#chinese_space_program.

Chinese private space companies have joined the development of their own efficient and powerful methane engines China is actively developing a program to create engines based on the full cycle of methane combustion for its reusable cargo launch vehicle Long March 9. The development of such engines, providing a thrust of 200 tons, includes a full cycle of design and creation of components. The tests tested prototypes and components such as ignitors, gas generators and nozzle chambers. Scientists from the Xi'an Aerospace Propulsion Institute have detailed the progress China has made in developing engines powered by methane and oxygen. The institute is an important design unit of the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC), responsible for the development of liquid propellant rocket engines. According to CASC officials, the first stage of the Long March 9 super-heavy launch vehicle will include 26 reusable engines. The first test launch of the powerful rocket is scheduled for 2033. [caption id="attachment_85016" align="aligncenter" width="780"] Long March 9 and Long March 5 rockets[/caption] The study of engines based on a complete stepwise combustion cycle of methane and oxygen began in China back in the 1980s. Currently, methanolox engines with a capacity of 10 and 80 tons of thrust have been developed. The latter have already undergone successful fire tests and have become a breakthrough in the reliability and reusability of the engine. According to CASC's plans, the development of such engines will contribute to China's plans for large-scale space exploration, including landing on Mars. The main characteristics make the engine based on the full combustion cycle of methane and oxygen comparable to the SpaceX Raptor engine. The world's second full-stage methane-oxygen combustion engine is superior to Blue Origin's BE-4 engine and other domestic and international methane-only engines, although the latter have more thrust. Full combustion cycle engines provide high thrust and efficiency, and also have advantages in reliability and recyclability. However, challenges exist, including complex system configurations, integration and assembly difficulties, and problems with ignition control. The review also notes progress in the development of methanol engines by Chinese commercial enterprises. Specifically mentioned are the Mingfeng-1 engines developed by CASIC, the Tianque engines that power Landspace's Zhuque-2 rocket, the JD-1/Focus-1 engine for iSpace's Hyperbola series of reusable rockets, and the Longyun engines developed by Jiuzhou. Yunjian, and Aerospace Propulsion's Canglong development. Landspace was one of the first to receive private investment after China opened up the space sector to private capital. It successfully launched Zhuque-2, the first and so far only methanol rocket to reach orbit. Now the startup plans to create a methanol rocket made of stainless steel, Zhuque-3, capable of delivering 20 tons of cargo into low Earth orbit in a single-use mode or 16.5 tons in a reusable mode. At the same time, iSpace, which has already made a name for itself in the market, recently conducted a test with the test stage of its methanol Hyperbola rocket. In the near future, it is planned to conduct a test at an altitude of one kilometer. Breakthroughs in methanol propulsion in China, as well as SpaceX's successes and their demonstration of rocket reusability, have led to an adjustment in China's long-term plans. In 2011, plans were presented to equip the Long March 9 super-heavy rocket with kerosene engines providing 500 tons of thrust, together with liquid oxygen. These engines are at a more advanced stage of testing, but will be used in a rocket with an expendable launch system. However, new designs unveiled in 2022–2023 show a Long March 9 rocket configuration using methanol engines without boosters. One of the longer range options resembles the Super Heavy/Starship design. In addition, China is developing a three-stage heavy rocket specifically to send Chinese astronauts to the Moon by 2030. This rocket will be equipped with upgraded Carolox engines based on the technology of the Long March 5 rocket.

This is part of the second stage The remains of the second stage of the CZ-2F/G launch vehicle that recently carried the Shenzhou 17 spacecraft to the Chinese orbital station burned up in the Earth's atmosphere on Friday. According to the Office of the People's Space Flight Program of the People's Republic of China, a few pieces of debris fell into the Pacific Ocean. A statement published on the department's WeChat page clarifies that the second stage of the CZ-2F/G entered the atmosphere at 11:18 Beijing time (06:18 Moscow time). The coordinates of the fall are 158.4 degrees east longitude and 31.3 degrees south latitude. It is approximately 460 km east of Australia. The remains of a Chinese CZ-2F/G missile fell near Australia [caption id="attachment_78873" align="aligncenter" width="768"] Chinese CZ-2F/G missile[/caption] The CZ-2F/G rocket was launched on October 26 at 11:14 Beijing time (06:14 Moscow time) from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northern China. She delivered Shenzhou-17 into orbit with three astronauts on board. The crew will stay at the station for six months, conducting scientific experiments and testing various payloads there. The Chinese station is located at an altitude of approximately 400 km and will operate for more than 10 years. It is designed for three people (up to six for a short time when rotating crews). The mass of the complex in the shape of the letter T (in the foreseeable future it is planned to expand to a cruciform shape), which has three docking nodes and a gateway for access to space, is 66 tons, the volume of the compartments reaches 110 cubic meters. m. In 2022, the orbital facility began operating normally and became available for international projects.

