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China successfully refuels a satellite in orbit | Engadget
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amoy
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China announces successful satellite in-orbit refuelling
By admin On 1 Jul, 2016 At 05:50 PM
China has successfully completed the in-space refuelling of orbital satellites following last week’s launch of a new-generation carrier rocket, the National University of Defense Technology announced on Thursday.
Similar to air refueling for planes, the process involves the refueling of a satellite in orbit in a microgravity environment and will extend a satellite’s functional life and considerably boost its maneuverability.
Developed by the university, Tianyuan-1 is the country’s first in-space refueling system for orbital satellites. It was sent in orbit aboard the Long March-7 carrier rocket on Saturday.
A series of core independent processes was tested and verified after the launch, with data and videos recording the full process sent back to earth, the university said in a statement.
“The injection process was stable, and measurements and controls were precise,” the statement said.
It added that the test proved that Tianyuan-1 met design requirements. Though an area of great interest, the process is complicated and only a few countries have began similar experiments.
China launched its Long March-7 carrier rocket successfully on Saturday from Wenchang, South China’s Hainan Province.
By admin On 1 Jul, 2016 At 05:50 PM
China has successfully completed the in-space refuelling of orbital satellites following last week’s launch of a new-generation carrier rocket, the National University of Defense Technology announced on Thursday.
Similar to air refueling for planes, the process involves the refueling of a satellite in orbit in a microgravity environment and will extend a satellite’s functional life and considerably boost its maneuverability.
Developed by the university, Tianyuan-1 is the country’s first in-space refueling system for orbital satellites. It was sent in orbit aboard the Long March-7 carrier rocket on Saturday.
A series of core independent processes was tested and verified after the launch, with data and videos recording the full process sent back to earth, the university said in a statement.
“The injection process was stable, and measurements and controls were precise,” the statement said.
It added that the test proved that Tianyuan-1 met design requirements. Though an area of great interest, the process is complicated and only a few countries have began similar experiments.
China launched its Long March-7 carrier rocket successfully on Saturday from Wenchang, South China’s Hainan Province.
HariPrasad-1
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This is really great. .........................
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why to refuel? Just attach a new tank and release the empty one, which would call for a change in upcoming designs.
One launch vehicle could carry 4-10 tanks which will be sufficient for similar number of satellites.
One launch vehicle could carry 4-10 tanks which will be sufficient for similar number of satellites.
Mikesingh
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But that's the Chinese way of doing things! The complicated way!
all right ...such tech was also tested in this LM-7 mission...lol...and this is not the first time for such ‘space capture’ experiment...
although loads of Chinese report here, I didn't get the english reports at this moment to save time for translation...
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http://space.skyrocket.de/doc_sdat/aolong-1.htm
we think Aolong-1/ADRV had a robot arm(not net) for the capture purpose...
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BTW ,some European Concepts with 'net' or arm...
although loads of Chinese report here, I didn't get the english reports at this moment to save time for translation...
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http://space.skyrocket.de/doc_sdat/aolong-1.htm
this Aolong-1/ADRV captured a simulate payload which was also released by the LM-7 carrier rocket and brought it back to atmosphere...the combination re-entered and burn out @ 01:26 on 3rd July --Beijing time
we think Aolong-1/ADRV had a robot arm(not net) for the capture purpose...
------------------
BTW ,some European Concepts with 'net' or arm...
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Rahul Singh
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Congrats China. Great achievement.
Only thing that worries me is its second application.
Only thing that worries me is its second application.
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one day we will have a ring like Saturn due to space derbies
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Must be nervous tic.Why do you always say LOL in your posts.
Was that funny?
He is not expecting our cheering at the moment.
BTW great achievement for China.
Long March -7 is the 3rd member of the NG Carrier Rocket family and has a LEO ability -13.5 ton ...normally the maiden flight of a new model rocket would be a high-risk one so it won't carry the projected payload. but it shouldn't be wasted which means it have enough space and Carrying capacity for Multi Space Experiment projects...
two of them have been introduced above, I would like to spare more time to brief the other experiment payloads...
