China News Service, Beijing, March 29 (Ma Shuaisha, Zheng Yingying, Yang Fan, and Li Tong) At 17:50 on March 29, China's first solid-bundled medium-sized carrier rocket, the Long March 6, was successfully launched at the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center, and the Pujiang River was successfully launched. The No. 2 satellite and the Tiankun No. 2 satellite were put into predetermined orbits.

The successful maiden flight of the modified Long March 6 launch vehicle marks the addition of a new member to China's new-generation launch vehicle family and further improves the type spectrum construction of China's new-generation launch vehicle.

launch site.

Photo courtesy of Zheng Bin

  The Long March 6 modified carrier rocket was developed by the Eighth Academy of China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation.

The rocket adopts a modular, combined and serialized development approach. Through the adjustment of the booster, it can form a single core stage, bundle 2 solid boosters, bundle 4 solid boosters, bundle a general core stage and other structures. It will create a series of launch vehicles with a wide range of carrying capabilities, reasonable gradients and high cost performance, which can meet the diverse and intensive launch needs of future satellites.

  According to reports, the diameter of the first and second stages of the Long March 6 modified carrier rocket is 3.35 meters. The first stage uses two 120-ton thrust liquid oxygen/kerosene engines, and the second stage uses a 18-ton thrust liquid oxygen/kerosene engine. The stage is bundled with 4 boosters with a diameter of 2 meters.

The booster adopts a two-stage 120-ton thrust solid engine, which was developed by the Fourth Academy of China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation.

The total length of the rocket is about 50 meters, the take-off weight of the whole rocket is about 530 tons, and the carrying capacity of the 700-kilometer sun-synchronous orbit is not less than 4 tons.

launch site.

Photo courtesy of Zheng Bin

  For the first time, it has realized the "cross-border cooperation" of solid-liquid engines in the field of China's launch vehicles, breaking through key technologies such as solid booster binding and separation technology, binding point large concentration diffusion technology, and solid-liquid binding combined swing control.

Relying on the newly built launch station of Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center, the modified Long March 6 rocket can achieve rapid launch in 14 days, meeting the high-density launch requirements of medium and low orbit satellites.

  At the same time, the first stage of the rocket core is equipped with an "intelligent" health diagnosis system.

After the "ignition" command is issued, the core-level liquid engine will be ignited first, and the health diagnosis system will enter the working mode. Once an abnormal emergency occurs, the health diagnosis system will immediately make a judgment and implement an automatic emergency shutdown. Solid motors will no longer fire.

In addition, the Long March 6 modified rocket adopted the servo system online fault diagnosis and adaptive reconstruction technology for the first time in China.

  It is reported that 4 hours before the launch of the rocket, all front-end operators evacuated the tower, and the rocket completed the subsequent launch process through unattended technology.

The unattended technology of the Long March 6 rocket has achieved three "firsts" in China in the field of delivery: the first use of automatic docking and filling technology, which can realize automatic filling of remote full-process propellant; The ground connector automatically falls off at the moment of take-off; after the first propellant filling, there is no personnel on duty at the front end of the launch site, which effectively ensures the safety of the rocket launch mission and is also the model's firm practice of the "people-oriented" concept.

  The Pujiang-2 satellite launched this time was also developed by the Eighth Academy of China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation.

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