Author Topic: China's space program  (Read 654720 times)

Offline savuporo

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Re: China's space program
« Reply #760 on: 09/01/2017 03:15 pm »
RHU's and RTG's, at least

why? RTG technology is well known in China. After all, Chang'E 3 uses a Chinese RTG

Can you point to an authoritative source confirming that?. According to Rosatom press releases, it was made at VNIIEF, or at least was significantly helped

http://www.thespacereview.com/article/2401/1 ( see comments )

Direct sources:
http://www.sarov.net/news/?id=26276
http://www.sarov.net/news/?id=28098


« Last Edit: 09/01/2017 03:56 pm by savuporo »
Orion - the first and only manned not-too-deep-space craft

Offline Lars-J

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Re: China's space program
« Reply #761 on: 09/01/2017 04:27 pm »
I'm not sure what Russia brings to the table to benefit China at this point, but this collaboration might be more for political than technical reasons.
Not really. We already knew YF-100s were derived from RD-120s. R&D independently is always hard, CASC has a strong desire to acquire Russia's powerful engine(RD-180s) and heavy rocket technology these years

RD-180 may be the only jewel that China is interested in. But as far as the rest, Chinese rockets already out-lift the Russian ones, and the future CZ-9 is not dependent on RD-180 technology.

Offline Phil Stooke

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Re: China's space program
« Reply #762 on: 09/01/2017 05:20 pm »
"Can you point to an authoritative source confirming that?. According to Rosatom press releases, it was made at VNIIEF, or at least was significantly helped"

Is a Rosatom press release an authoritative source?  Sometimes credit is claimed for a fairly small involvement.  I'm not saying they were not involved, even in a big way, but an outside source would be better.

Offline savuporo

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Re: China's space program
« Reply #763 on: 09/01/2017 06:35 pm »
Well the two articles linked above claim an official contract between GWIC and Glavkosmos, and specifically call out the types of devices being built too. There would likely be other public records in Russian detailing the contract sizes etc.

I'll be lazy and post the google translated versions here. From my admittedly rusty reading of Russian versions, its decently accurate

Quote
20 June 2012, 09:09 - Economics and business
From June 12 to June 15, a working meeting of the delegations of RFNC-VNIIEF and OAO Glavkosmos with Chinese specialists from the Tianjin Institute of Current Sources, the Industrial Corporation "Great Wall", the Center for Moon Research and Space Engineering of the CNPC was held in the Sarov Technopark. This was reported by the press service of the Institute.

The meeting took place within the framework of the Russian-Chinese contract on the moon sounding program. The Chinese side presented the results of the work of the nuclear center for the creation of radioisotope sources of heat and electrical energy.

So, the newest joint development was carried out by EMV Avangard and KB-1 VNIIEF. This is a radionuclide thermal unit with a power of 120 watts. And a radioisotope thermoelectric generator with an output power of 6.5 watts. The KB-1 specially designed a transport packaging for transportation of radionuclide thermal blocks.

At the meeting, specialists of the VNIIEF emergency technical center demonstrated to the Chinese representatives the method of handling the transport packaging. The uniqueness of the kit is the ability to transport nuclear materials not only by road or rail, but also by air.

"The high level of development of VNIIEF is confirmed by a certificate for the safe use of a thermal unit in outer space issued by the Center for the Certification of Rocket and Space Equipment," the source said. A certificate of approval for the construction and transportation of a transport packaging with a thermal unit has been issued by the competent body of Rosatom State Corporation.

Quote
April 17, 2013, 11:38 - VNIIEF
The VNIIEF successfully completed the development, production and supply of 120W radionuclide thermal blocks of space in the PRC. This was reported by the press service of the Institute.

The visit of the delegation of the nuclear center to China was the final stage of fulfilling the contracts between JSC "Glavkosmos" and the Chinese industrial corporation "Great Wall". Chinese experts highly appreciated the quality of the delivered products.

Specialists KB-1, KB-2 and EMZ "Avangard" participated in the implementation of the contracts.

Earlier, the nuclear center supplied the Tianjin Institute of Current Sources with radionuclide blocks with a power of 4 and 8 W and an engineering model of a radionuclide thermoelectric generator.

In 2012, Sarov scientists presentedChinese specialists radionuclide thermal unit - at that time the newest joint development of EMV Avangard and KB-1 VNIIEF. The meeting was attended by representatives of the Center for the Study of the Moon and Space Engineering of the CNDK.

