JIUQUAN, Sept. 25 (Xinhua) -- A satellite for natural disaster monitoring was successfully launched into orbit at 12:37 p.m. Wednesday, China's Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center has announced.The satellite Kuaizhou I, or speedy vessel I, will be used to monitor natural disasters and provide disaster-relief information for its user, the National Remote Sensing Center of China, a public institution under the Ministry of Science and Technology.The satellite was carried by a small launch vehicle bearing the same name as the vessel Kuaizhou.
Its capability is way more behind that of Epsilon.
Or am I wrong?
Quote from: chewi on 09/25/2013 02:22 pmOr am I wrong?No, you are right. It was eighth orbital launch from China in 2013. JSLC - five launches, XSLC - one, TSLC - two.
OH MY GOODNESS! IT'S AN ORBITAL LAUNCH! OF A NEW ROCKET! The launch vehicle is "Kuaizhou" (Quick-vessel, a.k.a. Clipper) and the satellite is named "Kuaizhou-1". Launch time is 04:37 UTC. The satellite, as I guessed before, is used for disaster emergency data monitoring and imaging (well you know what "disaster" means ), and will be used by the national remote sensing center of the national Academy of Sciences (among others? ).http://news.mod.gov.cn/headlines/2013-09/25/content_4468181.htm
Have to wonder if the May 13, 2013 super-high altitude suborbital launch was a test related to Kuaizhou. Of course China tried to develop a solid fuel orbital launcher named KT-1 about ten years ago, and it subsequently developed a solid fuel ASAT launcher. - Ed Kyle
Quote from: edkyle99 on 09/25/2013 02:55 pmHave to wonder if the May 13, 2013 super-high altitude suborbital launch was a test related to Kuaizhou. Of course China tried to develop a solid fuel orbital launcher named KT-1 about ten years ago, and it subsequently developed a solid fuel ASAT launcher. - Ed KyleVery much doubt it. The account of the KT-1 being the basis for the SC-19 comes from a single source who is not very reliable and the claim doesn't have much face value when you stop and think about it. The SC-19 cannot be based on both the DF-21 and the KT-1. It would make no sense to base an ASAT weapon on a commercial launcher that was 0-2 in launches (failures in both flight tests in 2002 and 2003), especially when they can just take a DF-21 TEL and replace the warheads with a KKV. That way you get a very reliable and well-known booster that also happens to be mobile.What was used as the rocket in the May 13 launch is still unknown, and something I'm working on. There is strong evidence that it launched from the same pad at Xichang located NW of the big LM pad, which is rumored to be the pad they did the 2005, 2006, and 2007 tests of the SC-19 from. That supports the theory that it too was based on a mobile TEL they could just drive on site.I guess it is possible that this Kuaizhou rocket is in some way related to the KT-1 program, but I'd have to see some evidence to support it. The KT-1 was developed by China Aerospace Science & Industry Corporation (CASI), which is completely different entity from the company that makes the Long March rockets (CAST). The two are competitors, much like Boeing and Lockheed Martin.
Also, quote here from a Xinhua story from earlier this year about the development of a LM-11 solid-fuel quick reaction launch vehicle:http://www.b14643.de/Spacerockets_1/China/CZ-11/Description/Frame.htmStill no idea if this is what was launched today, but there are some pieces of it that fit.
Earlier rumors pointing to the Harbin Institute of Technology building the satellite and CASIC building the launcher seems to be confirmed.....
Think of it this way - I'm arguing that the KT-1 and SC-19 both have a common ancestor in the DF-21, as opposed to the DF-21 begat the KT-1 which begat the SC-19.