The first flight of a new rocket, sampling from the back of the moon, normal operation of the space station...China's aerospace industry will do these major things this year

　　China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation released the "Blue Book of China's Aerospace Science and Technology Activities" yesterday (26th).

The "Blue Book" shows that my country is expected to carry out about 100 launch missions this year, which is expected to set a new record.

　　China Aerospace is expected to implement this year

　　About 100 launch missions

　　In 2024, our country will implement a series of major engineering tasks. The space station will enter normal operation mode and complete 2 cargo spacecraft, 2 manned spacecraft launch missions and 2 return missions during the year; accelerate the fourth phase of the lunar exploration project, launch Queqiao II The relay satellite and Chang'e-6 probe achieved the world's first sample return from the South Pole-Aitken Basin on the far side of the moon; accelerated the construction of the Aerospace Science and Technology Group's "new generation commercial remote sensing satellite system".

　　Ma Tao, deputy director of the Aerospace Department of China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation: Five more new-generation commercial remote sensing satellites will be launched in 2024 to provide users in traditional and emerging markets with high-efficiency and high-performance spatio-temporal information services, allowing aerospace technology to better serve society and people's livelihood. , serving the development and construction of the national economy.

　　In addition, this year, my country's first commercial space launch site will usher in its first launch mission, multiple satellite constellations will accelerate network construction, and more than 300 spacecraft will be sent into space.

　　Two new rockets make first flight

　　Enriching my country’s rocket spectrum

　　Among the approximately 100 launch missions expected to be carried out in our country this year, we will usher in the first flights of the Long March 6C carrier rocket and the Long March 12 carrier rocket, further enriching our country's rocket model spectrum.

　　The Long March 6C carrier rocket inherits the mature technology of new generation launch vehicles such as the Long March 6 and the Long March 6 Modification. It adopts a two-stage configuration with a diameter of 3.35 meters. It can perform a variety of orbital launch missions and support single-star launches and multi-star launches. launch etc.

　　Yu Yansheng, a launch vehicle expert from the Eighth Institute of Aerospace Science and Technology Group: The Long March 6C rocket is about 43 meters long and uses three liquid oxygen kerosene engines. In the future, it will mainly be targeted at launch missions within the two-ton capacity range, and can form the ability to support high-density launches. .

The first flight rocket has been developed and will be launched this year.

　　In addition, my country's first 3.8-meter-diameter launch vehicle, the Long March 12, will also complete its first flight this year, with a low-Earth orbit carrying capacity of not less than 10 tons.

　　Zeng Wenhua, a launch vehicle expert from the Eighth Academy of China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation: Launching is possible at all four major domestic launch sites. This is the first advantage.

We also have the inherent advantage of a 5.2-meter fairing, which is more adaptable to satellites and has relatively high launch efficiency. It mainly completes multi-satellite networking tasks in low-Earth orbit.

　　Improved Long March 8 rocket makes first flight this year

　　In addition to two brand-new rockets that will make their first flight this year, there is also an improved rocket that will also make its debut this year, which is the Long March 8 improved rocket.

This type of rocket will become one of the main rockets in my country's commercial space launch market in the future.

　　The Long March 8 improved rocket is an improvement and development on the basic Long March 8 rocket. It mainly replaces the 3-meter-diameter secondary rocket body of the Long March-8 with a 3.35-meter-diameter rocket body. The engine has been upgraded and has Higher carrying capacity.

　　Shao Yetao, a rocket overall design expert from the First Academy of Aerospace Science and Technology Group: The thrust of the entire engine alone has reached 10 tons. The entire thrust, structural efficiency, and carrying capacity have all been greatly improved on the basis of the Changba.

　　The Long March 8 is a new generation launch vehicle, divided into basic, expanded and improved types. The basic type successfully made its first flight on December 22, 2020. The expanded type removed the two boosters on the basis of the basic type and was launched in 2022. On February 27, 2016, it successfully launched 22 satellites in one rocket, breaking my country's record of launching multiple satellites in one rocket at that time.

　　The improved Long March 8 rocket will complete its first flight at the Hainan International Commercial Space Launch Center this year, and will soon switch to high-frequency launches to meet the needs of subsequent various types of mid- and low-orbit satellite launch missions.

　　Chang'e-6 will go to the back of the moon to sample samples this year

　　The "Blue Book on China's Aerospace Science and Technology Activities" mentioned that this year our country will accelerate the fourth phase of the lunar exploration project, launch the Queqiao-2 relay satellite and the Chang'e-6 probe, and achieve the world's first sample return of the far side of the moon.

　　In the first half of this year, our country will successively complete the launch missions of the Queqiao-2 and Chang'e-6 detectors.

　　Meng Zhanfeng, a developer at the Fifth Academy of the Aerospace Science and Technology Group: The Chang'e-6 probe landed in the Aitken Basin at the South Pole on the far side of the moon to obtain lunar soil on the lunar surface, and then went through take-off, lunar orbit rendezvous and docking, sample transfer, moon-to-ground transfer, and then Return and bring the lunar samples safely back to the earth. The entire mission will take about one and a half months.

　　Unlike previous sample returns from the front side of the moon, Chang'e-6 that landed on the back of the moon cannot directly communicate with the earth. Therefore, before the launch of Chang'e-6, my country will launch the Queqiao-2 relay satellite to provide relay communications for Chang'e-6. service to ensure that Earth-moon contact is maintained during the Chang'e-6 sampling process.

　　Meng Zhanfeng, a developer at the Fifth Academy of the Aerospace Science and Technology Group: The process of sampling from the far side of the moon requires support from a relay satellite. Because it is on the far side of the moon, the entire mission flight process is very complicated and difficult.

At present, the (Chang'e-6) detector has arrived at the Wenchang launch site in early January 2024. Intense and orderly launch site preparation and debugging work is underway, and it is expected to be launched as scheduled in the first half of this year.

　　The space station enters normal operation mode

　　This year, our country will also complete two cargo spacecraft and two manned spacecraft launch missions, and the Chinese space station will enter a normal operation mode.

　　In 2024, the Long March 2F carrier rocket will complete two rocket launch missions in April and October to deliver the Shenzhou 18 and Shenzhou 19 manned spacecraft to the space station.

　　Chang Wuquan, a rocket overall design expert from the First Institute of Aerospace Science and Technology Group: The Chang-2 F Yao-19 rocket is on emergency rescue duty for the astronaut crew at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center. In addition, the Chang-2 F Yao-19 rocket has completed final assembly and factory testing. .

The rocket products are currently in good condition and are expected to enter the field in March this year to carry out subsequent launch missions.

　　It is understood that the Shenzhou 18 spacecraft is currently performing emergency duties at the launch site, and many systems of the Shenzhou spacecraft will be upgraded.

　　Diao Weihe, a developer at the Fifth Academy of Aerospace Science and Technology Group: Shenzhou 18 has upgraded its power (energy) system, making the battery capacity larger and safer.

At the same time, Shenzhou 18 and Shenzhou 19 are also successively improving their downlink and uplink load transport capabilities. There is still an urgent need for this.

　　According to the plan, in October this year, the improved large-capacity cargo spacecraft Tianzhou 8 will deliver a new batch of "supplies" to the space station.

　　Lei Jianyu, a developer at the Fifth Academy of the Aerospace Science and Technology Group: In addition to replenishing propellant for astronauts’ on-orbit consumption during this mission, we also improved the transportation capacity of on-orbit experimental equipment loads.

At the same time, the cargo spacecraft itself serves as an experimental platform and carries a number of scientific experiments.

(CCTV News Client)