Also,  last year VNIIEF demonstrated isotope blocks at the XII International Exhibition of Nuclear Industry "NIC 2012" in China.
Orion - the first and only manned not-too-deep-space craft

Offline plutogno

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Re: China's space program
« Reply #764 on: 09/01/2017 07:33 pm »

Offline Hungry4info3

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Re: China's space program
« Reply #765 on: 10/26/2017 02:57 am »
Does anyone know if anything about China's space programme was mentioned during their recent 19th CPC National Congress?

Offline Moon Rabbit

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Re: China's space program
« Reply #766 on: 10/26/2017 04:26 am »
Does anyone know if anything about China's space programme was mentioned during their recent 19th CPC National Congress?

i have read some of the foreign press summary of the opening speech...but nothing was mentioned about their space programs.
 
Here is a youtube of the speech (it is 3.5 hours long though...so i have not sat through it). Will just wait for a written transcript and do a search ;D


And here is the speech without the translation voice over...


Btw, there is a Xinhua website dedicated to the 19th CPC National congress. Some written reports...but no mention of their space programs (but i have not read all the reports yet :o)
http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/special/19cpcnc/index.htm


« Last Edit: 10/26/2017 04:30 am by Moon Rabbit »
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Offline SmallKing

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Re: China's space program
« Reply #767 on: 10/26/2017 04:36 am »
Nothing very important I thought, I had updated some space related news into those individual threads. During the 19th National Congress, the only thing they did was to made Xi as China’s most powerful leader since Mao Zedong...
Some are bound for happiness, some are bound to glory, some are bound to live with less, who can tell your story?

Offline Moon Rabbit

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Re: China's space program
« Reply #768 on: 10/26/2017 05:07 am »
Nothing very important I thought, I had updated some space related news into those individual threads. During the 19th National Congress, the only thing they did was to made Xi as China’s most powerful leader since Mao Zedong...
At least he is a leader who appreciates Science and technology...including advancement is space exploration (in my opinion).
The Mercury Seven - Carpenter, Cooper, Glenn, Grissom, Schirra, Shepard, Slayton. “Somewhere, something incredible is waiting to be known.” - Carl Sagan

Offline Moon Rabbit

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Re: China's space program
« Reply #769 on: 10/26/2017 05:19 am »
An article earlier this year (March 2107) highligting some of Xi's positive support for China space programs
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2017-04/24/c_136232642.htm

An this one is a gem...you got it right Mr Xi ;D
"The universe is vast and exploration of it will never end," Xi said.
The Mercury Seven - Carpenter, Cooper, Glenn, Grissom, Schirra, Shepard, Slayton. “Somewhere, something incredible is waiting to be known.” - Carl Sagan

Offline Moon Rabbit

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Re: China's space program
« Reply #770 on: 10/30/2017 11:51 am »
Three times taikonaut, Jing Haipeng was one of the delegate in the recent 19th CPC National Congress. Found this article about what he said during the congress (or rather what he told a reporter)
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2017-10/21/c_136695873.htm#0-twi-1-35734-7250227817ecdff034dc9540e6c76667

BEIJING, Oct. 21 (Xinhua) -- Jing Haipeng, the first Chinese astronaut to go into space three times, has voiced his desire to go into space again as a further demonstration of his loyalty to the Communist Party of China (CPC).

"I'm eager to go to space again, be a pioneer in the battle one more time," said the 51-year-old major general and delegate to the ongoing 19th National Congress of the CPC.

"Let the vastness of space witness again the absolute loyalty of a revolutionary soldier, a CPC member and a space warrior," Jing told Xinhua.

"I must give all the people involved in China's manned space program a thumbs-up," Jing said. "China's aerospace industry has achieved one breakthrough after another over the past five progressive years."

"Numerous people have spent their blood and sweat to engrave their loyalty to the Party and the people onto the universe, in the country's journey toward becoming a space power," the astronaut said.

Following his trips on Shenzhou-7 in 2008 and Shenzhou-9 in 2012, Jing's latest mission was on board Shenzhou 11, launched on Oct. 17, 2016. Shenzhou-11 docked two days later with China's first space lab, Tiangong-2, where Jing and the other astronaut Chen Dong lived for 30 days, the longest time a taikonaut has spent in space.

