The commercial rocket blasted off at 7:33 a.m. (Beijing Time).
The launch was the 11th flight mission to use the CERES-1 rocket series.
Developed by Beijing-based Galactic Energy, CERES-1 is a small-scale solid-propellant carrier rocket designed to send micro-satellites to low orbit.
The commercial rocket is 1.4 meters in diameter, and has a total length of about 20 meters and a takeoff weight of 33 tonnes. It can carry a payload of up to 300 kg to a sun-synchronous orbit at an altitude of 500 km.
With the capacity to carry both a single satellite and multiple satellites, the CERES-1 commercial rocket can be used for various tailored launch missions.
Galactic Energy has served 16 commercial satellite customers and launched a total of 35 commercial satellites of various types.
Tuesday’s launch mission is the first by this commercial rocket developer to successfully send satellites to the twilight orbit.
The twilight orbit is a special type of sun-synchronous orbit in which the satellite crosses the equator at approximately 6 a.m. and 6 p.m., exactly when the local sun rises and sets.
This means the satellite can always be illuminated by sunlight as the orbital plane and the Earth’s twilight line are approximately coincident. Therefore, the satellite can receive adequate and continuous energy supply.
One satellite carried by the CERES-1 Y9 rocket on Tuesday will focus on meteorological environment detection, while the other will provide real-time wide-area comprehensive perception satellite application services.
Shenzhou-16’s return capsule, carrying astronauts Jing Haipeng, Zhu Yangzhu and Gui Haichao, touched down at the Dongfeng landing site in north China’s Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region at 8:11 a.m. (Beijing Time), and the crew had all left the return capsule by 9:10 a.m., according to the China Manned Space Agency (CMSA).
The Shenzhou-16 astronauts are in good health and the Shenzhou-16 manned mission proved a success, while also marking that all three kinds of astronauts currently available in China, namely spacecraft pilot, spaceflight engineer and payload expert, had completed their flight assessments and practical tests, the CMSA said.
This mission has laid a good foundation for the subsequent development and construction of the crewed spaceflight program and large-scale space science experiments, the CMSA added.
“I am very excited at this moment as we have finally come back home and returned to our motherland,” said Jing, the mission commander and the first Chinese astronaut to complete four space missions, which amounted to over 200 days.
“During our mission, the crew lived a happy life and worked efficiently. All operations were carried out without any mistakes,” said Jing while sitting on a chair in front of the capsule.
Zhu, the country’s first spaceflight engineer in space, said they coordinated well in successfully completing various tasks and witnessed the glorious space station Tiangong, the country’s national space laboratory, during the five-month mission. “China’s space station is always worth looking forward to,” Zhu added.
“I will stick to my original aspiration and mission as an astronaut and a teacher with practical actions, and look forward to traveling to the country’s space station again to explore more scientific mysteries,” said Gui, China’s first civilian astronaut and first payload expert in space.
The return capsule separated from Shenzhou-16’s orbiting capsule at 7:21 a.m. The brake engine then ignited and the return capsule separated from the propulsion capsule.
The ground search team arrived at the landing site soon after the return capsule landed.
China launched the manned spaceship Shenzhou-16 on May 30, 2023. It was the first crewed mission of the application and development stage of China’s space station.
Its crew, which remained in orbit for 154 days, carried out a total of 70 space experiments, performed a space walk, delivered a lecture from the space station, and on several occasions assisted with the movement of cargo.
The spaceship, atop a Long March-2F carrier rocket, blasted off at 11:14 a.m. Thursday (Beijing Time) from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China, according to the China Manned Space Agency (CMSA).
About 10 minutes after the launch, the Shenzhou-17 spaceship separated from the rocket and entered its designated orbit. The crew members, consisting of Tang Hongbo, Tang Shengjie and Jiang Xinlin, are in good shape and the launch is a complete success, the CMSA said.
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The spacecraft carries a batch of biotechnology experiment samples for space protein molecular assembly and application research, including proteins, polypeptides, nucleic acids, biomaterials and medicines.
The microgravity environment in space provides a relatively uniform and stable environment for protein crystal growth, allowing scientists to determine the biological functions of protein molecules more accurately.
The experiments will help researchers study the effects of the microgravity environment and radiation on molecular structure, biological function, drug efficacy and pharmacology, guiding the design and development of molecular drugs.
The astronauts will also work on the research and development of biodegradable bionic bones, and their work will be of great significance to bionic biotechnology.
The astronauts will transfer the experiment samples to the space station and carry out planned scientific experiments.
Dozens of medical experiments will also be carried out during the mission, according to the China Astronaut Research and Training Center.
The experiments take weightlessness and radiation into consideration. They will study the impacts of long-term missions in space on the health and behaviors of astronauts, and explore advanced health care technologies, the center said.
