CNSA news, Updates and Discussions

[skywatcher]

Chinese Lunar Exploration Program(CLEP)

Mission	Launch Date	Launch Vehicle	Orbital Insertion Date	Landing Date	Return Date	Notes	Status
Phase 1
Chang'e 1	24 Oct 2007	Long March 3A	7 Nov 2007	1 Mar 2009	-	Lunar orbiter; first Chinese lunar mission.	Success	-
Chang'e 2	1 Oct 2010	Long March 3C	6 Oct 2010	-	-	Lunar orbiter; following lunar orbit mission flew extended mission to 4179 Toutatis.	Success	Success
Phase 2
Chang'e 3	1 Dec 2013	Long March 3B	6 Dec 2013	14 Dec 2013	-	Lunar lander and rover; first Chinese lunar landing, landed in Mare Imbrium with Yutu 1.	Success	Ongoing
Queqiao 1	20 May 2018	Long March 4C	14 Jun 2018	-	-	Relay satellite located at the Earth-Moon L2 point in order to allow communications with Chang'e 4.	Success	Ongoing
Chang'e 4	7 Dec 2018	Long March 3B	12 Dec 2018	3 Jan 2019	-	Lunar lander and rover; first soft landing on the Far side of the Moon, landed in Von Karman crater with Yutu-2.	Success	Ongoing
Phase 3
Chang'e 5-T1	23 Oct 2014	Long March 3C	10 Jan 2015	-	31 Oct 2014	Experimental test flight testing technologies ahead of first Lunar sample return; tested return capsule and lunar orbit autonomous rendezvous techniques and other maneuvers.	Success	Success
Chang'e 5	23 Nov 2020	Long March 5	28 Nov 2020	1 Dec 2020	16 Dec 2020	Lunar orbiter, lander, and sample return; which landed near Mons Rümker and returned 1731g of lunar soil to Earth. The service module made a visit to Lagrange point L1 and also performed a lunar flyby in extended mission.	Success	Ongoing
Phase 4
Queqiao 2	20 Mar 2024	Long March 8	24 Mar 2024	-	-	Lunar Relay satellite to support communications for the upcoming lunar missions, including Chang'e 6, 7 and 8.	Success	Ongoing
Chang'e 6	3 May 2024	Long March 5	8 May 2024	1 Jun 2024	25 June 2024	Lunar orbiter, lander, rover, and sample return; landed at the South Pole–Aitken basin on the far side of the Moon.	Success	—

Chang'e 7	2026	Long March 5	Lunar surface survey	Lunar orbiter, lander, rover, and mini-flying probe; expected to perform in-depth exploration of the lunar south pole to look for resources.
Chang'e 8	2028	Long March 5	Lunar surface survey	Full mission details are currently unknown; will test ISRU and 3D-printing technologies, ahead of future crewed exploration of the Moon.
1st crewed lunar mission	2029-2030	Long March 10	Human landing on lunar surface	2 launches using the Long March 10 to place two astronauts on the lunar surface via the Mengzhou crewed lunar spacecraft and the Lanyue crewed lunar lander.

 

[skywatcher]

Chinese rocket static-fire test results in unintended launch and huge explosion
Andrew Jones June 30, 2024

Hausjärvi, FINLAND — A rocket stage test firing by Chinese commercial company Space Pioneer ended in catastrophic failure and a dramatic explosion Sunday.

Space Pioneer conducted what was intended to be a static-fire test of the first stage of its Tianlong-3 launch vehicle at a test facility in Gongyi country, Henan province, Sunday, June 30.

Amateur footage captured by Gongyi citizens and posted on Chinese social media shows the nine-engine test stage igntiing and then, exceptionally, taking off. Hold-down clamps and other structures are typically used to securely keep stages in place.

The stage is seen climbing into the sky before halting, apparently with its engines shutting off, and returning to Earth. The stage impacted the ground around 50 seconds after it took off, apparently with much of its kerosene-liquid oxygen propellant remaining, causing a large explosion. The Tianlong-3 first stage would likely fire for a number of minutes on an orbital flight.

