China News Service, Beijing, December 29th (Ma Shuaisha, Wang Weitong) On December 29th, the Long March 3B carrier rocket successfully sent the test 10th 02 satellite into the predetermined orbit.
This is the 53rd flight of China's Long March series of launch vehicles in 2022.
So far, the launch mission of the Long March series of launch vehicles in 2022 has come to a successful conclusion, and the number of annual launches has exceeded 50 for the first time.
At 12:43 on December 29th, Beijing time, my country used the Long March 3B carrier rocket at the Xichang Satellite Launch Center to successfully launch the test 02 satellite into space. The satellite entered the predetermined orbit smoothly, and the launch mission was a complete success. The satellite It is mainly used for on-orbit verification tests of new technologies such as space environment monitoring.
Photo by Hu Xujie
"While the number of annual launches of the Long March series of launch vehicles has hit a record high, the proportion of new-generation launch vehicles is also increasing year by year. In 2022, the proportion of new-generation launch vehicles will account for about 27% of the annual launches, which is also the highest in the past three years. The first-generation launch vehicle has fully entered the stage of applied launch, which marks a new level of my country's launch vehicle research and development capabilities and industrialization development capabilities." Long Lehao, academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering and senior consultant of the Long March series of launch vehicles of China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation, said.
Looking back on 2022, there are many highlights of the Long March series of carrier rockets. The Long March 2F, Long March 5B, and Long March 7 three carrier rockets used 6 launches to help the basic structure of the Chinese space station "T". The Long March 8 carrier rocket "T" 22 Stars in One Arrow" created the record of more than one star in one arrow in China.
In addition, the first flight of the Jielong-3 launch vehicle was successful, realizing the leap from cold launch at sea to hot launch at sea, and new progress has been made in reusable launch vehicles, a new generation of manned launch vehicles, and heavy-duty launch vehicles...
Three rocket launches six times to help build China's space station
The manned spaceflight project is the largest spaceflight project in China so far, with the most complex system composition, technical difficulty and the highest safety and reliability requirements.
Long Lehao said that the three different types of rockets have their own unique division of labor according to their transport capacity and launch orbit, and they complement each other. The launch tasks of the cabin and cargo spacecraft are the most suitable in terms of rocket capacity, production preparation period, launch ground support system recovery, and launch team allocation.
Compared with the previous manned space launch missions, a prominent feature of the construction phase of the space station is the heavy payload and dense missions.
In 2022, the three launch vehicles carried out a total of 6 launch missions. Among them, the Wentian and Mengtian experimental capsules weighed more than 20 tons, and the Tianzhou cargo spacecraft exceeded 13 tons.
In addition to the corresponding capacity requirements, the manned spaceflight project launch mission also puts forward "high reliability" requirements for the rockets performing the mission.
As the only manned launch vehicle in China, the Long March 2F carrier rocket has been continuously built by the developers, and the reliability and safety of the whole rocket have been continuously improved. It has maintained a 100% launch success rate and has become the exclusive vehicle for Chinese astronauts to enter space. .
New models and new rockets boost the rapid development of commercial aerospace
Looking back on 2022, China Aerospace will continue to open up new commercial aerospace models and create new rockets to help the commercial aerospace market flourish.
On February 27, the Long March 8 Yao-2 carrier rocket ignited and took off at the Wenchang Space Launch Site in Hainan, and then successfully sent the 22 satellites lifted into the predetermined orbit. This is not only the Long March 8 carrier rocket without boosters. The first flight of the new configuration also created the highest record for China's launch of multiple satellites with one rocket.
As a "shared rocket", the Long March 8 Yao-2 carrier rocket carried 22 satellites, each from 7 research and development units.
Xiao Yun, commander-in-chief of a Long March 8 carrier rocket, vividly introduced this brand-new sharing model, "Simply put, it is a carpooling solution, which provides users with affordable launch services, and the threshold is greatly lowered." Through this launch mission After successful exploration, the No. 1 Institute will promote the normalization of "shared launch" in the future.
On December 9, the first flight of the Jielong-3 solid carrier rocket was successful. The commercial aerospace "national team" ushered in new members.
With the exponential growth of launch demand for micro-nano satellites, small satellites, constellation networking, etc., while developing a new generation of launch vehicles, the First Academy developed the Jielong series of launch vehicles using a purely commercial model.
Jin Xin, commander-in-chief of the Jielong-3 rocket of the First Academy, said: "The Jielong-3 launch vehicle is a cost-effective, high-reliability, fast-compliance, and fast-launch solid launch vehicle built to meet the needs of rapid network launch for future satellite constellations. "
New progress has been made in reusable launch vehicles and heavy-duty launch vehicles
As a vehicle for entering space, launch vehicles are the premise and foundation of all space activities, and also determine the height and breadth of China's space exploration stage.
On August 26, the reusable flight test of the suborbital vehicle was a complete success.
China Aerospace has proposed a development route for a reusable space transportation system with Chinese characteristics. It is the first in the world to develop an original and leading lift-type suborbital reusable vehicle. It deeply integrates advanced technologies in the aerospace field. The vehicle can be like a rocket. Take off in the same way and return like an airplane. After the rocket launch station is ignited and launched, it takes off vertically with its own power and rises to the highest point, decelerates by aerodynamic force, returns horizontally without power, and finally lands at the airport completely.
The recovered vehicle can be reused many times after testing, subverting the traditional flight mode of one-time use of launch vehicles or relying on multiple starts of the engine to slow down and return, which is more conducive to the realization of flight operations of space vehicles in the future.
Long Lehao said that in order to meet the long-term needs of China's manned spaceflight and greatly improve the ability to enter space, the First Academy is developing a new generation of manned launch vehicles and heavy-duty launch vehicles.
The low-earth orbit carrying capacity of the new-generation manned launch vehicle will reach 70 tons, and the first flight is expected to be completed around 2027; the heavy-duty launch vehicle Long March 9 will have a body diameter of 10 meters and a height of about 110 meters. After successful development, the low-orbit carrying capacity It will reach 150 tons, and the carrying capacity of the Earth-Moon transfer orbit will reach more than 50 tons, and strive to complete the first flight around 2030.
It is reported that China Aerospace will maintain a high-intensity launch situation in 2023. The Long March 2F and Long March 7 launch vehicles will also carry out launch missions during the operation phase of the space station, and a new generation of launch vehicles will also be unveiled to perform related launch tasks.
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