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first I have to clarify some detail of the so called in-space refueling ...lol...
the experiment payload- Tianyuan 1 in-orbit refuelling experiment
this experiment is not a full scale one, it just tested the Refueling sub-system of in-orbit refueling system... the experiment device was attached on YZ-1A upper-stage and it refueled the upper-stage with 2 liquid fuel and 1 gas, then it re-entered with the upper stage and disappeared in the atmosphere already...
in the future ,the real in-orbit refueling would happen between two flying space objects as above CG explained...the refueller would have two robot arms , the left one would capture the client satellite and right arm with 'pipes'would insert into the receptacle then the refueling begin ...of course the client should have the receptacle device first...
earlier cctv news clip...
two of them have been introduced above, I would like to spare more time to brief the other experiment payloads...
---------------
first I have to clarify some detail of the so called in-space refueling ...lol...
the experiment payload- Tianyuan 1 in-orbit refuelling experiment
this experiment is not a full scale one, it just tested the Refueling sub-system of in-orbit refueling system... the experiment device was attached on YZ-1A upper-stage and it refueled the upper-stage with 2 liquid fuel and 1 gas, then it re-entered with the upper stage and disappeared in the atmosphere already...
in the future ,the real in-orbit refueling would happen between two flying space objects as above CG explained...the refueller would have two robot arms , the left one would capture the client satellite and right arm with 'pipes'would insert into the receptacle then the refueling begin ...of course the client should have the receptacle device first...
earlier cctv news clip...
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ISRO should bring change in their satellite design. Satellites with manoeuvring capabilities must have a detachable fuel tank.
1) A refueller with few numbers of fuel tank will be be launched. The refueller will be placed in the orbit of the satellite to be refuelled.
2) The refueller will exchange the fuel tanks, the filled one will be installed to the satellite and the empty one back to refueller.
3) Once all tanks are replaced in a year or two , the refueller will be given command to reenter and burn.
Technology required: docking ( for exchanging the fuel tanks).
But if the international community goes with the chinese design then India too because India can earn money through refuelling.
1) A refueller with few numbers of fuel tank will be be launched. The refueller will be placed in the orbit of the satellite to be refuelled.
2) The refueller will exchange the fuel tanks, the filled one will be installed to the satellite and the empty one back to refueller.
3) Once all tanks are replaced in a year or two , the refueller will be given command to reenter and burn.
Technology required: docking ( for exchanging the fuel tanks).
But if the international community goes with the chinese design then India too because India can earn money through refuelling.
ok, the next...lol...
one of my fellow sent me a link ,I had a quick read and found the article was well written.
https://chinaspacereport.com/2016/07/01/cz-7-payloads-demonstrate-cutting-edge-technologies/
-------------------------------
the third highlight of the LM-7 maiden flight mission...the quote from the article..
Yuan Zheng-1A upper stage
Atop the CZ-7-Y1 launch vehicle was a Yuan Zheng-1A (YZ-1A, “Expedition 1A”) upper stage, which acted as the third-stage of the launch vehicle to deliver the other six payloads into their intended orbits.
Similar to the Russian Fregat, the Yuan Zheng (YZ) series upper stages are designed to serve as a “space tug” to deliver its payload satellites and spacecraft directly into their intended orbit without the need to use their own propulsion. By employing a combined INS/GPS navigation package, the upper stage can achieve a much higher accuracy in orbit insertion than direct insertion by the launch vehicle. The basic variant YZ-1 was first flown in March 2015 as the fourth-stage of a CZ-3C, delivering a Beidou navigation satellite from the initial low ‘parking’ orbit into a high-altitude orbit.
Compared with the YZ-1, the improved YZ-1A features a number of improvements in performance and capability. It can operate up to 48 hours, as opposed to 6.5 hours of the YZ-1. Instead of deploying payloads into a single orbit, the YZ-1A can deliver multiple payloads into different orbits. Finally, the YZ-1A can be restarted up to 20 times.