Space Pioneer was conducting its test as a buildup to an orbital launch of the Tianlong-3, which is benchmarked against the SpaceX Falcon 9, in the coming months. The company announced earlier this month that it has secured $207 million in new funding.

Shanghai-based digital newspaper The Paper reported Henan officials as saying there were no casualties reported.

Space Pioneer issued its own statement later, stating there was a structural failure at the connection between the rocket body and the test bench. The rocket’s onboard computer automatically shut down the engines and the rocket fell 1.5 kilometers southwest. It reiterated earlier reports that no casualties were found. The company said the test produced 820 tons of thrust.

Static-fire testing is part of rocket development or pre-launch testing. Issues are not uncommon during development. A SpaceX Starship prototype exploded following a static-fire test in 2020. However, an event in which the stage escapes its hold-downs and launches appears unique.

The orbital launch attempt was expected to take place at new commercial launch facilities near Wenchang spaceport on Hainan island. That launch attempt could now face a lengthy delay.

The incident comes shortly after China’s high-profile success of returning the first ever lunar far side samples to Earth with Chang’e-6. It also follows yet another incident of a hypergolic rocket stage falling over a populated area.

It is unknown how the event will affect Space Pioneer in terms of delays, penalties and its continued operations. Space Pioneer says it will conduct an analysis and restart testing with new hardware as soon as possible.

The incident could also have wider impacts on China’s commercial space ecosystem. The sector has received increasingly strong backing from central, provincial and city governments.

Delays to Tianlong-3, which is intended to become reusable, could also affect Chinese megaconstellation plans. China needs to boost its access to space and overall launch capacity to construct the constellations.

China issued policy guidelines and regulations on the development of commercial launch vehicles in the country in 2019.

Space Pioneer notably became the first Chinese commercial launch company to reach orbit with its Tianlong-2 rocket in 2023.

Tianlong-3 is much larger than Tianlong-2, with a diameter of 3.8 meters and a takeoff mass of 590 tons. It is to be capable of lifting 17 tons of payload to low Earth orbit (LEO), or 14 tons to 500-kilometer sun-synchronous orbit.

 

[Love Charger]

Chinese rocket static-fire test results in unintended launch and huge explosion
Andrew Jones June 30, 2024

Hausjärvi, FINLAND — A rocket stage test firing by Chinese commercial company Space Pioneer ended in catastrophic failure and a dramatic explosion Sunday.

Space Pioneer conducted what was intended to be a static-fire test of the first stage of its Tianlong-3 launch vehicle at a test facility in Gongyi country, Henan province, Sunday, June 30.

Amateur footage captured by Gongyi citizens and posted on Chinese social media shows the nine-engine test stage igntiing and then, exceptionally, taking off. Hold-down clamps and other structures are typically used to securely keep stages in place.

The stage is seen climbing into the sky before halting, apparently with its engines shutting off, and returning to Earth. The stage impacted the ground around 50 seconds after it took off, apparently with much of its kerosene-liquid oxygen propellant remaining, causing a large explosion. The Tianlong-3 first stage would likely fire for a number of minutes on an orbital flight.

Space Pioneer was conducting its test as a buildup to an orbital launch of the Tianlong-3, which is benchmarked against the SpaceX Falcon 9, in the coming months. The company announced earlier this month that it has secured $207 million in new funding.

Shanghai-based digital newspaper The Paper reported Henan officials as saying there were no casualties reported.

Space Pioneer issued its own statement later, stating there was a structural failure at the connection between the rocket body and the test bench. The rocket’s onboard computer automatically shut down the engines and the rocket fell 1.5 kilometers southwest. It reiterated earlier reports that no casualties were found. The company said the test produced 820 tons of thrust.

Static-fire testing is part of rocket development or pre-launch testing. Issues are not uncommon during development. A SpaceX Starship prototype exploded following a static-fire test in 2020. However, an event in which the stage escapes its hold-downs and launches appears unique.

The orbital launch attempt was expected to take place at new commercial launch facilities near Wenchang spaceport on Hainan island. That launch attempt could now face a lengthy delay.

