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Chinanews.com, Beijing, December 22. Title: A new generation of rockets unveiled in China to explore the universe at a steady pace.
Author Guo Chaokai Wang Weitong
On December 22, the Long March 8 carrier rocket ignited at the Wenchang space launch site in China, sending five satellites into a predetermined orbit with “one arrow and five stars,” and the mission was a complete success.
The successful first flight of the Long March 8 rocket means that China’s next-generation carrier rocket has completed its debut during the period of the “13th Five-Year Plan”. Wang Xiaojun, dean of the Chinese Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology affiliated with the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation, said: “During the period of the 13th Five-Year Plan, March 5 long, March 7 long and On March 8, they successfully flew for the first time and successively undertook major aerospace projects. The mission provides strong support for the construction of a space power. “
At 12:37 p.m. on December 22 Beijing time, the Long March 8 carrier rocket was successfully launched at the Wenchang space launch site in China, sending five satellites into the predetermined orbit with “one arrow and five stars.” Wanke photo
Introducing a new generation of launch vehicles
During the period of the “Thirteenth Five-Year Plan”, China’s new generation of carrier rockets appeared collectively, gradually taking on important tasks in intensive and complex space missions. The development of China’s carrier rockets has entered a new stage of environmentally friendly and pollution-free development, and their carrying capacity has reached world-class levels.
From 2015 to 2016, the new-generation Long March 5, Long March 6, Long March 7 and Long March 11 4 rockets completed their first flight missions. The first flight of the Type 4 rocket in 2 years has not only been unprecedented in the international aerospace industry, it has also vastly improved China’s ability to enter space and has further enriched and improved the basic structure of the new generation. of series of carrier rockets.
The new generation launch vehicle adopts non-toxic and non-polluting propellant. On the basis of inheriting the current launch vehicle technology, it has overcome dozens of elements such as the 120-ton kerosene / liquid oxygen engine, the 50-ton hydrogen-oxygen engine, and the design and manufacture of the body structure. of the 5 meter diameter rocket. The key technology is difficult, and the rocket’s carrying capacity and performance have reached the current international advanced level.
On May 5, 2020, the Long March 5B carrier rocket developed for China’s manned space station project successfully flew in Wenchang, officially kicking off the “third step” mission of China’s manned space project. On December 22 of the same year, the Long March 8 carrier rocket successfully flew for the first time, increasing the payload capacity of the sun-synchronous transfer orbit of the Chinese carrier rocket from 3 tons to 4.5 tons.
Compared to active launch vehicles, new-generation launch vehicles not only use non-toxic and non-polluting propellants, but their carrying capacity has doubled, greatly increasing China’s ability to enter space. With the development and improvement of the new generation of Long March series carrier rockets, the carrier rockets currently in service will gradually be retired from the history stage and achieve a complete replacement for new and old rockets.
Explore the universe more
During the “13th Five Year Plan” period, the increasing capabilities and number of launches of the Long March series of carrier rockets have allowed the Chinese to explore the universe further.
The Long March 3B carrier rocket successfully launched the Chang’e-4 probe, which completed the first soft landing on the back of the moon. The Yaosi Long March 5 rocket launched the Tianwen-1 Mars probe, and China has taken the first step in autonomous planetary exploration. The Chang’e-5 probe was launched into space with the Long March-5 Yao-5 rocket, successfully achieving China’s first sampling return of extraterrestrial celestial bodies.
The Changsanjia series rockets completed all the launch missions of the Beidou navigation satellites and helped to fully complete the global Beidou-3 satellite navigation system. The Long March 2F and Long March 7 carrier rockets successively sent the Tiangong-2 laboratory, the Shenzhou-11 manned spacecraft and the Tianzhou-1 cargo spacecraft into programmed orbits, laying a solid foundation for the construction of the space station in China. The expedition series successfully developed the upper stage and made its first flight, greatly accelerating the speed of China’s high-orbit satellite network.
In the past five years, the launch vehicle developed by the China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology has continued to launch at a high density, and the number of Long March 3A series rocket launches exceeded 100. Furthermore, the heavy duty launch vehicle has completed in-depth development and advancements in a number of important key technologies.
At 12:37 p.m. on December 22 Beijing time, the Long March 8 carrier rocket was successfully launched at the Wenchang space launch site in China, sending five satellites into the predetermined orbit with “one arrow and five stars.” Photo of Su Dong
Commercial aerospace development is advancing steadily
During the “13th Five-Year Plan” period, the international commercial aerospace market is booming. Rockets developed by the Chinese Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology have successively provided international commercial launch services for Laos, Belarus and other countries.
On August 17, 2019, the Jielong 1 rocket successfully flew for the first time. This rocket is a small solid launch vehicle specially developed by the China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology for the small satellite launch market. Its carrying capacity can reach 700 kilometers in synchronous orbit with the sun. 150 kilograms is one of the lowest cost rockets in the world per unit charge in orbit. Furthermore, the Long March 8 launch vehicle was developed with market demand as the guide made its first flight. The Long March 11 carrier rocket completed the first launch of a commercial Chinese application at sea.
During the “13th Five Year Plan” period, in the face of high-density launches, the Chinese Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology proposed to change the design of “custom rockets” to “universal rockets.” Rockets can be applied to other missions with minimal adaptation. The rocket’s mission adjustment cycle has been reduced from the original 18 months to 4 to 5 months. The new generation of rockets can achieve the final assembly and launch capacity of 5-8 rounds per year, and complete batch production.
In addition, the process of the liquid rocket launch site at normal temperature has been simplified from 35 to 15 days. The Long March 11 rocket is capable of launching within hours of any weather, greatly enhancing China’s ability to rapidly enter space. (End up)
