space industry, gave no
exact timetable. "Research institutions have already
begun research on this area and made some
achievements," it said.
[January 3, 1999] U.S. Says Chinese Obtained
Secrets But China Denied A special House committee found that technology
transfers to China by Hughes Electronics Corp. and Loral
Space & Communications Co. harmed U.S. national
security, and that such technology leaks also occurred
from other companies over the last two decades. The
special panel was established in June to look into
allegations that China benefited from technology that was
transferred when the U.S. companies exported commercial
satellites for launch there. The 700-page, five-volume
report is classified, and few details have leaked out
during the investigation. The panel's five Republicans
and four Democrats unanimously approved the report and
its 38 recommendations, which will be presented to
Congress and the White House soon. But the Chinese
government on Thursday sharply denied allegations
that it has mounted a "serious and sustained"
effort over the last 20 years to obtain militarily useful
U.S. technology.
[January 3, 1999] Rocsat-1 Set to be Launched on
Jan. 27 ROCSAT-1,Taiwan's first self-developed research
satellite, is scheduled to be launched between 8:34 a.m.
and 11:27 a.m. on Jan. 27 at Cape Canaveral in the US
state of Florida, sources from the National Science
Council (NSC) reported Thursday. Payload, leakage and
related launch tests of the 21-ton satellite and ground
support equipment, which were delivered to Cape Canaveral
before Dec. 17, were completed Dec. 21, and test results
indicate everything is perfect for a Jan. 27 launch,