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ketaki

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skywatcher

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Long March 2F rocket rolls out to launch pad for China’s next human spaceflight
View attachment 94024

The Long March 2F rocket and Shenzhou 12 spaceship set to ferry three Chinese astronauts to the country’s new space station later this month rolled out to a launch pad Wednesday at a remote military-operated spaceport in northwestern China.

The launcher and crew capsule emerged from an assembly building at the Jiuquan space base in the Gobi Desert, riding a mobile platform along rail tracks to cover the one-mile (1.6-kilometer) distance to the launch pad.

The 191-foot-tall (58-meter) rocket, the Shenzhou 12 spacecraft, and ground facilities are in good condition, according to the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corp., the state-owned prime contractor for China’s space program. Ground teams at Jiuquan will complete inspections and tests on the launch vehicle in the coming days.

The Shenzhou 12 mission will be the first crew flight to China’s new space station.

The first element of the complex, the Tianhe core module, launched April 28 aboard a heavy-lift Long March 5B rocket, China’s most powerful launch vehicle. An unpiloted cargo ship, named Tianzhou 2, launched May 29 and docked with the Tianhe core module eight hours later, delivering fuel, food and spacesuits for the Shenzhou 12 astronauts.

The Shenzhou 12 mission will last about three months, the longest stay in space to date by Chinese astronauts. Shenzhou 12 will be China’s seventh crewed spaceflight since 2003.

Chinese officials have not announced the launch date for the Shenzhou 12 mission, but rockets for China’s last three crewed spaceflights rolled to the pad at Jiuquan about a week before liftoff. That suggests the launch could occur around June 16 or June 17.

The identities of Shenzhou 12’s three crew members have not been announced.

In remarks last month, China’s first astronaut — Yang Liwei — said all three crew members are men and come from the first two classes of Chinese astronauts. Future crews on China’s space station will include women, he said.

While the Shenzhou 12 astronauts are quarantined before launch, ground crews at Jiuquan will load storable hydrazine and nitrogen tetroxide propellants into the Long March 2F rocket. The toxic propellant mixture will feed thee rocket’s engines, which will produce about 1.4 million pounds of thrust at liftoff.

The Shenzhou 12 astronauts will dock with the Tianhe core module after taking off from Jiuquan, linking up with the outpost at an altitude of around 235 miles (380 kilometers).

The Tianhe module will be joined next year by two research laboratories to complete assembly of the space station, named Tiangong.

The Shenzhou 12 astronauts will unpack the Tianzhou 2 cargo ship after they arrive next month. Tianzhou 2 docked with the rear port on the Tianhe module, and Shenzhou 2 will link up with the lab’s forward port.

Tiangong means heavenly palace in Chinese, while Shenzhou is translated as divine vessel. Tianhe means heavenly harmony, and Tianzhou means heavenly vessel.

The Shenzhou 12 astronauts are scheduled to return to Earth in September for a parachute-assisted landing in China’s Inner Mongolia province. Around the same time, China will launch Tianzhou 3, the station’s next cargo resupply ship.

China’s next crewed spaceflight, Shenzhou 13, is scheduled to launch in October, carrying three astronauts for a six-month mission in orbit, according to the China Manned Space Agency.

Next year, China plans six more launches to support the space station program. Two Long March 5B rockets will boost the Wentian and Mengtian lab elements to dock with the Tianhe module, completing assembly of the three-segment, T-shaped space station.

There are also two more cargo spacecraft and two more Shenzhou crew capsules scheduled to launch in 2022.

While China’s space station is still under construction, the Tianhe core module already in orbit includes astronaut living quarters, medial equipment, a command and control element, and an airlock and exterior handrails for spacewalks. The Shenzhou 12 astronauts will perform spacewalks outside the Tianhe module during their three-month mission, Yang said.

