Space Chinese Space Photos & News

[AAR Galileo]

An out-of-control Chinese space station moving at 17,000mph is set to plummet to Earth over the Easter weekend, leaving space experts scrambling to guess where.
Tiangong-1, or "The Heavenly Palace," could re-enter the atmosphere over a major city and scientists will not know until a few hours before it happens.

China's first space station, which weighs eight tonnes, was supposed to have a "controlled re-entry" splashing down in the Pacific Ocean thousands of miles from civilisation.

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2018/03/27/chinas-falling-space-station-hit-earth-days/

 

[Bombardier]

China launched its 6th ballistic missile early warning satellite, SJ-11-06.
March 2014
Photos recovered from MPN archive via Wayback Machine

 

[Bombardier]

Just found this information about the above launch

The first Chinese satellite launch of 2014 was on 31 March and was of Shijian 11-06 (SJ-11-06). Chinese media reported this as an experimental satellite and provided no further details. However, the positioning of the Shijian 11 constellation, and similarities to the launch vehicle and orbit of Shiyan Weixing 2 (SY-2), launched on 18 November 2004, which tested IR sensors, has led some analysts to believe that the purpose is to support a ballistic missile early warning system, with satellites equipped with infrared sensors to detect missile launches. SJ-11-06 is the fifth satellite in the constellation; SJ-11-04 was lost in August 2011 after failure of the second stage of the launch vehicle.

An image of a Chinese Military Satellite

 

[bdpopeye]

China sends a lot f satellites into space...lots...some more recent launches.

A Long March-4C rocket carrying a relay satellite, named Queqiao (Magpie Bridge), is launched at 5:28 a.m. from southwest China's Xichang Satellite Launch Center, May 21, 2018. The relay satellite will set up a communication link between Earth and the planned Chang'e-4 lunar probe that will explore the mysterious far side of Moon. (Photo: China News Service/Liang Keyan)

China launches a new meteorological satellite, Fengyun-3D, at 2:35 a.m. Beijing Time from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center in northern China's Shanxi Province, Nov. 15, 2017. A Long March-4C rocket carried the satellite into space. The satellite has entered its orbit. (Xinhua/Zhang Hongwei)

China launches the Yaogan-30 01 satellites on a Long March-2C rocket from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in Xichang, southwest China's Sichuan Province, Sept. 29, 2017. The Yaogan-30 01 satellites will conduct electromagnetic probes and other experiments. The launch is the 251st flight mission of the Long March rocket family. (Xinhua/Bai Xiaofei)

A Long March-4C rocket carrying the first group of China's Yaogan-31 remote sensing satellites and a micro nano technology experiment satellite is launched from Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China's Gansu Province, April 10, 2018. (Xinhua/Wang Jiangbo)

China launches a land exploration satellite into a preset orbit from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in the Gobi desert, northwest China's Gansu Province, Dec. 3, 2017. The satellite is mainly used for remote sensing exploration of land resources. A Long March-2D rocket carried the satellite into space. (Xinhua/Zhen Zhe)

 

[bdpopeye]

China has launched six manned space missions since it's first one 2003. That's 15 years. In the first 15 years of manned space flight the NASA & Russians launched 30 manned missions each. I think the Chinese are overly cautious with their manned space program.

Backgrounder: China's six manned space missions
by Staff Writers
Beijing (XNA) Jan 23, 2018

Since the establishment of the Taikonaut Corps of the People's Liberation Army in 1998, Chinese taikonauts have completed six manned spaceflights, conducted over 100 scientific experiments and orbited the earth for 68 days and nights.

The corps recruited its first batch of 14 taikonauts from the elite pilots of the PLA Air Force in 1998. In 2010, seven more former pilots joined the mission.

The following are the details of each manned spaceflight:

SHENZHOU-5
China launched its first manned space mission in 2003, becoming the third country in the world to independently develop manned spaceflight, after Russia and the United States.

Yang Liwei became well-known as China's first taikonaut in space after orbiting the earth 14 times and traveling some 600,000 kilometers in space in 21 hours, a record for the world's most populous nation.

SHENZHOU-6
Two years later, a second manned spaceflight in 2005 put two other taikonauts Fei Junlong and Nie Haisheng on a five-day journey in space.

The mission aimed to master technology relating to a "multi-person and multi-day" orbital flight, as well as to carry out manned space-related scientific experiments and medical experiments.

SHENZHOU-7
In 2008, China had its first spacewalker. Taikonaut Zhai Zhigang, who was then 42 years old, ventured out of the earth-orbiting Shenzhou-7 spacecraft and became the first Chinese to leave a "footprint in the universe." China thus became the third country in the world capable of spacewalks.

Two other taikonauts Liu Boming and Jing Haipeng were also onboard the Shenzhou-7 spacecraft.