The incident comes shortly after China’s high-profile success of returning the first ever lunar far side samples to Earth with Chang’e-6. It also follows yet another incident of a hypergolic rocket stage falling over a populated area.

It is unknown how the event will affect Space Pioneer in terms of delays, penalties and its continued operations. Space Pioneer says it will conduct an analysis and restart testing with new hardware as soon as possible.

The incident could also have wider impacts on China’s commercial space ecosystem. The sector has received increasingly strong backing from central, provincial and city governments.

Delays to Tianlong-3, which is intended to become reusable, could also affect Chinese megaconstellation plans. China needs to boost its access to space and overall launch capacity to construct the constellations.

China issued policy guidelines and regulations on the development of commercial launch vehicles in the country in 2019.

Space Pioneer notably became the first Chinese commercial launch company to reach orbit with its Tianlong-2 rocket in 2023.

Tianlong-3 is much larger than Tianlong-2, with a diameter of 3.8 meters and a takeoff mass of 590 tons. It is to be capable of lifting 17 tons of payload to low Earth orbit (LEO), or 14 tons to 500-kilometer sun-synchronous orbit.
View attachment 259549
View attachment 259548

Come to defense forum bharat , it's up and running

 

[skywatcher]

Come to defense forum bharat , it's up and running

This is probably my last post on IDF. More news will be updated on NSF.

 

[DumbPilot]

This is probably my last post on IDF. More news will be updated on NSF. View attachment 259550

NSF is a better forum for spaceflight

 

[skywatcher]

Kazakhstan joins China’s ILRS moon base program

Kazakhstan has signed a memorandum on cooperation on the China-led ILRS and will also explore commercial use of each other’s spaceports.

spacenews.com

Kazakhstan joins China’s ILRS moon base program
Andrew Jones July 5, 2024

HELSINKI — Kazakhstan has signed a memorandum on cooperation on the China-led ILRS and will also explore commercial use of each other’s spaceports.

The agreement was signed during Chinese President Xi Jinping’s visit to Kazakhstan July 3, which saw the signing of 30 documents between the two sides. The development further bolsters China’s lunar exploration plans.

A joint statement issued by the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated that the “two sides support exchanges and cooperation between the two countries’ aerospace agencies and enterprises in the peaceful use of outer space, promote mutually beneficial cooperation in the moon and deep space, and reception and exchange of remote sensing data.”

A memorandum on cooperation as part of the International Lunar Research Station (ILRS) was one of the 30 signed documents, according to the Interfax news agency.

The China National Space Administration (CNSA) has not issued its own statement on the development. It did not issue a statement following a similar development when Serbia signed up to the ILRS.

Notably, China’s MFA also stated that China and Kazakhstan would, “explore the possibility of commercial use of the two sides’ space launch sites.”

China is currently working to boost pad access for emerging commercial launch service providers. The Baikonur cosmodrome was set up by the Soviet Union in Kazakhstan. It is leased to Russia until 2050. The country also hosts the Sary Shagan Test Site. Kazakhstan shares a border with Xinjiang, in China’s west.

“Kazakhstan will need to diversify away from Russia if it wants to have a big future in space,” Bleddyn Bowen, an associate professor specializing in space policy and military uses of outer space at the University of Leicester, told SpaceNews.

Xi also gave a speech to a Shanghai Cooperation Organization+ Summit in Astana, Kazakhstan, July 4. “China welcomes all parties to use the Beidou satellite navigation system and participate in the construction of the International Lunar Research Station,” Xi said.

China’s ILRS plans
The China-led ILRS envisions constructing a permanent lunar base in the 2030s. This will be constructed using a super heavy-lift launcher. The ambitious project seeks to advance lunar exploration and the utilization of lunar resources. China also aims to send astronauts to the moon before 2030.

The plan is a parallel yet separate program to NASA’s Artemis Program, for which the U.S. is building partnerships. Both the U.S. and China are engaged in diplomatic efforts to attract countries, with the former attracting 42 other countries to sign the Artemis Accords, which set out principles to guide the exploration and use of outer space. The most recent was Armenia in June.