The fully-assembled Chinese space station outpost will be around 66 metric tons, about one-sixth the mass of the International Space Station, and closer in size to Russia’s retired Mir station than the International Space Station. With cargo and crew vehicles temporarily docked, the Chinese station’s mass could reach nearly 100 metric tons, officials said.

View attachment 94025

China launched two Tiangong prototype space labs in 2011 and 2016 to test out technologies for the permanently-occupied space station.

The Tiangong 1 space lab hosted two Shenzhou crews in 2012 and 2013. China’s most recent human spaceflight mission — Shenzhou 11 — docked with the Tiangong 2 module in 2016.

In total, China has launched 11 astronauts into orbit on six crewed Shenzhou missions since 2003.
Shenzhou-12 mission logo
00686eaKgy1grizyo7d80j30u00tu46c.jpg
 

johnq

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The U.S. Says China is Stealing Military Spacecraft Technology
A Chinese national was just caught trying to smuggle sensitive aerospace parts out of the country.

Tech Theft
China’s space industry is still in its early stages compared to the U.S., but the Department of Homeland Security suspects that China is trying to get ahead by stealing military space technology.

Pengyi Li, a Chinese national, attempted to smuggle sensitive spacecraft and missile components out of the U.S. according to documents obtained by Quartz and got caught red-handed, thanks to a two-year undercover investigation by the Department of Homeland Security.

Sensitive Tech
U.S. agents sold Li specialized microchips and sensors, which require special export licenses, for more than $150,000, according to Quartz. And many of these sensitive parts are banned from sale in China, as they could be used in military satellites and missiles and give China an advantage.

The U.S. and China have been waging a bitter trade war in which a key issue has been theft of American intellectual property. According to Quartz, there were at least eight other prosecutions by the Department of Justice just like this one within the last ten years, suggesting a greater trend of sensitive technologies flowing overseas.
The only way to stop Chinese IP theft is to stop all mainland Chinese citizens from entering your country, as they are all potential CCP agents and IP thieves; and also cutting off Chinese hackers access to the country's internet.
 

skywatcher

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It seems there will be two launches on June 17. So two launches on the same day.
UTC+8 9:20 17 June 2021 Long March 2F Shenzhou-12
UTC+8 14:55 17 June 2021 Long March 2C Yaogan-30 Group 09
 

skywatcher

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It seems there will be two launches on June 17. So two launches on the same day.
UTC+8 9:20 17 June 2021 Long March 2F Shenzhou-12
UTC+8 14:55 17 June 2021 Long March 2C Yaogan-30 Group 09
Shenzhou-12 astronauts (from left) Tang Hongbo, Nie Haisheng(Commander), and Liu Boming
00686eaKgy1grjya0xadjj30m80euabu.jpg
 

ketaki

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how much of their work involves EVA? AFAIK- taikonaut EVA happened just once for few minutes only many years ago.
 

johnq

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China is trying to steal military space tech. The US is running stings to stop it.
On Aug. 21, Pengyi Li walked to his gate at Honolulu International Airport, ready to board a flight to Hong Kong. Before he could get on the plane, federal agents arrested the 33-year-old Chinese national.
Authorities say Li thought the bag of export-controlled electronics he had in his possession had come from rogue US brokers. The transaction was instead part of an elaborate undercover sting operation.

Li’s arrest was the culmination of a two-year investigation into an effort to smuggle sensitive components used in spacecraft and missiles out of the US and into China, according to a sealed criminal complaint obtained by Quartz.
In 2017, Department of Homeland Security investigators offered radiation-hardened microchips and advanced aerospace sensors to an unnamed Hong Kong-based company in exchange for more than $150,000, according to the complaint. The parts in question require export licenses to ship abroad, and many are specifically banned from sale in China because they can be used in missiles and advanced satellites with military applications.
The theft of US technology by Chinese companies, many state-backed, is among the key drivers of the trade war between the two nations that is roiling the global economy. In 2018, the US Department of Justice launched a major effort to prevent China from illicitly obtaining US technology (pdf). In July, FBI director Christopher Wray said his agency had more than 1,000 open investigations into Chinese intellectual-property theft.

