CZ-6 : Petit lanceur de nouvelle génération

Current Long March Rockets To Keep Flying
Nov 8, 2010   
By Bradley Perrett

BEIJING — China’s Long March 2, 3 and 4 launchers will continue to serve for at least 10 years, according to Meng Guang, vice president of Shanghai-based space contractor SAST.

The current Long March 2, 3 and 4 are distinguished from the upcoming Long March 5, 6 and 7 rockets by their use of hydrazine fuel. The first launch of the Long March 5 heavy rocket is due in 2014.

“I think the Long March 6 and 7 will eventually replace Long March 2 and 4 and maybe Long March 3 as well,” Meng says, briefing a delegation from the U.S. space industry on the company’s progress.

But no plans for phasing out any of the earlier Long Marches have been announced by CASC (China Aerospace Science & Technology Corp.). In particular, the group cannot be anxious to replace Long March 2F, its human-rated launcher.

CALT, which builds the Long March 2F, says that rocket might become a launcher for space tourism. It is already used for high-profile unmanned missions, such as the launch of the Chang’e 1 and 2 lunar probes. The U.S. delegation saw a Long March 2F being assembled at CALT’s Beijing headquarters for next year’s launch of the first Tiangong orbital laboratory. The rocket had been modified structurally to carry Tiangong 1, which, at about 10 tons, is 1 ton heavier than the Shenzhou manned spacecraft.

SAST builds the Long March 4 in two versions, both with three stages and no boosters, and the Long March 2D, a two-stage derivative.

Long March 3 manufacturing is now mainly a CALT activity, SAST says, but the Shanghai company builds some components for that launcher, which, with three stages and boosters, is China’s heaviest.

In addressing the U.S. delegation, organized by the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics and the Chinese Society of Astronautics, Meng promoted the idea of China building rocket structures for U.S. companies. “The body is not such high technology,” he says, suggesting that such joint activity should not be so sensitive.

There is, however, little sign that the U.S. government will ease its ban on technical cooperation with the Chinese space industry — certainly not as far as allowing Beijing’s state enterprises to build parts of U.S. launchers.

SAST says it has 19,200 staff, including 8,700 engineers. Its assets are valued at 21 billion yuan ($3.2 billion) and its revenue last year was 14 billion yuan. Meng expects that to grow to 17-18 billion yuan this year, partly because of the company’s expansion into solar power for applications on the ground. Like other parts of the Chinese space industry, SAST is under pressure from the central government to find ways of applying its technology to promote the civil economy.

In China’s manned space program, centered on Shenzhou and Tiangong, SAST says it builds the docking mechanisms, some structure, the telemetry, tracing and command system, and important parts of the electrical system.

The company is particularly proud of its docking mechanism, citing the opinion of an unnamed Russian engineer who reckoned it was better than the Russian one. Meng repeated China’s expression of willingness to work with the U.S. to ensure compatibility.

 China's New Rocket Family Seems to Have a Gap

Posted by Bradley Perrett at 11/18/2010 10:18 AM CST  

China is developing a new family of rockets that will replace at least part of the current series of Long March 2, 3 and 4 space launchers.

I say "at least part of" because there seems to be a gap in the line-up. Long March 6, still under development by SAST in Shanghai, will be capable of launching 1 ton to an orbit of 600 km., SAST says. Long March 7, a product of CALT in Beijing, is designed for launching payloads of 10-20 tons to low Earth orbit.

Even allowing for greater throw weights to less than 600 km., there is clearly a big space between the two launchers. Yet CALT and SAST do not reject the suggestion that one day the new series will replace the old one.

The answer may be that the quoted Long March 6 payload is that of the minimum version of that rocket, whereas the biggest, with a full set of boosters, would approach Long March 7 capability.

CALT discussed Long March 7 plans with Aviation Week at Airshow China in Zhuhai this week. A report will appear in Aviation Week & Space Technology next week.

Two Missions for China’s Space Program
By Eric Johnson | May. 27, 2013

SHANGHAI — Yang Yuguang, a researcher for the state-run spacecraft builder China Aerospace Science and Technology Corp., had finished his presentation on new orbiting module components, including a locking system for dockings and a space station water recycler, when a man at the back of the conference room raised his hand.

“Can I buy that?” the man blurted.

“It will be a pleasure for us to sell these products on the international market,” Yang replied.

This brief exchange May 21 here at a conference of the International Academy of Astronautics and the Chinese Society of Astronautics highlighted the dual-track nature of China’s robust space program.

Rolled out in recent years on the program’s track for science and discovery were Long March rockets, four manned spaceflights, the now-orbiting Tiangong space station, an asteroid rendezvous project and scores of satellites including a constellation for a soon-to-be global Beidou navigation system.

Liftoff for China’s next manned spaceflight, Shenzhou 10, could come as early as late May, and China’s first lunar lander with a robotic rover, to be delivered by a Chang’e 3 probe, is slated to launch in the fall.

Meanwhile, on the program’s commercial track, China has continued to roll out a growing range of products and services, from antennas and imagers to payload launch services and satellite systems that can be orbitally delivered with complementary tracking bases on the ground.

Conference participants heard Yang introduce a half-dozen products. Later they heard a more subtle pitch from Lin Jianfeng, a deputy research director at the Shanghai Academy of Spaceflight Technology (SAST), who described China’s rockets and orbital delivery services.

Lin said SAST, one of two government agencies in charge of orbital deliveries, has used Long March rockets to deploy more than 70 domestic and customer satellites. Last year’s launches include an Earth observation satellite for the government of Turkey and a maritime tracking satellite for LuxSpace, a Luxembourg-based satellite builder owned by OHB AG of Germany.

Also last year, China sold and installed a $35 million ground tracking system for Venezuela as part of what the Caracas government said was a $145 million package deal for an Earth observation satellite, VRSS-1, that launched in September. VRSS-1 was the second satellite China built for Brazil. The first, a telecommunications satellite dubbed Simon Bolivar, launched in 2008.

SAST offers “convenient and high-quality launch services for international users,” Lin said. He also emphasized “reliability at a reasonable cost.”

To date, Lin said, China has launched 179 Long March series rockets. He said the next generation of rockets — the “green propulsion” Long March 5 and Long March 6, powered by liquid oxygen-kerosene fuel — are expected to be ready for launch by 2015.

Lin said the new rockets’ advantages include a shorter time frame for launch preparations and a high-performance propulsion system. Up to four payloads can ride on a single vehicle. But older members of the Long March family could continue to be used if that is what launch customers demand.

The commercial track for China’s space program also has included the development of hyperspectral remote sensing satellites with the capacity to identify layers of valuable minerals underground and evaluate the seasonal progress of farm crops, said Zhu Weiguo, a SAST senior engineer. His presentation included a satellite image of a swath of Tibet where minerals have been detected from space.

Zhu also described noncommercial applications for the hyperspectral-device satellites. They can, for example, track coal and factory emissions and monitor water sources including glaciers.

“The goal is to have precise Earth observations,” he said.

What is unclear, however, is whether Chinese government agencies will use hyperspectral remote sensing satellites to, for example, enforce air pollution standards. The project to build the system began in 2007, Zhu said, but the first fully equipped satellite will not be ready for launch until at least 2016.

“The applications can be very large,” Zhu said. “The question is, who will pay?”

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