In 2024, China's manned spacecraft - the first mission is ready, which will also open the first phase of China's manned spacecraft mission, what is it?That is, the three astronauts of China's Shenzhou-17 will meet the "Tianzhou-7" cargo spacecraft on the Chinese space station.
Therefore, China's manned space program in 2024 will be a new starting point.
As for the time of the launch of Tianzhou-7, I also disclosed a little bit to you, so let's explain it step by step, of course, first review the situation of China's aerospace in 2023, you can understand it.
2023 - China's aerospace continues to set new records, creating many firsts!
For 2023, although my country is still a lot worse than the United States, which has the strongest space launch capacity in the world. However, China's space launch in 2023 will also continue to refresh, and there is a probability of breaking through new heights in 2024.
In 2023, according to recorded data, more than 60 launches will be carried out throughout the year, and more than 200 spacecraft will be launched, of which the Long March series of carrier rockets will be successfully launched more than 500 times.
Of course, when it comes to the Long March series, the last launch of the Long March series was the successful launch of the Long March 2C, and after its success, China will also break the Long March-2C launch vehicle in 2023, and also break the annual launch record of this model.
According to statistics, in 2023, the Aerospace Science and Technology Group has carried out 48 space launches, including 47 Long March series carrier rockets and 1 Jielong-3 carrier rocket, and sent more than 130 spacecraft (including carrying) into the predetermined orbit, and all launch missions have been a complete success, and China's Long March series carrier rocket winning streak has been refreshed to 175 times.
Therefore, this is a new data in China's space launches. Moreover, in 2023, my country has also made a lot of achievements, and many of them have appeared in front of everyone for the first time:
The Long March-2D rocket successfully launched 41 satellites, setting a new record for the number of satellites launched in a single space flight in China.
The world's first liquid oxygen methane rocket, Suzaku II, successfully carried out a multi-satellite launch mission for the first time.
The Jielong-3 carrier rocket carried out the first long-distance mobile launch at sea, and so on.
These are all miracles created by our country in 2023, which also shows that 2023 is really not easy, of course, in 2024, my country may create more achievements, especially the test and application of "repeatable rockets".
Once the breakthrough occurs, the number of launches will increase again, the most typical is that the large liquid launch vehicle Tianlong 3 will make its first flight in June 2024, which is China's version of the "Falcon 9", after success, it may provide support for the formation of China's star network, and China's star network plan is already underway.
Therefore, in 2024, China's space launches will not only exceed 60, but may be more.
This is a basic explanation of China's space launch in 2023, just take a look. No, the most typical Chinese manned space launch in 2024 is already being prepared.
In 2024, China's first manned space flight will be launched - Tianzhou-7.
According to China's manned space program in 2024, it is expected to carry out four missions: Tianzhou-7 cargo spacecraft, Shenzhou-18 manned spacecraft, Tianzhou-8 cargo spacecraft, and Shenzhou-19 manned spacecraft, so the first task is the launch of Tianzhou-7 cargo spacecraft.
The cargo spacecraft of the Tianzhou-7 mission and the Long March-7 Yao-8 carrier rocket are already in preparation at China's Wenchang Space Launch Site. The cargo spacecraft has not changed much, and it also belongs to the same batch as China's Tianzhou-6 cargo spacecraft.
You can take a look at the Tianzhou-6 cargo spacecraft for comparison, its total weight is 135 tons, length 106 meters, cargo capacity 74 tons, effective loading volume 22At 5 cubic meters, this is also one of the most powerful cargo spacecraft in the world.
Therefore, it is also a powerful cargo spacecraft, after the launch of this cargo spacecraft, it is possible to send "new gifts for the New Year" to China's Shenzhou 17 astronauts Tang Hongbo, Tang Shengjie and Jiang Xinlin, which is why many people are looking forward to China's announcement of the list of cargo materials, hoping to see what it is.
Of course, in terms of time, China is expected to launch in mid-January 2024, but there is also a time calculated through the orbital data of the Chinese space station, which is about 2024-01-15 23:22:39 Beijing time ( 15 min) launch, this time is not 100% accurate, the changed space may exist, this is only a calculated "window period".
I did see through the orbital changes of the Chinese space station, and the data of inclination, on January 15, 2024, there is an altitude angle of 80 degrees, which may indeed be the best point for docking.
After all, there is still room for change, because the adjustment of the window period is greatly affected by the outside world, and it needs to be determined by a variety of factors such as the nature of the mission, the arrangement of the launch mission, and the weather conditions in the field, and its length and accuracy vary greatly depending on the mission, some are calculated in days, some are calculated in hours, and some are calculated in minutes and seconds.
Tianzhou-6 has achieved "zero window" in China, which is also the result of scientific and accurate calculations based on the automatic rendezvous and docking needs of Tianzhou-6 and China's space station.
Therefore, the launch time of Tianzhou-7, the first launch of China's manned space flight in 2024, will be based on the precise time announced by my country's space center, and I can only say that what I see is only a possibility, calculated, and there is room for change, which is the approximate situation.
Summary. The launch of Tianzhou-7 is a very important mission, which is also the most typical mission in the manned space program in 2024, and it is also expected to carry out a "good start" for China's manned spaceflight.
Of course, before the launch of Tianzhou-7, China may also have some other launches, but the specific arrangements have not yet been seen.
When the mission is carried out in the real sense, I will show you the explanation, so the manned space program is expected to continue to be carried out perfectly, and China's manned space flight will also enter a "high frequency" launch state in the future.
Because the launch of China's space station may be further improved in the future, especially after foreign astronauts and foreign projects join the comprehensive layout, the frequency of space launches may also be randomly adjusted.
Moreover, China does not want to upgrade China's space station, from three to six cabins, then when building the space station, it will also promote the launch frequency, which depends on the later arrangement.
Anyway, in a word, China's aerospace industry has created a lot of achievements in 2023, and I hope that in 2024, it will reach a higher level and achieve more research breakthroughs through the implementation of space missions.