Długi marsz po raz trzechsetny 09.03. o 16:28:04,541 z Xichang wystrzelona została RN CZ-3B/G2, która wyniosła na orbitę o parametrach:
hp=181 km, ha=40603 km, i=24,64° geostacjonarnego satelitę telekomunikacyjnego Zhongxing-6C. Był to
trzechsetny start rakiet z rodziny Chang Zheng (Długi Marsz).
http://lk.astronautilus.pl/n190301.htm#03Start CZ-3B z Zhongxing-6C BY KRZYSZTOF KANAWKA ON 10 MARCA 2019
Start CZ-3B - 09.03.2019 / Credits - XinhuaDziewiątego marca rakieta CZ-3B wyniosła chińskiego satelitę telekomunikacyjnego Zhongxing-6C.
Do startu doszło 9 marca 2019 o godzinie 17:28 CET. Start odbył się z kosmodromu Xichang. Rakieta CZ-3B wyniosła satelitę telekomunikacyjnego Zhongxing-6C. Lot przebiegł prawidłowo i satelita został wprowadzony na odpowiednią orbitę geostacjonarną transferową (GTO).
Na pokładzie Zhongxing-6C znalazło się 25 transponderów na paśmie C o łącznej mocy 8 kW. Satelita Zhongxing-6C a wymiary 2,36×2,10×3,6 metra (w konfiguracji złożonej) i masę startową 5,2 tony. Satelita ma panele słoneczne o mocy 10,5 kW (wartość dla “końca misji”). Czas działania tego satelity to minimum 15 lat.
Zhongxing-6C ma służyć głównie do transmisji sygnału TV i radiowego na potrzeby wewnętrzne Chin. To państwo ma duże potrzeby telekomunikacyjne, zarówno cywilne jak i wojskowe.
Następny start rakiety orbitalnej planowany jest na 14 marca. Tego dnia rakieta Sojuz-FG wyniesie na orbitę kapsułę Sojuz MS-12, na pokładzie której znajdzie się troje kosmonautów.
(PFA)
https://kosmonauta.net/2019/03/start-cz-3b-z-zhongxing-6c/China Focus: China's Long March rockets complete 300 launchesSource: Xinhua| 2019-03-10 17:26:30|Editor: Lu Hui
The "ChinaSat 6C" satellite is launched by a Long March-3B carrier rocket from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in southwest China's Sichuan Province, March 10, 2019. It will provide high-quality radio and TV transmission services. (Xinhua/Guo Wenbin)XICHANG, March 10 (Xinhua) -- With a Long March-3B rocket putting a new communication satellite into orbit on Sunday, China's Long March carrier rocket series completed 300 launches, having sent more than 500 spacecraft into space since 1970.
"This is a milestone for China's space industry development," said Wu Yansheng, board chairman of the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC).
The Long March carrier rocket series, developed by CASC, is responsible for about 96.4 percent of all the launch missions in China.
It took 37 years for the Long March rockets to complete the first 100 launches, 7.5 years to complete the second 100 launches, and only about four years to accomplish the final 100, with the average number of launches per year increasing from 2.7 to 13.3 and then to 23.5.
"Intensive launches have become normal in China, indicating the rapid development of the space industry, the progress of science and technology and the enhancement of national strength," said Shang Zhi, director of the Space Department of the CASC.
China joined the space club on April 24, 1970, when the Long March-1 carrier rocket launched the country's first satellite, Dongfanghong-1, into orbit. At that time, the carrying capacity of the Long March rocket was only 300 kg.
On November 3, 2016, China's current largest carrier rocket, the Long March-5, made its maiden flight, with its carrying capacity reaching 25 tonnes for low-Earth orbit and 14 tonnes for geosynchronous orbit.
The success rate of the 300 launches of the Long March rockets stood at 96 percent, according to CASC.
During the third 100 launches, the Long March rockets sent a total of 225 spacecraft, weighing about 240 tonnes, into space, with a success rate of 97 percent, reaching a high level in the world, said Shang.
From October 1996 to August 2011, the Long March rockets set a world record for 15 years of successful consecutive launches.
In 2018, the Long March rockets completed 37 consecutive successful launches, ranking a global first for the highest number of successful launches.