SHENZHOU-9
During the 13-day journey through space, three taikonauts Jing Haipeng, Liu Wang and Liu Yang, aboard the Shenzhou-9 spacecraft, completed China's first manned space docking with the country's first space lab Tiangong-1.

Liu Yang became China's first woman in space.

It also marked the beginning of a new journey for China as it inched closer to its goal of building a permanent space station by around 2020.

SHENZHOU-10
Shenzhou-10 was China's first application-oriented spaceflight. In its 15-day journey in space, Shenzhou-10 docked with the orbiting space lab Tiangong-1 twice, once through automatic operation and once manually.

Three taikonauts Nie Haisheng, Zhang Xiaoguang and Wang Yaping spent 12 days in Tiangong-1, where they conducted medical experiments and technical tests.

Female taikonaut Wang Yaping delivered China's first space lecture to students on Earth, about basic physics principles.

SHENZHOU-11
In the most recent Shenzhou-11 manned space mission in 2016, China achieved its first mid-term in-orbit stay by putting two taikonauts, Jing Haipeng and Chen Dong, in the space lab Tiangong-2 for 30 days, the longest-ever space mission in the country.

The two taikonauts spent a total of 33 days in space.

With the establishment of its own space station, which is expected around 2020, China will carry out manned space missions on a regular basis, and engineers and even tourists will then hopefully go to space.

China's manned space flight

 

[bdpopeye]

China's most recent manned space mission took place in October 2016.



Chinese astronauts Jing Haipeng (L) and Chen Dong meet the media at a press conference at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China, Oct. 16, 2016. The two male astronauts will carry out the Shenzhou 11 mission. The Shenzhou 11 manned spacecraft will be launched at 7:30 a.m. Oct. 17, 2016 Beijing Time (2330 GMT Oct. 16). [Photo / Xinhua]



Taikonauts Jing Haipeng (L) and Chen Dong attend the see-off ceremony of the Shenzhou-11 manned space mission at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in Jiuquan, northwest China's Gansu Province, Oct. 17, 2016. (Xinhua/Li Gang)



Taikonauts Jing Haipeng (L) and Chen Dong wave during the see-off ceremony of the Shenzhou-11 manned space mission at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in Jiuquan, northwest China's Gansu Province, Oct. 17, 2016. (Xinhua/Li Gang)







China's manned spacecraft Shenzhou-11 blasted off Monday, OCT 17th 2016, morning from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China's Gobi desert. [Photo/Xinhua]

The spacecraft, with two male astronauts on board, was launched at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China's Gobi desert at 7:30 a.m. Beijing Time Monday atop a Long March-2F Y11 carrier rocket.

The spacecraft later entered the designated orbit.

The mission was declared a success by Zhang Youxia, commander-in-chief of China's manned space program, about 19 minutes after the blast-off.

President Xi Jinping, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, sent a message of congratulations on the successful launch. Fan Changlong, vice chairman of the Central Military Commission (CMC), read Xi's message.

 

[bdpopeye]

[url=https://imgur.com/P6qFJMc]

Photos taken on Oct. 17, 2016 shows the screen at the Beijing Aerospace Control Center in Beijing, capital of China, showing astronauts Jing Haipeng (R) and Chen Dong shaking hands in China's manned Shenzhou 11 spacecraft. China on Monday successfully launched the manned spacecraft Shenzhou 11 that will dock with the space lab Tiangong 2. The spacecraft, with two male astronauts on board, was launched at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China's Gobi desert at 7:30 a.m. Beijing Time Monday atop a Long March 2F Y11 carrier rocket. (Photo/Xinhua)



Chinese astronauts Jing Haipeng and Chen Dong enter the Tiangong 2 module Oct. 18. Credit: CCTV video still[/URL]

 

[bdpopeye]

Chinese astronauts complete desert survival training

Taikonaut Liu Wang exits from a re-entry capsule during a wilderness survival training in the Badain Jaran Desert in Northwest China's Gansu province, May 17, 2018. [Photo/Xinhua]

JIUQUAN - Fifteen Chinese astronauts have just completed desert survival training deep in the Badain Jaran Desert near Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China.
Organized by the Astronaut Center of China (ACC), the program was designed to prepare astronauts with the capacity to survive in the wilderness in the event their re-entry capsule lands off target.

Before venturing into space, astronauts have to survive in various hostile environments as a part of their technical training. Wilderness survival training is an important part of astronaut training in space agencies worldwide, leaving space mission candidates stranded at sea, in deserts, in jungles or on glaciers.