More experiments will be conducted based on systematically obtained astronaut data and samples, aiming to deepen research into the laws and mechanisms of human adaptation to space.
The mission will also seek to develop advanced technologies for long-term space residence health assessment, improve the country’s self-developed portable acupoint stimulation device, and explore new technologies for efficient human-machine collaboration.
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The Shenzhou-17 crew has the youngest lineup since the construction of China’s Tiangong space station started.
Tang Hongbo, born in 1975, is the mission commander and a veteran astronaut once launched into orbit on the Shenzhou-12 mission in June 2021. Tang Shengjie, born in 1989, is a new face and also the youngest astronaut to enter China’s space station. Jiang Xinlin, born in 1988, is also a newcomer to space.
They will perform various in-orbit space science and application payload tests and experiments, Lin Xiqiang, deputy director of the CMSA, announced at a press conference on Wednesday.
They will carry out extravehicular activities, install extravehicular payloads and conduct space station maintenance and other tasks, Lin said.
The Shenzhou-17 astronauts will do extravehicular experimental maintenance for the first time, which is a very challenging task, Lin added.
With space debris increasing, their impact on long-term operating spacecraft is inevitable, Lin said. “Through preliminary inspections, we have found that the solar wings of the space station had been hit by tiny space particles several times, causing minor damages.”
“Of course, we already took this into consideration in the design stage. At present, all functionality and performance indicators of the space station meet requirements,” he added.
The astronauts will also continue to assess the functioning and performance of the space station and test the coordination and compatibility of ground support centers in performing space station operation and management tasks, to further enhance the operating efficiency and fault correction capability of the space station, he said.
The space station’s environmental control and life support system has been operating in orbit for approximately 900 consecutive days. The system’s regenerative technology has significantly reduced the need for ground supplies, and it is capable of saving up to six tonnes of expendable materials each year with three astronauts in orbit.
The Shenzhou-17 crew will rotate with the Shenzhou-16 crew, and the six astronauts across the two crews will work and live together in orbit for a period of time. The system’s processing capacity will be increased to meet the demands of six people. Its ability to support multiple modules and spacecraft will also be tested during the rotation.
The satellite, Yaogan-33 04, was launched on a Long March-4C carrier rocket at 4:15 a.m. (Beijing Time), and has entered its planned orbit successfully.
It will be used for scientific experiments, land resource surveys, crop yield estimates, and disaster prevention and relief work.
The launch was the 489th flight mission of the Long March carrier rocket series.
The satellite, Gaofen-12 04, was launched by a Long March-4C carrier rocket at 1:45 a.m. (Beijing Time) and has entered the planned orbit successfully.
It will be used in a variety of fields, including land surveys, urban planning, road network design, crop yield estimation and disaster relief.
The launch marks the 484th flight mission of the Long March series carrier rockets.
The helicopter had its 55th flight on Aug. 12, in which it reached an altitude of 10 meters and traveled 264 meters for 143 seconds, according to NASA.
The helicopter, named Ingenuity, arrived at Mars’ Jezero Crater on Feb. 18, 2021, attached to the belly of NASA’s Perseverance rover. The helicopter is a technology demonstration to test powered flight on another planet for the first time.
The helicopter was designed to fly for up to 90 seconds, to distances of almost 300 meters at a time and about 3 to 4.5 meters from the ground, according to NASA.
The commercial rocket blasted off at 12:03 p.m. (Beijing Time) from the launch site, carrying seven satellites, including the Xiguang-1 01 satellite.
Xiguang-1 01, equipped with hyperspectral, infrared, and panchromatic cameras, will be mainly used for earth observation, serving natural resources, agriculture, forestry, smart city, and disaster reduction.
Also aboard the rocket are an artificial intelligence-enabled remote sensing satellite called WonderJourney-1A, and Starpool I-1B, which is designed for remote sensing, satellite-to-satellite and satellite-to-ground communication, and navigation augmentation.
The launch was the 7th flight mission using the CERES-1 rocket series.
The satellite was launched by a Long March-2C carrier rocket at 6:53 a.m. (Beijing Time) and entered the planned orbit. Its primary users will be the Ministry of Emergency Management and the Ministry of Ecology and Environment.
The satellite will form an in-orbit network with a similar one launched into space last October, making up a preliminary satellite constellation for emergency management and environment monitoring.
The S-band synthetic aperture radar system aboard the satellite can work on cloudy and rainy days, which effectively overcomes the shortfalls of optical satellites.
Also, the emergency data processing system on the satellite can realize on-board real-time imaging, as well as information extraction and pre-processing for hot-spot areas.
The satellite will provide basic data for disaster relief and also contribute to land resources surveys, water conservancy, agriculture and forestry.
The launch was the 482nd mission to use the Long March rocket series.