China has also stated it will establish the International Lunar Research Station Cooperation Organization (ILRSCO). The organization will coordinate and manage the construction of the ILRS moon base.

In late May, China signed an agreement with Bahrain covering lunar and deep space exploration. The ILRS was not explicitly mentioned. It will however collaborate with Egypt to jointly develop a hyperspectral imager for lunar surface material identification payload for Chang’e-7, a Chinese ILRS precursor mission. Notably, Bahrain signed up to the Artemis Accords in 2022.

Peru, another Artemis Accords signatory, is involved in the ILRS via its participation in the Asia-Pacific Space Cooperation Organization (APSCO). The inter-governmental organization is headquartered in Beijing and has signed an MoU regarding ILRS.

A Russian space official stated in April that Turkey had applied to join ILRS. China, which leads the moon project’s diplomatic efforts, has yet to comment officially on this.

Local reports from June state that China’s Deep Space Exploration Laboratory (DSEL) under CNSA signed an ILRS agreement with Supreme Deep Space (Pvt) Ltd. of Sri Lanka.

Kazakhstan becomes the 12th country to join the ILRS, following Serbia in May, and Nicaragua and Thailand in April. This list does not include Turkey.

China and Russia formally announced the joint ILRS project in St. Petersburg, Russia, in June 2021. Venezuela, Pakistan, Azerbaijan, Belarus, South Africa and Egypt signed up during 2023.China will launch precursor ILRS missions in the 2020s.

These include Chang’e-7 around 2026 and the later Chang’e-8 in-situ resource utilization technology test mission. Both multi-spacecraft missions will target the lunar south pole.

LRS Signatory	Type
China	Country
Russia	Country
Belarus	Country
Pakistan	Country
Azerbaijan	Country
Venezuela	Country
South Africa	Country
Egypt	Country
Nicaragua	Country
Thailand	Country
Serbia	Country
Kazakhstan	Country
Asia-Pacific Space Cooperation Organization (APSCO)	Inter-governmental Organization
nanoSPACE AG (Switzerland)	Firm
International Lunar Observatory Association (ILOA, Hawaii)	Organization
National Astronomical Research Institute of Thailand (NARIT)	Institute
University of Sharjah (UAE)	University
Adriatic Aerospace Association (A3) (Croatia)	Organization
Asociación de Astronomía de Colombia (ASASAC)	Organization
Arabaev Kyrgyz State University (Kyrgyzstan)	University
PT Universal Satelit Indonesia (UniSat)	Firm
Arab Union for Astronomy and Space Sciences	Organization
Supreme Deep Space (Sri Lanka)	Firm

List of known ILRS entities signing agreements on the ILRS (Andrew Jones/SpaceNews)

 

[skywatcher]

Kazakhstan joins China’s ILRS moon base program

Kazakhstan has signed a memorandum on cooperation on the China-led ILRS and will also explore commercial use of each other’s spaceports.

spacenews.com

Kazakhstan joins China’s ILRS moon base program
Andrew Jones July 5, 2024

HELSINKI — Kazakhstan has signed a memorandum on cooperation on the China-led ILRS and will also explore commercial use of each other’s spaceports.

The agreement was signed during Chinese President Xi Jinping’s visit to Kazakhstan July 3, which saw the signing of 30 documents between the two sides. The development further bolsters China’s lunar exploration plans.

A joint statement issued by the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated that the “two sides support exchanges and cooperation between the two countries’ aerospace agencies and enterprises in the peaceful use of outer space, promote mutually beneficial cooperation in the moon and deep space, and reception and exchange of remote sensing data.”

A memorandum on cooperation as part of the International Lunar Research Station (ILRS) was one of the 30 signed documents, according to the Interfax news agency.

The China National Space Administration (CNSA) has not issued its own statement on the development. It did not issue a statement following a similar development when Serbia signed up to the ILRS.

Notably, China’s MFA also stated that China and Kazakhstan would, “explore the possibility of commercial use of the two sides’ space launch sites.”