Taikonauts Nie Haisheng (C), Zhang Xiaoguang (L) and Liu Wang participate in a wilderness survival training in the Badain Jaran Desert in Northwest China's Gansu province, May 17, 2018. [Photo/Xinhua]

Taikonauts Nie Haisheng (L) and Liu Wang exit from a re-entry capsule during a wilderness survival training in the Badain Jaran Desert in Northwest China's Gansu province, May 17, 2018. [Photo/Xinhua]

Taikonauts Wang Yaping (R) and Chen Dong participate in a wilderness survival training in the Badain Jaran Desert in Northwest China's Gansu province, May 17, 2018. [Photo/Xinhua]

Taikonauts Nie Haisheng (3rd R), Liu Wang (1st L) and Zhang Xiaoguang (1st R) participate in a wilderness survival training in the Badain Jaran Desert in Northwest China's Gansu province, May 17, 2018. [Photo/Xinhua]

 

[bdpopeye]

The Shenzhou-11 reentry capsule that brought astronauts Jing Haipeng and Chen Dong safely back to Earth on November 18, 2016. Wu Yunsheng China Daily



Taikonauts Jing Haipeng and Chen Dong are seen after landing on board China's Shenzhou 11 spacecraft on Nov. 18. (Xinhua)

 

[TIGREDELAIRE]

It is very interesting to see photographs about the space missions of China, the Taikonauts, anyone know if they had some setbacks such as the Soviets and Americans in the beginning?

 

[bdpopeye]

It is very interesting to see photographs about the space missions of China, the Taikonauts, anyone know if they had some setbacks such as the Soviets and Americans in the beginning?

None that anyone can find a record of. Of course the Chinese are very secretive about almost everything technical and military wise.

 

[bdpopeye]

​

China sends twin satellites into space via the Long March-3B carrier rocket from Xichang Satellite Launch Center in Xichang, southwest China's Sichuan Province, July 29, 2018. The twin satellites are the 33rd and 34th of the BeiDou navigation system. (Xinhua/Liang Keyan)



Two remote sensing satellites, both part of the Yaogan-32 family, are launched by a Long March-2C rocket with an attached upper stage named Yuanzheng-1S, or Expedition-1S, at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in Jiuquan, northwest China's Gansu Province, Oct. 9, 2018. The satellites have entered their planned orbits and will be used for electromagnetic environment surveys and other related technology tests. (Xinhua/Wang Jiangbo)



Quote:
A Long March-4C rocket carrying the first group of China's Yaogan-31 remote sensing satellites and a micro nano technology experiment satellite is launched from Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China's Gansu Province, April 10, 2018. (Xinhua/Wang Jiangbo)[/ont]

 

[TIGREDELAIRE]

the style of the rocket is like French or am I wrong?
the capsule reminds me of Soviet-Russian models, you can see the influence and the support received from them

 

[bdpopeye]

the style of the rocket is like French or am I wrong?
the capsule reminds me of Soviet-Russian models, you can see the influence and the support received from them

All rockets are similar. The Chinese did event gunpowder fired rockets. read about the Long March family of rocket boosters.

https://www.britannica.com/technology/Chang-Zheng

Chang Zheng, (Chinese: “Long March”) family of Chinese launch vehicles. Like those of the United States and the Soviet Union, China’s first launch vehicles were also based on ballistic missiles. The Chang Zheng 1 (CZ-1, or Long March 1) vehicle, which put China’s first satellite into orbit in 1970, was based on the Dong Feng 3 intermediate range ballistic missile, and the Chang Zheng 2 family of launch vehicles, which has been used for roughly half of Chinese launches, was based on the Dong Feng 5 intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM). There are several models of the CZ-2 vehicle, with different first stages and solid strap-ons; a CZ-2F vehicle was used to launch the first Chinese astronaut, Yang Liwei, into space in October 2003. There are also CZ-3 and CZ-4 launchers. The CZ-3 is optimized for launches to geostationary orbit, and the CZ-4, first launched in 1988, uses hypergolic propellants rather than the conventional kerosene–liquid oxygen combination used in previous Chang Zheng variants.

China has begun development of a second-generation family of launchers, identified as CZ-5, CZ-6, and CZ-7, that are not based on an ICBM design. The CZ-5 can launch payloads to geostationary orbit that are more than five times heavier than those carried by the CZ-4. The first test launch of a CZ-5 is scheduled for 2014. The CZ-6 is designed to launch small payloads of about 1,000 kg (2,200 pounds) to low Earth orbit, and the first CZ-6 launch is expected in 2013. The CZ-7 will be built to launch slightly smaller payloads than those carried by the CZ-5, and its first flight is scheduled for 2014.

