High density emission while maintaining high success rate
In 2021, my country will rank first in the world in the number of space launches
At 0:43 on December 30, 2021, the Long March 3B carrier rocket successfully put the communication technology test satellite No. 9 into the predetermined orbit, marking a successful conclusion for China Aerospace's 2021 launch mission.
According to statistics, the number of space launches in my country will reach 55 in 2021, ranking first in the world.
From the major victory in the construction of China's space station to the "Tianwen No. 1" to expand my country's new journey of interstellar exploration, in this year when the number of space launches once again set a historical record, my country's aerospace industry has made remarkable achievements. A group of Major aerospace plans have reached or gradually approached the set goals, while longer-term exploration plans are poised to launch.
55 times
The number of launches in 2021 hits a new high, and many major aerospace projects in my country have entered the harvest period
In 2021, the number of China's space launches will hit a new high.
Including Long March series rockets, Kuaizhou series rockets and rockets developed by private aerospace companies, a total of 55 launch missions were carried out throughout the year, sending hundreds of spacecraft (including onboard) into space.
Among them, the Long March series of launch vehicles will complete 48 launches in 2021, and the number of annual launches will reach the highest "40+" in history for the first time.
In this year, the Long March series of carrier rockets completed the 400th launch. The Long March 5B, Long March 2F, and Long March 7 successfully completed the manned space engineering space station construction task with 5 launches. The core module, two groups of astronauts, and two cargo spacecraft were sent into space.
The "Gold Medal Rocket" Long March 3A series carrier rockets have completed 12 launches, and achieved 12 victories and 12 victories, achieving a "full house" of tasks throughout the year.
This is not only a quantitative change, but also reflects the progress of the country's aerospace industry strength, space mission execution capability and the country's overall scientific and technological strength in the new era.
The past year has not only been a "big year" for the number of space launches, but also a big year in terms of weight. Many major aerospace projects in my country have entered a fruitful harvest period.
In 2021, the orbital construction of the Chinese space station will be fully launched, and two groups of Chinese astronauts will enter their own space station on behalf of the Chinese, and will carry out a space residency for up to 6 months.
The "Tianwen-1" probe launched by the Long March 5 carrier rocket in 2020 will also land on Mars in 2021, and has successfully achieved patrol detection.
On October 14, 2021, my country's first solar exploration satellite "Xihe" successfully entered its predetermined orbit, and my country officially entered the "sun exploration era".
Aerospace experts pointed out that the successful implementation of major aerospace missions and the smooth progress of planning are of great significance to realizing a new leap in the field of aerospace technology and promoting my country from a aerospace power to a aerospace power.
96%
The Long March series of rockets have a world-class launch success rate, sending more than 700 spacecraft into space in 51 years
At present, my country's aerospace industry has entered a stage of normalization of high-density launches.
At the same time of high-density emission, it has maintained a very high success rate.
Taking recent years as an example, in 2018, there were 114 launches in the world, with 109 successful launches, and 39 launches in China, with 38 successes; in 2019, there were 103 launches in the world, with 95 successful launches, and 34 successful launches in China, with 31 successful launches. In 2020, a total of 114 launch missions will be carried out around the world. China will launch 39 space launches and launch 89 spacecraft, ranking second in the world in both the number of launches and the quality of launch loads.
By 2021, my country will have a record 55 space launches.
The Long March rocket is the absolute main force of my country's space launch.
The "Dongfanghong-1" satellite launched on April 24, 1970 was its first flight. In the past 51 years, the Long March series of carrier rockets have carried out 92% of my country's space launch missions, and successively sent more than 700 spacecraft into space, and the launch was successful. The rate is 96%.
Long Lehao, a senior consultant of the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation, said that among the 400 launches of the Long March series of rockets, the first 100 launches took 37 years; the second 100 launches took more than 7 years; the third The first 100 launches took more than 4 years; the fourth 100 launches only took 2 years and 9 months.
Academician Long Lehao believes that the continuous shortening of the interval between every hundred launches of the Long March rocket not only indicates that the high-density launch of the Long March rocket has been normalized, but also reflects the rapid development of China's aerospace industry and the rapid improvement of China's scientific and technological level and comprehensive national strength.
Especially since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, the Long March series of carrier rockets have continuously improved their launch capabilities. They can launch low, medium and high earth orbits and different types of spacecraft, allowing the Chinese people to go further in their exploration of the universe:
——The new generation of launch vehicles represented by Long March 5, Long March 7, and Long March 8 successfully made their first flight. The type spectrum of my country's new generation of launch vehicles has been gradually improved, and the ability to enter and exit space has been further strengthened;
——The Long March 3B carrier rocket successfully launched the "Chang'e 4" to complete the first soft landing on the back of the moon, and the Long March 5 rocket successfully launched the "Chang'e 5" to achieve the first return of samples from extraterrestrial space in my country, which is the dream of the Chinese nation for lunar exploration Added new footnotes;
——The Long March 5 rocket launched the "Tianwen-1" Mars probe, and China took the first step to independently carry out planetary exploration;
——The Long March 3A series rockets completed all the tasks of Beidou navigation and launch satellites, and helped the Beidou global satellite navigation system to be fully built;
——The Long March 5B, Long March 2F, and Long March 7 carrier rockets have successively sent Tianhe core module, Shenzhou 12 manned spacecraft, and Tianzhou 2 cargo spacecraft into predetermined orbits, laying a solid foundation for the construction of my country's space station Base……
At present, the Long March series of launch vehicles have reached the world-class level in terms of launch success rate and orbital accuracy.
40th or higher
Space launch missions including the first flight of the Long March 6A carrier rocket will be completed this year
As a vehicle for entering space, the launch vehicle is the premise and foundation of space activities, and determines the height and size of the space exploration stage.
According to the plan of China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation, the development unit of the Long March series of launch vehicles, there will be more than 40 space launch missions in 2022, including 6 major manned space missions, including 2 cargo spacecraft, 2 Shenzhou spacecraft and experimental cabin I, experiment Cabin II launch.
This year, China's space station will be fully completed, which also means that the "three-step" development strategy of my country's manned space project will finally be realized.
In addition, the launch of several key rocket models such as the first flight of the Long March 6A carrier rocket will be completed this year.
In the future, after the space station enters the operational stage, the Long March 2F and Long March 7 carrier rockets will maintain the frequency of two launches per year.
And in the near future, major aerospace projects such as the fourth phase of the lunar exploration project, asteroid exploration, Jupiter exploration, manned lunar exploration, and the first Mars sampling are expected to start.
For these major aerospace engineering tasks, the innovation and exploration are unprecedented, and the risks and challenges are also unprecedented.
龙乐豪表示，不断创新是中国航天不断跨越的关键。要坚持面向世界科技前沿，勇于提出新的科研方向，努力缩小与世界顶尖科技的差距。在航天探索方向和技术路线上，中国航天也已渐渐形成自己的特点，显示出世界航天领域中的中国智慧和中国方案。长征系列运载火箭的核心技术和关键元器件，自始至终牢牢掌握在自己手里。
立足国际航天发展趋势，保持航天运输系统先进水平，同时根据航天发射的需求，新一代长征系列运载火箭型谱的蓝图正变为现实，一系列新型运载火箭接连亮相，新一代载人运载火箭、重型运载火箭等正在按计划开展研制。而作为中国航天的有力补充，蓝箭航天、星河动力、银河航天等民营火箭和卫星研发机构也正在商业航天赛道上加速前进。
航天专家指出，持续加强自主创新、不断攻克关键核心技术，中国人探索太空的脚步会迈得更稳、更远。
本报记者 余建斌