Li wasn’t the primary target of the investigation, according to the complaint, but an apparent go-between used to smuggle the parts from the US to their Chinese buyer.
Unnamed in the complaint, “Individual 1” ran the Hong Kong company and was entirely familiar with American export laws, as evidenced by online conversations preserved by the investigators. A federal judge approved electronic surveillance of Individual 1’s chat service. But after an initial shipment of prohibited parts was seized by US postal inspectors, Individual 1 was said to have gotten cold feet and she refused to be lured into US jurisdiction.
Enter Jacky Li
Pengyi Li, or “Jacky,” as he styles himself, was presented as a potential solution for the shipment problem. Li proved brash enough to risk a trip to Hawaii when the agents posing as the brokers promised that a corrupt customs official would protect him, investigators say.

“I need to give him bribe money, also cigars and whiskey, that he likes, then he will make sure that your flight is not searched,” the undercover agents told Li. “I’ll need your flight #s when we get closer. Are you comfortable with that situation? If yes, let’s complete the deal.”
Li allegedly demanded that the undercover agents reimburse his travel expenses and pay him a $10,000 fee for carrying the prohibited parts back to Hong Kong.
“Our boss said that we already paid 70% for the total payment, And half for the shipping, Right now you want us to pay for the fined money, that is ridiculous,” Li said in a text message to the undercover agents, referring to a penalty imposed after the initial shipment was seized. “If not we will sue you.”

“Sue us for what,” the agents replied. “We shipped a highly restricted part and we are lucky we are not in jail.”
Ultimately, the undercover agents paid for Li’s flight from Shenzhen, China, to Honolulu on Aug. 20. Li was in handcuffs the next day. A federal judge ordered him held without bail. The criminal complaint against Li was filed under seal and inadvertently posted publicly before being taken down.
Bureau of Prisons records indicate that Li was released on Sept. 4, the day Quartz contacted the Department of Homeland Security about the investigation. While the prosecutors and investigators leading in the case refused to comment on a sealed matter, another source expects further indictments to be issued.

The Li complaint also discusses an unnamed and possibly complicit US company. “Individual 1” purchased microchips designed to survive in high-radiation environments like outer space from the US company, which refused to ship them abroad. Then she asked the undercover agents to accept the chips and include them in their shipment of controlled parts to China.
The agents agreed, and received a package from the US company, complete with an invoice showing the firm was aware the customers for its export-prohibited parts were based in Hong Kong.
The hunt for smugglers
Quartz reviewed nine prosecutions the Department of Justice has brought against similar aerospace smuggling operations in the last decade.

Most follow the same storyline: A US company reports suspicious customers to the government, and then undercover agents pose as unscrupulous brokers. Months or years of communication about shipping the goods and what to do about those pesky customs labels establishes that all parties know that what they are doing is illegal, which is necessary for prosecutors to bring a case under US export law.
Then, the buyer—often acting as a middleman for the real customer in China—is lured to US jurisdiction and arrested. Bo Cai and Wentong Cai met undercover agents offering sensors in New Mexico in 2013. In 2014, See Kee Chin was arrested in Seattle trying to smuggle accelerometers disguised as children’s toys. In 2016, William Ali, a Fijian national, also attempted to procure restricted accelerometers for a Chinese buyer and was arrested in another Seattle-based sting.
“First and foremost, [our goal is] to prevent the technologies at issue from leaving the United States and getting into the wrong hands,” Todd Greenberg, an assistant US attorney who has prosecuted multiple export violation cases, told Quartz. “And then…to deter future conduct in the same regard, and make sure that potential perpetrators know that law enforcement’s watching very carefully, that industry is making these kinds of referrals, and that we will bring a prosecution whenever we can.”
The challenge of precision
Prosecutors rarely identify the ultimate end user for smuggled goods in public, but the sought-after components offer several clues.