With its own propulsion, navigation and control systems, the YZ-1A upper stage is capable of flying a complex mission profile autonomously, performing a series of orbital manoeuvres to deploy its payloads at different altitudes and on different orbital planes.
The YZ-1A is powered by a 6.5 kN liquid engine that burns N2O4 as oxidiser and UDMH as fuel. The engine uses a turbo-pump and operates in a gas-generator cycle to allow multiple ignitions and precision control. The upper stage was developed by China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology (CALT), which also designed and built the CZ-7 launch vehicle.
At T plus 603 seconds, the YZ-1A upper stage and payload stack was separated from the YZ-7’s second-stage and entered a 200 km by 400 km initial parking orbit. At T plus 38 minutes, the upper stage deployed the Aolong 1 robotic spacecraft. At T plus 102 minutes, the upper stage deployed a 12U cubesat named Aoxiang Zhixing. About 20 hours into the mission, the upper stage lowered to an altitude of 170 km to put the sub-scale capsule into its re-entry trajectory. The upper stage then lowered to an altitude of 130 km, before re-igniting its engine to resume to a higher orbit of 400 km. After orbiting the Earth for 29 times in about 40 hours, the upper stage made a controlled re-entry into the middle Pacific.
one of my fellow sent me a link ,I had a quick read and found the article was well written.
https://chinaspacereport.com/2016/07/01/cz-7-payloads-demonstrate-cutting-edge-technologies/
-------------------------------
the third highlight of the LM-7 maiden flight mission...the quote from the article..
Yuan Zheng-1A upper stage
Atop the CZ-7-Y1 launch vehicle was a Yuan Zheng-1A (YZ-1A, “Expedition 1A”) upper stage, which acted as the third-stage of the launch vehicle to deliver the other six payloads into their intended orbits.
Similar to the Russian Fregat, the Yuan Zheng (YZ) series upper stages are designed to serve as a “space tug” to deliver its payload satellites and spacecraft directly into their intended orbit without the need to use their own propulsion. By employing a combined INS/GPS navigation package, the upper stage can achieve a much higher accuracy in orbit insertion than direct insertion by the launch vehicle. The basic variant YZ-1 was first flown in March 2015 as the fourth-stage of a CZ-3C, delivering a Beidou navigation satellite from the initial low ‘parking’ orbit into a high-altitude orbit.
Compared with the YZ-1, the improved YZ-1A features a number of improvements in performance and capability. It can operate up to 48 hours, as opposed to 6.5 hours of the YZ-1. Instead of deploying payloads into a single orbit, the YZ-1A can deliver multiple payloads into different orbits. Finally, the YZ-1A can be restarted up to 20 times.
With its own propulsion, navigation and control systems, the YZ-1A upper stage is capable of flying a complex mission profile autonomously, performing a series of orbital manoeuvres to deploy its payloads at different altitudes and on different orbital planes.
The YZ-1A is powered by a 6.5 kN liquid engine that burns N2O4 as oxidiser and UDMH as fuel. The engine uses a turbo-pump and operates in a gas-generator cycle to allow multiple ignitions and precision control. The upper stage was developed by China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology (CALT), which also designed and built the CZ-7 launch vehicle.
At T plus 603 seconds, the YZ-1A upper stage and payload stack was separated from the YZ-7’s second-stage and entered a 200 km by 400 km initial parking orbit. At T plus 38 minutes, the upper stage deployed the Aolong 1 robotic spacecraft. At T plus 102 minutes, the upper stage deployed a 12U cubesat named Aoxiang Zhixing. About 20 hours into the mission, the upper stage lowered to an altitude of 170 km to put the sub-scale capsule into its re-entry trajectory. The upper stage then lowered to an altitude of 130 km, before re-igniting its engine to resume to a higher orbit of 400 km. After orbiting the Earth for 29 times in about 40 hours, the upper stage made a controlled re-entry into the middle Pacific.
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