A total of 17 types of Long March carrier rockets have been developed and put into use since 1970, ensuring the implementation of a series of key space projects including manned space program, lunar exploration, BeiDou Navigation Satellite System (BDS) and the Gaofen Earth observation project.
In addition, the Long March carrier rockets also launched a large number of meteorological satellites, resource satellites and oceanographic satellites, as well as several innovative science satellites including DAMPE to search for dark matter, the world's first quantum satellite, and an electromagnetic satellite to study earthquakes, playing an important role in promoting the economic, social and scientific development in China.
Since the 1990s, the Long March rockets have been designed to be compatible with satellites manufactured in the United States, Europe and other countries and regions.
So far, Chinese rockets have launched 56 international commercial satellites and carried more than 20 small satellites or payloads into space for international customers.
The Long March carrier rockets helped provide launch services for countries participating in the Belt and Road Initiative, including Algeria, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia. The services have been extended from launching satellites to the construction of ground facilities, and management and application of the satellites.
From 2015 to 2016, four types of new generation Long March carrier rockets, using non-toxic and non-polluting propellants, were put into use, greatly improving China's capacity of entering outer space.
New technologies such as 3D printing and intelligent manufacturing have been introduced in the development of China's new generation carrier rockets.
For instance, the Long March-7 is China's first carrier rocket completely designed using digital and virtual reality technology -- no paper blueprint was used throughout the design and production process.
The management and production efficiency of the launching vehicles have also been improved. China is now capable of manufacturing more than 40 carrier rockets every year.
The new generation rocket Long March-6 does not require a fixed launch pad and can be ready for takeoff within seven days. The preparation time to launch a Long March-11 rocket can be as short as several hours.
China's achievements in the space industry have benefited from the enhancement of the comprehensive national strength and the upgrading of its basic industrial capacity. On the other hand, the development of the space industry also helps promote the progress of other industries.
For instance, the development of the Long March-5 rocket, which has a diameter of five meters, involved several Chinese industrial enterprises who helped manufacture the propellant tank.
China has made many technological breakthroughs in the development of the Long March-5 rocket, which has also promoted the country's industrial manufacturing capacity.
Technologies gained from developing the "heart" of rockets are helping China, one of the world's major coal consumers, use coal more cleanly and efficiently.
"In China, a large proportion of the grain you eat every day is grown with chemical fertilizers made of materials produced by coal gasification technology transformed from rocket technology," said Zhu Yuying, vice general manager of the Changzheng Engineering Co., Ltd., a company affiliated with the China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology.
The gasifiers produced by the company can increase the utilization rate of coal from 30 percent to more than 90 percent. And one such gasifier can deal with over 3,000 tonnes of coal every day.
Currently, China is developing new generation medium launch vehicles including the Long March-6A, Long March-7A and Long March-8. A test version of the Long March-5B, which has the largest carrying capacity to low-Earth orbit, has been produced and will be used to launch the modules of China's space station, according to CASC.
China's heavy-lift carrier rocket, the Long March-9, is expected to make its maiden flight around 2030 and will support manned lunar exploration, deep space exploration and construction of a space-based solar power plant.
The diameter of the body of the Long March-9 rocket will be nearly 10 meters. And the manufacturing of the rocket will also push forward the development of new materials, technologies, devices and equipment.
The new generation launch vehicles will gradually replace the old generation carrier rockets, and space transport vehicles will transition from one-time use to reusable in the future, said Shang.
http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2019-03/10/c_137883742.htmChina returns from Spring break with Zhongxing-6C launchwritten by Rui C. Barbosa March 9, 2019
After the long pause due to the Spring Festival, China resumed orbital launch operations with the launch of a new communications satellite by a Long March 3B. The Zhongxing-6C (or ChinaSat-6C) communication satellite was launched at 16:28 UTC Saturday from the LC3 Launch Complex of the Xichang Satellite Launch Center. The launch marked the 300th orbital launch of the Long March family of launch vehicles.
Originally scheduled to launch in September 2017, the Zhongxing-6C (ZX-6C) was developed by the Chinese Academy of Space Technology and is based on the DFH-4 satellite platform.