Radiation-hardened circuits are used to build vehicles that leave the Earth’s atmosphere, like satellites that can spot missiles or spy on other countries, but require exotic materials and extensive testing to produce. Accelerometers are used to guide spacecraft and missiles, and require precise engineering to ensure accuracy. Attempts to steal components like these highlight where China has yet to match US production.
“The skill required to manufacture to that level of quality is extremely substantial,” says Andrew Hunter, a senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies who studies the defense industry. “That’s what distinguishes the high-end US manufacturing capability from their Chinese competitors—to achieve that level of quality control.”
While China has a nascent space industry, it is still has yet to catch up in many areas. For example, it relies on commercial use of a Boeing-built satellite to communicate with military bases in the South China Sea. Much of the country’s space hardware is produced by state-owned enterprises connected to the military. Missile technology in particular is central to Beijing’s plan to deter US armed forces, which may explain the hunt for technology related to space vehicles and the kinds of remote-sensing apparatus required to deploy them most effectively.
Court documents in a 2007 smuggling case said a Chinese state agency was seeking to obtain export-prohibited space sensors. In a different prosecution handled by Greenberg in 2011, US attorneys wrote that these crimes “amounted to a form of espionage on behalf of the People’s Republic of China to acquire the United States’ sensitive military technology….[the defendant] Yang’s contacts were high-level individuals who knew exactly what military technology the PRC wanted to acquire, and how to get it.”
The US government is stupid in allowing Chinese students, workers and travelers into the country, as they are all potential agents of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), due to the CCP being an authoritative regime, and having absolute power over Chinese people's lives.
There is a massive IP theft program being run by the CCP to steal technology from the US, and that is the real "secret sauce" in military, space and other fields' recent gains in China, as everything is ultimately controlled and owned by the CCP.
The only way to stop such IP theft by CCP agents and hackers is to stop allowing Chinese citizens from entering the US, and cut off China's access to US internet networks through a firewall.
 
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smooth manifold

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A Long March 2D rocket launched BeiJing-3-01/HaiSi-2/YangWang-1 satellites from Taiyuan on 11 June 2021.
It is the 373 flight of Long March series.

Orbital launches from Chinese launch centers: 405
(Long March/Kuaizhou/Smart Dragon/Hyperbola/Ceres)
Jiuquan Space Launch Center - 143
Xichang Space Launch Center - 155
Taiyuan Space Launch Center- 92
Wenchang Space Launch Center - 13
Haiyang Eastern Space Launch Port (Sea Launch)- 2
Ningbo Commercial Space Launch Center(under construction)-0

Coming up next:
A Long March 2F rocket will launch Shenzhou-12 crewed spacecraft with three Chinese astronauts to dock with China Space Station from Jiuquan on 17 June 2021.
A Long March 2C rocket will launch Yaogan-30 Group 9 satellites from Xichang on 18 June 2021.
A Long March 2D rocket will launch mysterious payloads from Jiuquan on 20 June 2021.
A Long March 6 rocket will launch CAS Earth science satellites from Taiyuan on 2X June 2021.
A Long March 2F rocket launched Shenzhou-12 crewed spacecraft with three Chinese astronauts to dock with China Space Station from Jiuquan on 17 June 2021.
It is the 374 flight of Long March family.
00686eaKgy1grlaaei1w3j30s616otmh.jpg


Orbital launches from Chinese launch centers: 406
(Long March/Kuaizhou/Smart Dragon/Hyperbola/Ceres)
Jiuquan Space Launch Center - 144
Xichang Space Launch Center - 155
Taiyuan Space Launch Center- 92
Wenchang Space Launch Center - 13
Haiyang Eastern Space Launch Port (Sea Launch)- 2
Ningbo Commercial Space Launch Center(under construction)-0

Coming up next:
A Long March 2C rocket will launch Yaogan-30 Group 9 reconnaissance satellites from Xichang on 18 June 2021.
 

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