dimanche 30 décembre 2018

CASC - Long March-2D launches Hongyan-1 and six Yunhai-2 satellites













CASC - China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation logo.

December 30, 2018


Image above: A Long March 2D rocket lifts off Saturday from the Jiuquan space base in northwestern China’s Inner Mongolia region. Image Credit: China Aerospace Science and Technology Corp. (CASC).

A Chinese Long March 2D booster climbed into orbit from the Jiuquan space base in the northwest of the country Saturday, delivering seven small satellites to space on communications and weather research missions with the help of a new upper stage capable of firing more than 20 times over two days.

With more than 650,000 pounds of thrust, the liquid-fueled Long March 2D rocket took off at 08:00 GMT (3 a.m. EST; 4 p.m. Beijing time) Saturday from Jiuquan, a remote military base in the Gobi Desert. Heading toward the southeast, the Long March 2D’s two main stages fired before giving way to a new upper stage to maneuver the mission’s six payloads into two distinct orbits.

Long March-2D launches Hongyan-1 and six Yunhai-2 satellites

The new upper stage, named Yuanzheng 3, is an evolution of the Yuanzheng 1 upper stage used on launches by other Long March rocket variants to inject Beidou navigation satellites into their intended orbits thousands of miles above Earth.


Yuanzheng 3 upper stage

Three of the six Yunhai 2 satellites were released in an orbit around 320 miles (520 kilometers) above Earth at an inclination of 50 degrees to the equator, and the Yuanzheng 3 boosted the other three into a 680-mile-high (1,095-kilometer) orbit at the same inclination, according to CASC.

CASC said the Yunhai 2 satellites will measure atmospheric environmental factors and the space environment, and help in disaster prevention and mitigation. China released no other details about the satellites or their instrumentation.

Yunhai satellite

The Hongyan test satellite will test L-band and Ka-band communications technologies in orbit to pave the way for a planned constellation to provide global communications services. It’s the second low Earth orbit communications satellite launched by China this month, following the Dec. 21 deployment of a pathfinder for the separate Hongyun broadband network.

For more information about China Aerospace Science and Technology Corp (CASC), visit: http://english.spacechina.com/n16421/index.html

Images, Video, Text, Credits: CASC/SciNews/Spaceflight Now/Stephen Clark

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