At 8:13 a.m. on December 30, China successfully launched the satellite Internet technology test satellite using the Long March-2C carrier rocket at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, and the satellite successfully entered the predetermined orbit, and the launch mission was a complete success. Xinhua News Agency (photo by Wang Jiangbo).
On the morning of December 30, the Long March-2C carrier rocket and the upper stage of the Yuanzheng-1S ignited and took off at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, successfully launching the satellite Internet technology test satellite, and the satellite successfully entered the predetermined orbit, and the launch mission was a complete success, completing the "final battle" of this year's Long March series of launch vehicles.
The Long March-2C carrier rocket launched this time together with the upper stage of Yuanzheng-1S, which is developed by the China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology, a subsidiary of the Aerospace Science and Technology Group, can carry out orbital launch tasks such as low earth orbit, sun-synchronous orbit and geosynchronous transfer orbit, and earth-moon transfer orbit, with one rocket and one satellite, one arrow and multiple satellite launch and constellation deployment capabilities, and the 700-kilometer sun-synchronous orbit carrying capacity is 25 tons.
In this mission, the LM-2C launch vehicle is in the ultra-high-density launch stage of parallel design of multiple missions and parallel production of multiple product lines. Xie Zhifeng, the overall deputy chief designer of the Long March-2C launch vehicle, said that the model team ensured the high-quality and efficient completion of the launch mission through advance planning and other measures. At the same time, it demonstrated the excellent economy and reliable performance ability of the Long March-2C launch vehicle.
This launch is the third launch mission of the upper stage of the Expedition-1S in 2023. Zhang Xubin, the overall deputy chief designer of the upper stage of the expedition series, said that up to now, the upper stage of the expedition 1 S has flown 7 times, with a success rate of 100%.
The upper stage is the top stage or multiple stages of the launch vehicle, which is launched into quasi-earth orbit or earth orbit by the basic stage launch vehicle, and then relies on its own power to further send the payload into the predetermined working orbit or position, just like the airport shuttle car - the rocket sends the satellite to the "starting station", and the satellite often needs to change orbit many times if it wants to reach the "terminal station", and if the upper stage is used, the satellite can be sent to the target orbit "one-stop".
At the same time, after the launch vehicle sends it into space, the upper stage can generally start ignition multiple times to send one or more payloads into a predetermined orbit, so as to meet the needs of different launch missions.
On the one hand, the satellite's own fuel consumption can be reduced, thereby prolonging the life of the satellite. On the other hand, the "lightened" satellite can be miniaturized, and it can be "lightweight" during the space journey. And after the satellite is transported, the upper stage can enter the garbage orbit on its own, without occupying valuable geosynchronous orbit position resources.
By flexibly combining the upper stage with the Long March series of launch vehicles, the carrying capacity of the basic stage rockets can be maximized. The use of the upper-stage orbit deployment capability and the multi-satellite launch mode with one rocket can effectively improve the launch efficiency, reduce the number of launch organizations, reduce the mission cost, and meet the growing demand for high-density aerospace launches.
In 2023, the Long March-2C launch vehicle will be successful in nine space launches, breaking the record for the number of annual launches of this model, and completing the "final battle" of this year's Long March series launch vehicles. This year, CASC 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 predetermined orbits, and all launch missions were a complete success. China's Long March series carrier rockets have won 175 consecutive victories. (Reporter Song Chen).