[November 6, 2001] CASIC Shows Kaituozhe-1
Scale Model China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation (CASIC) displayed a scale
model of its new all-solid space launcher Kaituozhe-1(KT-1) in an exhibition held in
Beijing in September. A photo of the model taken in the exhibition is released on the
lastest issue of Aerospace China magazine. Earlier reports indicate that development of
KT-1 is smooth. First launch of the new rocket is expected during next year.
[November 2, 2001] Namibia Tracking Station
Completed China has completed construction of a tracking, telemetry and command
station in Swakopmund, Namibia, Africa. It is expected that the station will support
China's third unmanned Shenzhou spacecraft late this year. (SSC)
[October 20, 2001] Third CZ-2F Ready to Fly A new CZ-2F rocket passed flight qualification recently. This is the thrid
man-rated CZ-2F launch vehicle that is supposed to loft the Shenzhou 3 spaceship into
space. According to information released by CALT, it is the first full-status CZ-2F. The
rocket is still in Beijing but will be transported to Jiuquan by train very soon. (Note:
I'm sorry that I made a mistake earlier that says Xichang is the destination of the
launcher)
[October 20, 2001] ZY-1 Mission Extended The ZY-1(CBERS-1) resource satellite has benn working smoothly since its
launch in 1999. On October 14, two major payloads, the CCD camera and the infrared
multispectral scanner, exceeded the design life span of two years. Up to now, ZY-1 has
captured about 230,000 images. (SpaceChina)
[October 4, 2001] The Sixth APC-MCSTA Held in
Beijing The Sixth Asia-Pacific Conference on Multilateral Cooperation in Space
Technology and Applications was held in Beijing September 19-21. Representatives and
specialists from more than 20 countries attended the conference. It announced during the
conference that the Small Multimission Spacecraft(SMMS), a CAST968 bus based small
satellite co-developed by China, Korea, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Iran, Mongolia and Thailand,
will enter manuafacture pahse around end of this year. The next APC-MCSTA will be held in
Bangkok in 2003. (CNSA)
[October 4, 2001] DubleStart Progress During the week of 10-14 September, scientists and engineers from ESA
working on the Double Star mission visted China. They attended the first meeting of the
Double Star Science Working Committee and discussed technical interfaces between the
European-built instruments and the two Chinese spacecraft. It was agreed that initial
interface tests on the engineering models of the European instruments would take place
next April. A number of minor changes to the original Double Star mission scenario were
also announced. The target date for the launch of the 'equatorial' spacecraft (DSP-1) from
Xichang has now been moved to June 2003, followed six months later by the launch of the
'polar' spacecraft (DSP-2) from Taiyuan. (ESA)
[October 4, 2001] China and France Discuss Space
Cooperations During the Sino-French Space Industry Seminar held September 19, China and
France expressed strong intention to widen space cooperations bwteen two countries. More
than 100 representatives from CNES, Alcatel, Prospace, Spot, COSTIND, CASC, CASIC and
other aerospace organizations attended the seminar. It is also reported that China plans
to participate in the European Galileo navigation satellite system in a move to detach it
from the American system and to attract commercial launches by its Long March boosters.
(China Space News, SSC)
[November 6, 2001] CASIC Shows Kaituozhe-1
Scale Model