CASC Released 2021 Blue Book of China Aerospace Science and Technology

A press conference of 2021 Blue Book of China Aerospace Science and Technology was held in Beijing on 9th February,2022.According to the Blue Book,CASC will conduct over 50 flights including six manned space flights in 2022 to complete the building of its space station and see the maiden flight of LM-6A,the country’s first carrier rocket powered by solid and liquid engines.

Space Launch and Development Continues in“Super Mode”

China carried out 55 space launch missions in 2021,with this number ranking first in the world,and its total mass of spacecraft launched reached 191.19 tonnes,an 85.5 percent year-on-year increase.Among them,the Long March series of carrier rockets of CASC have completed 48 launch missions,all of which were successful,ranking first in the number of launches among space companies in the world.A total of 103 spacecraft with a total mass of 189.65 tonnes were launched.

There are three characteristics of CASC’s launch missions in 2022.

First is high-frequency of launches and flight tests.CASC plans to conduct over 50 launch missions in 2022,sending more than 140 spacecrafts,including the maiden flight of LM-6A carrier rocket.

Second is high difficulty and huge influence of major projects.The construction of the Chinese space station is an important and leading project in building China into a science and technology power and space power,and it is a top priority in space missions of 2022.Six manned space flights will be dedicated to fully completing the building of the Chinese space station,with the Tianhe core module as the command center and the Wentian and Mengtian lab modules as experimental platforms before the end of this year.

Third is high intensity and high difficulty of R&D.CASC will carry out several R&D works such as the 4th phase of the Lunar Exploration Program and asteroid probe,promoting satellite applications to actively serve national strategic goals,developing the “space+informatization +” industry,speeding up the construction of a comprehensive internet information service system for high orbit satellites,building a comprehensive satellite remote sensing operation service system that integrates private and commercial enterprises,and extending the BeiDou application to system integration and value-added services.

In addition,CASC will also launch several research satellites and operational satellites for national civil space infrastructure,to satisfy the application requirements of users from the fields of natural resources,ecological environment,forest grassland,emergency relief,meteorology,radio and television,helping the space technology to better serve the society and people’s livelihood,serve the national economy development and construction.

Commercial launches such as Beijing 3B and Zhongzi 03 satellite group are also included in 2022 launch plan.

“3 Firsts” will be Achieved Through the Space Station Mission

According to LIU Feng,the Deputy Chief Designer of LM-2F,the LM-2F carrier rocket will carry out 2 manned space launch missions in 2022 with a mode of “launch one rocket and backup one rocket”.LM-2F Y14 has keep the state of emergency rescue erected at the launch site in good condition for more than 4 months.Y15,as an emergency rescue rocket for Y14,has completed the final assembly in Beijing,and will soon carry out matching and factory test of the whole carrier rocket.

LIU Bing,the Deputy Chief Designer of LM-5B,said that the LM-5B carrier rocket will launch the Wentian and Mengtian lab modules one after another in 2022.At present,the final assembly and test of LM-5B Y3 has been completed and the assembly of Y4 is being conducted.

LM-5B is sending the Tianhe core module into orbit Photo:SU Dong

According to MA Zhonghui,the Deputy Chief Designer of LM-7,the LM-7 carrier rocket plans to send cargo spacecraft Tianzhou 4 and Tianzhou 5 into orbits.

CHEN Xiaofei,associate director designer of LM-8 carrier rocket,said that the second mission of LM-8 was the maiden flight of the new configuration of LM-8 without boosters,sending 22 satellites of 7 commercial customers into space and making a record of placing the most satellites at one launch by a China-made rocket.

Deputy Chief Commander of the LM-11 and SD-3 carrier rockets LONG Wei introduced that 2022 is a critical year for the first flight of SD-3,as well as the first year of high-density launches of the two launchers.10 large ground tests will be conducted and 3 launches represented by maiden flight of SD-3 will be completed.

According to the Deputy Chief Designer of the space station system BO Linhou,after returning to Earth of the Shenzhou 13 crew who has stayed in space for 6 months,the development team will make a completed assessment on the critical technical demonstration of the Chinese space station and the space station will enter construction phase if the results meet the requirement.6 spacecraft including Tianzhou 4,Shenzhou 4,two space labs and Tianzhou 5 and Shenzhou 16 will be launched successively during the construction phase.

Tianzhou 4 and Tianzhou 5 cargo spacecraft will be launched successively,according to FANG fang,assistant to the Chief Designer of the cargo transportation system.In addition to supply materials and equipment for Shenzhou 14 and Shenzhou 15 crews,the two cargo spacecraft will conduct duo orbital and attitude control in coordination with the space station,supporting applications and experiments on Tianzhou spacecraft.

2022 will see 3 “firsts” achieved for space station mission:the first duo flight of 6 spacecraft,the first stay of Chinese astronauts in space for 6 months and the first time Shenzhou 14 and Shenzhou 15 crews stay in space at the same time.

In 2022,Shenzhou manned spaceships will carry out return to Earth,two spaceship dockings and rendezvous,three spaceship emergency rescue standbys,involving 4 spaceships including Shenzhou 13 to Shenzhou 16,said SHAO Limin,deputy project technical manager of manned spaceship system of CAST.In the meantime,the ground development for Shenzhou 17 and Shenzhou 18 will be conducted.Shenzhou 13 will implement quick return to Earth for the first time,further increase comfort for astronauts and mission efficiency.(SONG Haowei/China Space News)

Veritical transfer of the LM-7 launch vehicle at Wenchang Spacecraft Launch Site Photo:SHI Xiao