John M. Logsdon

 

[bdpopeye]

A Long March 2C rocket carrying a joint Chinese and French oceanography satellite blasts off from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre in northwest China's Gobi Desert, Oct. 29, 2018. The CFOSat mission has been designed to gain new insights into ocean surface characteristics (winds and waves) and their impacts on the atmosphere-ocean exchanges that play a key role in the climate system. (Photo: China News Service/Sun Zifa)

 

[bdpopeye]

China's home-grown global satellite navigation system came a step closer to completion with the launch of another BeiDou-3 satellite at 11:57 p.m 11.02.2018. Thursday from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center, in the southwestern Sichuan Province. Launched on a Long March-3B carrier rocket, it is the 41st of the BeiDou navigation system, and will work with 16 other Beidou-3 satellites already in orbit. It is also the first BeiDou-3 satellite in high orbit, about 36,000 km above the Earth. In a geostationary orbit, following the Earth's rotation, it will view the same point on Earth continuously. (Photo: China News Service/Liang Keyan)

 

[bdpopeye]

A replica of a core module of Chinese Space Station is displayed at Airshow China 2018. (Photo/Courtesy of China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation)





Replicas of China's manned launch vehicles, space station core modules, new generation of carrier rockets and other spacecraft were debuted at Airshow China 2018 on Monday.

 

[bdpopeye]

China launches two series of satellites









China sent Shiyan 6 satellite into space on a Long March 2D carrier rocket from Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in Gansu province at 7:40 am on Tuesday, along with four micro satellites. Shiyan 6 will be mainly used for detecting space environment and testing relative technologies. Two Tianping-1 micro satellites will be deployed for accuracy calibration of ground monitoring equipment. Jiading 1 micro satellite is the first one of a low-orbit commercial communication network "Xiangyun" developed by a Shanghai-based company Space OK. Another micro satellite is developed by the Innovation Academy for Microsatellites of CAS for carrying experiments on adopting the android system in space and the open source satellite software. The flight is the 292nd launch of Long March series rockets.(Photo: China News Service/ Wang Jiangbo)





China sends two new satellites of the BeiDou Navigation Satellite System (BDS) into space on a Long March-3B carrier rocket from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in Sichuan Province at 2:07 a.m. on Nov. 19, 2018. (Xinhua/Ju Zhenhua)

 

[bdpopeye]

At 2:23 on December 8, China successfully launched the No. 4 detector with the Long March 3 B carrier rocket at the Xichang Satellite Launch Center, opening a new journey of lunar exploration.

China launched the Chang'e 4 spacecraft atop a Long March 3B rocket on Friday in a milestone mission to land a rover on the far side of the moon.

While the dark side of the moon has been seen and mapped before, the successful landing of Chang'e 4 would represent the first time any spacecraft has touched down there. The mission is part of China's heavy investment in lunar exploration and growing capabilities in space through the China National Space Administration.

Chang'e 4 comes about two years after China made the first soft landing on the moon since 1976. Similar in design to that Chang'e 3 craft and its "Jade Rabbit" rover, the Chang'e 4 spacecraft will carry a bigger payload and more capabilities. The space agency will use the craft to study geological conditions on the far side of the moon.

It will take Chang'e 4 about three days to travel to the moon, where it will spend about three weeks in orbit. The lander and rover are expected to touch down on the Von Karman crater sometime around Jan. 1. The crater is a relatively flat spot on the moon's far side, according to a GB Times report, although the landing will present many new challenges for China. The rover will be able to communicate with Earth thanks to a relay satellite China launched into lunar orbit in May.



China News Service | Visual China Group | Getty Images
Wu Weiren, chief designer of China's lunar probe program, talks about the Chang'e-4 rover at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse on August 15, 2018 in Beijing, China.

The mission's main contractor, the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation, declared the launch as a success on Friday, as the spacecraft headed toward the moon.

https://www.cnbc.com/2018/12/07/chi...over-mission-to-the-far-side-of-the-moon.html

 

[bdpopeye]

A Long March-2D rocket carrying six Yunhai-2 satellites and a test communication satellite blasts off from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China, Dec. 29, 2018. The six atmospheric environment research satellites will be used to study atmospheric environment, monitor space environment, prevent and reduce disasters, and conduct scientific experiments. (Xinhua/Hao Wei)



Long March-3C carrier rocket blasts off from the launch pad at the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in Xichang, southwest China's Sichuan Province, Dec. 25, 2018.





China successfully launched the No. 3 telecommunication technology test satellite on Tuesday. (Photo: China News Service/Wang Yulei)



Dry powder of DNA from a South China tiger of the Guangzhou Zoo was blasted into space by the Long March 11 carrier rocket on Saturday for backup storage of the genes of this endangered species.



The launch site for the Long March 11 carrier rocket, which took the dry powder of DNA of a South China tiger into space on Saturday. （Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn）

The DNA launched at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwestern China comes from the blood of a male South China tiger named Kang Kang, according to the zoo in Guangzhou, capital of Guangdong province.

On orbit about 1,000 kilometers above the ground and banking on the low temperature and vacuum in space, the launch marks a positive exploration in the protection and backup of species resources.