China is currently working to boost pad access for emerging commercial launch service providers. The Baikonur cosmodrome was set up by the Soviet Union in Kazakhstan. It is leased to Russia until 2050. The country also hosts the Sary Shagan Test Site. Kazakhstan shares a border with Xinjiang, in China’s west.

“Kazakhstan will need to diversify away from Russia if it wants to have a big future in space,” Bleddyn Bowen, an associate professor specializing in space policy and military uses of outer space at the University of Leicester, told SpaceNews.

Xi also gave a speech to a Shanghai Cooperation Organization+ Summit in Astana, Kazakhstan, July 4. “China welcomes all parties to use the Beidou satellite navigation system and participate in the construction of the International Lunar Research Station,” Xi said.

China’s ILRS plans
The China-led ILRS envisions constructing a permanent lunar base in the 2030s. This will be constructed using a super heavy-lift launcher. The ambitious project seeks to advance lunar exploration and the utilization of lunar resources. China also aims to send astronauts to the moon before 2030.

The plan is a parallel yet separate program to NASA’s Artemis Program, for which the U.S. is building partnerships. Both the U.S. and China are engaged in diplomatic efforts to attract countries, with the former attracting 42 other countries to sign the Artemis Accords, which set out principles to guide the exploration and use of outer space. The most recent was Armenia in June.

China has also stated it will establish the International Lunar Research Station Cooperation Organization (ILRSCO). The organization will coordinate and manage the construction of the ILRS moon base.

In late May, China signed an agreement with Bahrain covering lunar and deep space exploration. The ILRS was not explicitly mentioned. It will however collaborate with Egypt to jointly develop a hyperspectral imager for lunar surface material identification payload for Chang’e-7, a Chinese ILRS precursor mission. Notably, Bahrain signed up to the Artemis Accords in 2022.

Peru, another Artemis Accords signatory, is involved in the ILRS via its participation in the Asia-Pacific Space Cooperation Organization (APSCO). The inter-governmental organization is headquartered in Beijing and has signed an MoU regarding ILRS.

A Russian space official stated in April that Turkey had applied to join ILRS. China, which leads the moon project’s diplomatic efforts, has yet to comment officially on this.

Local reports from June state that China’s Deep Space Exploration Laboratory (DSEL) under CNSA signed an ILRS agreement with Supreme Deep Space (Pvt) Ltd. of Sri Lanka.

Kazakhstan becomes the 12th country to join the ILRS, following Serbia in May, and Nicaragua and Thailand in April. This list does not include Turkey.

China and Russia formally announced the joint ILRS project in St. Petersburg, Russia, in June 2021. Venezuela, Pakistan, Azerbaijan, Belarus, South Africa and Egypt signed up during 2023.China will launch precursor ILRS missions in the 2020s.

These include Chang’e-7 around 2026 and the later Chang’e-8 in-situ resource utilization technology test mission. Both multi-spacecraft missions will target the lunar south pole.

LRS Signatory	Type
China	Country
Russia	Country
Belarus	Country
Pakistan	Country
Azerbaijan	Country
Venezuela	Country
South Africa	Country
Egypt	Country
Nicaragua	Country
Thailand	Country
Serbia	Country
Kazakhstan	Country
Asia-Pacific Space Cooperation Organization (APSCO)	Inter-governmental Organization
nanoSPACE AG (Switzerland)	Firm
International Lunar Observatory Association (ILOA, Hawaii)	Organization
National Astronomical Research Institute of Thailand (NARIT)	Institute
University of Sharjah (UAE)	University
Adriatic Aerospace Association (A3) (Croatia)	Organization
Asociación de Astronomía de Colombia (ASASAC)	Organization
Arabaev Kyrgyz State University (Kyrgyzstan)	University
PT Universal Satelit Indonesia (UniSat)	Firm
Arab Union for Astronomy and Space Sciences	Organization
Supreme Deep Space (Sri Lanka)	Firm

List of known ILRS entities signing agreements on the ILRS (Andrew Jones/SpaceNews)

We don't know if Turkey will join ILRS