The new satellite is equipped with twenty five C-band transponders, supporting high-quality and reliable uplink and downlink transmissions of programs for radio, TV stations and cable TV networks. It will be positioned at 130° East. (...)
https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2019/03/china-returns-spring-break-zhongxing-6c-launch/Chinese TV broadcasting satellite launched on 300th Long March rocketMarch 11, 2019 Stephen Clark
The Chinasat 6C satellite. Credit: CASTA Chinese television broadcasting satellite lifted off Saturday aboard a Long March 3B booster, the 300th orbital launch by the country’s Long March rocket family since 1970.
The Long March 3B rocket climbed away from the Xichang space center at 1628 GMT (11:28 a.m. EST) Saturday, and headed east from the inland spaceport located in a hilly region of southwestern China’s Sichuan province. Liftoff occurred at 12:28 a.m. Beijing time Sunday.
The rocket jettisoned four hydrazine-fueled boosters and its core stage less around two-and-a-half minutes into the mission, followed by engine firings by the Long March 3B’s second stage and a cryogenic hydrogen-fueled third stage. Around a half-hour after liftoff, the Long March 3B deployed the Chinasat 6C, or Zhongxing 6C, communications satellite in an elliptical geostationary transfer orbit.
Chinese officials declared the launch a success, and publicly-available tracking data provided by the U.S. military indicated the Chinasat 6C spacecraft was released in an orbit ranging in altitude between 120 miles (200 kilometers) and roughly 25,500 miles (41,000 kilometers), with an inclination of 24.6 degrees to the equator.
The Chinasat 6C satellite, based on the DFH-4 spacecraft design built by the China Academy of Space Technology, will use its own propulsion system to maneuver into a circular geostationary orbit more than 22,000 miles (nearly 36,000 kilometers) over the equator, entering service at a position at 130 degrees east longitude to provide television broadcast services for China Satcom.
The launch of Chinasat 6C marked the 300th orbital flight by a member of the Long March rocket family, which debuted April 24, 1970, when a Long March 1 rocket carried China’s first satellite into space. China has upgraded the Long March series, originally based on long-range missile technology, with new engines, strap-on boosters, and upper stages over the last five decades.
The Long March 3 rocket first flew in 1984, and the Long March 3B model launched for the first time in 1996.
But the Long March 3B’s inaugural launch from Xichang ended in disaster when the rocket flew off course moments after liftoff and crashed into a nearby village. China’s state-run Xinhua news agency reported the accident killed six people, but some estimates put the death toll much higher.
China has launched several new Long March rocket designs, including the kerosene-fueled Long March 5, Long March 6 and Long March 7 launchers, and the solid-fueled Long March 11. The newest Long March rocket variants no longer consume toxic hydrazine and nitrogen tetroxide propellants, and the Long March 5 and 7 are based at a new spaceport on Hainan Island, allowing the launchers to fly over water, instead of land.
The Long March 5 is the heaviest rocket in China’s inventory, capable of hauling up to 25 metric tons (55,000 pounds) to low Earth orbit. China has launched two Long March 5 rockets to date, but the second flight in 2017 faltered before reaching orbit, following a successful inaugural launch in 2016.
China plans to launch the third Long March 5 rocket as soon as July, paving the way for the launch of the Chang’e 5 lunar sample return mission before the end of the year on the fourth Long March 5 mission.
Since the Long March 5’s failure in 2017, China’s Long March family has logged 50 consecutive successful launches, delivering navigation, communications and scientific missions to space. Long March rockets have launched 460 spacecraft since 1970, including more than 50 satellites from foreign owners, according to the China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology, or CALT, China’s primary rocket-builder.
China’s launch rate has quickened in recent years. It took 37 years to accomplish the first 100 Long March launches, eight years for the second 100 flights, and four years for the third 100 missions.
The Chinasat 6C satellite launched Saturday is designed for a 15-year mission, with 25 C-band transponders covering China, Southeast Asia, Australia and islands in the South Pacific, according to information released by CAST, the spacecraft’s manufacturer.
Chinasat 6C will broadcast television programming, and features “enhanced” anti-interference technology, such as beam and frequency switching, and the suppression of unauthorized uplinks to the satellite, CAST officials said.
https://spaceflightnow.com/2019/03/11/chinese-tv-broadcasting-satellite-launched-on-300th-long-march-rocket/https://space.skyrocket.de/doc_sdat/zx-6c.htm