"I grew up in a small village, and my mum and dad were farmers," Jing said. "So far I've realized my dreams one by one and mounted the steps one after another."

"There are words from the bottom of my heart: Never forget it is the training of the Party and the country which enables me to fly higher and higher. As a serviceman, I never forget the care, instruction and guidance of organizations at various levels," said the emotional astronaut.
The Mercury Seven - Carpenter, Cooper, Glenn, Grissom, Schirra, Shepard, Slayton. “Somewhere, something incredible is waiting to be known.” - Carl Sagan

Online Galactic Penguin SST

Re: China's space program
« Reply #771 on: 11/17/2017 01:53 am »
CASC has announced yesterday some forward looking plans in the future:

- sub-orbital passenger flight systems by 2025
- HLV by 2030
- fully reusable orbital launch vehicles by 2035
- interplanetary transport systems by 2040

Source: http://www.chinanews.com/gn/2017/11-16/8378305.shtml and (English version) https://gbtimes.com/china-sets-out-long-term-space-transportation-roadmap-including-a-nuclear-space-shuttle
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Offline Moon Rabbit

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Re: China's space program
« Reply #772 on: 11/17/2017 05:39 am »
CASC has announced yesterday some forward looking plans in the future:

- sub-orbital passenger flight systems by 2025
- HLV by 2030
- fully reusable orbital launch vehicles by 2035
- interplanetary transport systems by 2040

Source: http://www.chinanews.com/gn/2017/11-16/8378305.shtml and (English version) https://gbtimes.com/china-sets-out-long-term-space-transportation-roadmap-including-a-nuclear-space-shuttle

Was the nuclear powered space shuttle mentioned in the Chinese article?

From gbtimes
Another target explicitly mentioned for 2040 is a nuclear-powered space shuttle, though no details are revealed. (3rd last paragraph)
The Mercury Seven - Carpenter, Cooper, Glenn, Grissom, Schirra, Shepard, Slayton. “Somewhere, something incredible is waiting to be known.” - Carl Sagan

Offline Star One

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Re: China's space program
« Reply #773 on: 11/22/2017 07:42 pm »
China's Space Exploration Roadmap Reveals Plans for a Nuclear-Powered Shuttle

Quote
By 2030, the Long March 9 rocket will be ready for use. Classified as a “heavy-lift” rocket, it’s capable of carrying over 100 tonnes (220,462 pounds), making it perfect for launching crewed missions to the Moon, and possibly unmanned missions to Mars. By comparison, SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy rocket has a payload capacity of about 63 tonnes (140,660 pounds), though future iterations of the Falcon Heavy are likely to incorporate an increased payload.

Looking ahead to 2035, the CASC wants to make all of its launch vehicles reusable; currently, they’re all single use. Within five years from that time, they expect the introduction of a new generation of rockets and launch vehicles which would be used for interstellar missions, asteroid mining, and “constructing megaprojects such as a space-based solar power station.” The nuclear-powered space shuttle is also set for 2040, but as there are few details about the shuttle at present, it’s unclear if 2040 is when development will begin or when its first launch is expected to take place.

https://futurism.com/china-space-exploration-roadmap-reveals-plans-nuclear-powered-shuttle/amp/

Offline Satori

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Offline Satori

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Re: China's space program
« Reply #775 on: 12/11/2017 07:53 pm »
Hadn't noticed this before (announcement from July 2017)

Long March Launch Vehicle Piggyback Opportunities.

Offline Hog

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Re: China's space program
« Reply #776 on: 12/12/2017 04:38 pm »
The CNSA(Chinese National Space Agency) sure is doing lots, with a surprisingly small budget. If that US$500 million spec is remotely close.

The USA spends 0.14% of its GDP.
China spends 0.02% of its GDP.
Russia spends 0.06% of its GDP.

USA spends $54.00 per person
China spends $0.92 per person.
Russia spends $9.00 per person.

Their launch rate is increasing historically.  I'm all for seeing Taikonauts on orbit.
Paul

Offline Satori

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Offline Satori

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Offline vulture4

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Re: China's space program
« Reply #779 on: 12/21/2017 06:52 pm »
There is no indication at all that China is interested in a new "Moon race". If the US wants competition to stir up public interest they will have to look elsewhere.
https://thediplomat.com/2017/12/does-trump-just-kick-off-the-space-race-2-0-with-china/

 

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