Luna 25 crashed in August The “Dust Monitoring of the Moon” (PmL) device, which was planned to be used during the Luna-25 mission, can go to the Earth’s natural satellite on the Chinese Chang’e-7 apparatus, as reported by the scientific director of the Space Research Institute (IKI) of the Russian Academy of Sciences, academician Leo Green. “It is almost agreed that our lunar dust experiment will be used on the Chang’e 7 mission,” he said, adding that while technical details are being agreed upon, a formal agreement between Roscosmos and the China National Space Administration (CNSA) ) is yet to be concluded. The same device was installed on the Luna-25 device: “We made this device for Luna-25 and are going to do it for Luna-27, but the Chinese, as part of their missions, “opened the door” for foreign experiments and chose, in particular, ours." One of the experiments of the crashed Luna 25 could be carried out on the Chinese Chang'e-7 spacecraft. [caption id="attachment_71547" align="aligncenter" width="780"] Change-7 spacecraft[/caption] The device will record dust particles, which on the illuminated side of the Moon can acquire an electrical charge and levitate above the surface of the satellite. Previously, these particles were detected only by optical methods, in particular with the help of cameras on Soviet landing modules and by astronauts of the American Apollo lunar program. The disadvantage of this approach is the impossibility of making observations anywhere other than the light dividing line on the surface of the Moon: “We made a device to register these particles not by optical methods, but by getting them into the aperture of our device. Thus, we could detect them in any part of the illuminated side of the Moon." Let us remind you that the launch of Luna-25 took place on August 11 from Vostochny. On August 20, Roscosmos announced that the station had ceased to exist.

This “constellation” will also be useful to support future missions to the Moon and other planets China plans to build a three-layer communications, navigation, and remote sensing network to facilitate deep space operations. The satellite cluster will consist of spacecraft located in the vicinity of the Moon and Lagrange points. This will provide communications to spacecraft on the Moon and astronauts. [caption id="attachment_64078" align="aligncenter" width="780"] Queqiao Lunar Satellite network[/caption] China already launched a communications satellite to the L2 Lagrange point in 2019 to provide communications for the Chang'e-4 mission to the far side of the Moon. Lagrange points are regions where the gravitational force of two massive objects balances out in a way that allows spacecraft to remain in orbit in a fixed position relative to the two bodies, in this case, the Earth and the Moon. A larger and more advanced version of Queqiao-2 will be launched in May next year to provide communications for the Chang'e-6, 7, and 8 missions to the far side of the Moon and its South Pole. China plans to create a Queqiao lunar satellite network for deep-space communications Queqiao-2 and two Tiandu satellites will be part of the Queqiao-1 version to create communications between the Earth and the Moon. The Queqiao-3 series satellites will test key technologies in communications, navigation, and remote sensing. According to plans, Queqiao-2 will provide coverage of the entire lunar surface. The proposed topology includes three satellites at each of the Lagrange points L1 and L2, as well as one more at L3, six satellites in circular orbits, a pair in elliptical orbits, and a geostationary interplanetary station. Version 3.0 involves the creation of a communication and navigation system for deep space. This system will provide communications for missions to Mars and Venus. The development of such a system will depend on China's success in its lunar exploration program and space transportation plans. These plans include the International Lunar Research Station (ILRS) project and the Long March 9 super-heavy rocket. China is currently looking for partners for the ILRS project.

The telescope will make breakthroughs in astronomy and raise China's scientific research to the international level The Xuntian telescope has become the most important scientific project since the launch of our country's space station. China is preparing a major project that will not only expand the nation's astronomy research program but also increase the use of the country's space station. The space telescope is called Xuntian, also known as the Chinese Survey Space Telescope, or Chinese Space Station Telescope (CSST). The name “Xuntian” can be translated as “study of the firmament”, or “exploration of the heavens”. [caption id="attachment_64042" align="aligncenter" width="780"] Xuntian space telescope[/caption] new Xuntian space telescope will surpass Hubble in astronomical research. Scheduled for launch next year, the 2-meter CSST space telescope, about the size of a school bus, will share an orbit with China's Tiangong space station, where Chinese astronauts can periodically retool the telescope itself. Its service life is expected to be 10 years, but the telescope's operating time can be extended. Xuntian is designed with the ambition to surpass the Hubble Space Telescope. Lin Siqian, deputy director of the China Space Exploration Agency, said that the telescope is expected to make breakthroughs in cosmology, the study of dark matter and dark energy in our and nearby galaxies, star formation processes, and the study of exoplanets. These are very ambitious goals. Lin said the telescope's 2.5 billion-pixel camera will take high-resolution images to depths of up to 17,500 square degrees. The resolution will be about the same as Hubble, but its field of view will be more than 300 times wider. A telescope's field of view is the area that the telescope can see at one time. In an interview last year, Li Ran, a project scientist for CSST's scientific data systems, used the analogy of taking pictures of a herd of sheep to explain CSST's capabilities: "Hubble can see one sheep, but CSST can see thousands, all with the same resolution." The launch of Xuntian into Earth orbit is expected in 2024 using a Long March 5B rocket.