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December 18, 2012
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China closes 2012 with 19th successful Orbital Launch
*File Image* - Photo: ChinaNews.com
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Making its final launch of 2012, China successfully orbited a Turkish Satellite, closing out a highly successful year for the country that made a number of large advancements in 2012. On Tuesday, a Long March 2D launch vehicle blasted off from the Jiquan Satellite Launch Center at 16:12 UTC, carrying the Göktürk-2 Earth Observation Satellite to Sun-Synchronous Orbit. The Chinese launcher performed as planned and delivered the spacecraft to its desired orbit.
The Turkish Göktürk-2 Satellite was manufactured by Turkish Aerospace Industries, Inc. and is operated by the Turkish Ministry of Defence. The satellite will serve optical reconnaissance purposes and other Earth Observation purposes serving civil users. Göktürk-2 has a launch mass of about 450 Kilograms and features three deployable, but fixed, Solar Arrays that are installed on three sides of the hexagonal satellite body. The spacecraft carries an optical payload consisting of multispectral, infrared, stereoscopic imagers as well as a pushbroom camera. |
Göktürk will provide a ground resolution of about 2.5 meters. The satellite will communicate with ground stations for 42 minutes each day to downlink acquired imagery and receive uplink commands. The primary ground station for the Göktürk program is located near Ankara, Turkey, using X-Band and S-Band communication frequencies to communicate with the satellite. Onboard image compression is provided by the satellite featuring lossless and near-lossless compression. Images will be stored in a 15Gbit memory. Göktürk will operate from a 700-Kilometer, 98-degree Sun-Synchronous Orbit with a planned mission duration of at least 5 years.
Göktürk-2 will serve a number of applications including disaster monitoring & response, mapping, environmental monitoring and scientific purposes.
Göktürk-2 will serve a number of applications including disaster monitoring & response, mapping, environmental monitoring and scientific purposes.
Credit: Turkish Aerospace Industries, Inc.
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Credit: Turkish Aerospace Industries, Inc.
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Credit: Turkish Aerospace Industries, Inc.
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The Long March 2D lifted off from Jiquan at 16:12:52 UTC on Tuesday. powered flight was about 12 minutes in duration and was completed as planned with spacecraft separation occurring at 16:25 UTC after the second stage of the launcher performed a re-orientation maneuver. Turkish officials confirmed that the payload achieved orbit.
The Carrier Rocket can launch Payloads of up to 3,500 Kilograms to Low Earth Orbit and has a SSO capability of up to 1,300kg. The CZ-2D Launcher was developed by the Shanghai Academy of Spaceflight Technology and is capable of delivering payloads into a variety of Orbits, including Low Earth Orbit and Sun Synchronous Orbit.
Long March 2D features two stages, the first is identical to the Long March 4 Vehicle while the second stage is based on CZ-4, but has a modified equipment bay. The Launcher stands 41.06 meters tall, has a diameter of 3.35 meters and a liftoff mass of 232,255 Kilograms.
The Carrier Rocket can launch Payloads of up to 3,500 Kilograms to Low Earth Orbit and has a SSO capability of up to 1,300kg. The CZ-2D Launcher was developed by the Shanghai Academy of Spaceflight Technology and is capable of delivering payloads into a variety of Orbits, including Low Earth Orbit and Sun Synchronous Orbit.
Long March 2D features two stages, the first is identical to the Long March 4 Vehicle while the second stage is based on CZ-4, but has a modified equipment bay. The Launcher stands 41.06 meters tall, has a diameter of 3.35 meters and a liftoff mass of 232,255 Kilograms.
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For the first 170 seconds of Flight, the vehicle is powered by its first stage that is equipped with a YF-21C Engine that provides a thrust of 2,962 Kilonewtons. The stage is 27.91 meters long, 3.35 meters in diameter and filled with 183,200 Kilograms of Unsymmetrical Dimethylhydrazine and Nitrogen Tetroxide Propellants for a total weight of the first stage at launch of 192,700kg.
After first stage burnout and jettison, the second stage started controlling the flight. The upper Stage is 10.9 meters in length and has the standard CZ-2D diameter weighing 45,600kg at liftoff. It also uses UMDH and NTO as propellants. A total of 39,550 Kilograms were aboard its tanks at blastoff. The second stage is powered by a YF-24C main engine providing 742 Kilonewtons of thrust and a 47.1-Kilonewton Vernier Thruster. Long March 2D can be outfitted with two different payload fairings to accommodate payloads of different sizes. The fairings have diameters of 2.90 and 3.35 meters. The large fairing is 6.98 meters in length. Long March 2D made its first flight in 1992 and has a 100% success rate. The Jiquan Satellite Launch Center which is also known as Shuang Cheng Tze launch center was China's first launch facility being established in 1958. It is located in the Gobi Desert about 1,600 Kilometers from Beijing. The Center includes a large amount of facilities including two launch complexes, a technical center and a Mission Command and Control Centre/Launch Control Center as well as Ground Support Equipment needed for rocket launches such as propellant systems, tracking assets, weather forecast equipment and logistic support facilities. Initially, Jiquan was used for satellite launches into Low Earth Orbit with high inclinations. Currently, its only active launch site is Launch Area 4 featuring two SLS - South Launch Site - Launch Pads. SLS-1 is used to support the manned space program while the SLS-2 site is used for satellite launches. |
*File Image* - Photo: ChinaNews.com
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SLS-1 was built in the late 1990s. A technical center is located close to the site. It includes the launch vehicle processing and vertical assembly building, spacecraft processing facilities, buildings for solid rocket motor processing as well as propellant storage facilities and the Launch Control Center.
This launch marked the 174th orbital launch by China and the 174th flight of the Long March Rocket Family. It was China’s 19th orbital launch of the year and the final flight planned for 2012 – closing out a successful year for the Chinese Space Program.
In 2012, China made a number of large steps to advance its space program, closing in on its major goal of operating a large space station in the future. This year saw a number of Chinese Satellite launches including communications, navigation and reconnaissance spacecraft being delivered to orbit by the Long March Rocket Family.
This launch marked the 174th orbital launch by China and the 174th flight of the Long March Rocket Family. It was China’s 19th orbital launch of the year and the final flight planned for 2012 – closing out a successful year for the Chinese Space Program.
In 2012, China made a number of large steps to advance its space program, closing in on its major goal of operating a large space station in the future. This year saw a number of Chinese Satellite launches including communications, navigation and reconnaissance spacecraft being delivered to orbit by the Long March Rocket Family.
Image: China Manned Space Engineering Office
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In addition, China completed its first manned docking in space this year, when Shenzhou 9 made a two-week flight to China’s Tiangong-1 Space Station Module. During Shenzhou 9, Liu Yang became the first Chinese women to fly to space. The mission was a complete success from launch to landing, featuring two docking maneuvers, one using the automated system and one manual docking test. During the mission that achieved all of its objectives, China made its first steps in space station operations and research being performed in space.
China was also active in outer space this year as the country’s Chang’e 2 Spacecraft traveled several million Kilometers from Earth, making a journey from the Earth-Sun L2 Lagrangian point further into space, making a flyby of Asteroid Toutatis in December, returning images from the Asteroid and becoming China’s most traveled spacecraft. In 2013, China will continue its launch pace to again deliver satellites into orbit, perform another manned mission to Tiangong-1 and launch its Chang’e-3 lunar lander & rover |
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