An unspecified satellite will be orbited by the Long March-2C (Y29) rocket from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center.Launch rumored in May 2017.
I believe this will be the first CZ-2 series launch from Xichang since Shiyan 2, also on a CZ-2C, in November 2004
Did you see my April 4 posting on the Shijian 13 thread?
The other two carried Shiyan 1 and 2 respectively - I do not know which pad they used. Whichever was the last to fly from Pad 3 would have been the final launch from the old pad before it was demolished and rebuilt.
I am assuming that there are no further updates/rumours about this possible launch?
Quote from: Phillip Clark on 05/15/2017 11:58 amI am assuming that there are no further updates/rumours about this possible launch?The last information says that there are no rockets at the launch towers at the moment.
Quote from: Satori on 05/15/2017 02:45 pmQuote from: Phillip Clark on 05/15/2017 11:58 amI am assuming that there are no further updates/rumours about this possible launch?The last information says that there are no rockets at the launch towers at the moment.CALT did take the rocket out for a (dry) dress rehearsal at the pad between April 14 and April 28 though: http://www.calt.com/n689/c8373/content.htmlI really wonder the reasons of flying the 2C from Xichang right now - last time it happened in 2003-4 1 of the launches was to a high EEO and the 2 polar orbit launches were at a period where I believe they had no other active pad that can be used (Taiyuan was out for maintenance and Jiuquan's new satellite pad was only coming online around that period). Either the payload's going to a high orbit (or a low inclination LEO), or the pads at other sites are booked full/out for reconstruction/maintenance......
I am assuming that there is no further news about this planned launch?
Quote from: Phillip Clark on 08/08/2017 03:16 pmI am assuming that there is no further news about this planned launch?There were rumors that the rocket was actually brought back to Beijing in May/June after the fit checks, so it's not going to launch anytime soon.
Per SFF Weibo, looks like CZ-2C is ready to launch...They said this picture was taken yesterdayAnyhow, we need further information
Quote from: SmallKing on 09/23/2017 03:45 amPer SFF Weibo, looks like CZ-2C is ready to launch...They said this picture was taken yesterdayAnyhow, we need further informationHeh no wonder it's that hard to know what is flying - it must be yet another it-must-not-be-named thingy! Since Yuan Wang 3 is now in the South Pacific (southeast of Fiji), IF this is really what will launch next week, a low inclination BLEO target orbit (GTO et al.) is more likely.So what's that?
There has been the occasional polar orbit launch from Xichang.
Quote from: Phillip Clark on 09/23/2017 06:28 amThere has been the occasional polar orbit launch from Xichang.I doubt it, but could this NOTAM be related to this LM-2C launch
Quote from: input~2 on 09/23/2017 01:40 pmQuote from: Phillip Clark on 09/23/2017 06:28 amThere has been the occasional polar orbit launch from Xichang.I doubt it, but could this NOTAM be related to this LM-2C launchApparently, the Launch about this NOTAM will come from TSLC. Last time I checked up 9ifly, they gave a time frame for this CZ-2C launch: 29th around noon
NOTAMs:A TEMPORARY RESTRICTED AREA ESTABLISHED BOUNDED BY: N263510E1072250-N264301E1065708-N265820E1070259-N265028E1072844BACK TO START.VERTICAL LIMITS:GND-UNL. GND - UNL, 29 SEP 04:13 2017 UNTIL 29SEP 04:35 2017. CREATED: 25 SEP 07:47 2017
Launch code: 07-78http://www.kygov.gov.cn/xwzx/tzgg/zwgg/201709/t20170925_2788572.html
Quote from: linxiaoyi on 09/25/2017 09:07 amNOTAMs:A TEMPORARY RESTRICTED AREA ESTABLISHED BOUNDED BY: N263510E1072250-N264301E1065708-N265820E1070259-N265028E1072844BACK TO START.VERTICAL LIMITS:GND-UNL. GND - UNL, 29 SEP 04:13 2017 UNTIL 29SEP 04:35 2017. CREATED: 25 SEP 07:47 2017Looks like a ~35° LEO launch with an upper stage
Quote from: SmallKing on 09/25/2017 12:16 pmLaunch code: 07-78http://www.kygov.gov.cn/xwzx/tzgg/zwgg/201709/t20170925_2788572.htmlAFAIU this CZ-2C launch was initially planned to take place prior to the CZ-3B/Chinasat-9A launch in June which had launch codename "07-79"
Quote from: input~2 on 09/25/2017 01:05 pmQuote from: SmallKing on 09/25/2017 12:16 pmLaunch code: 07-78http://www.kygov.gov.cn/xwzx/tzgg/zwgg/201709/t20170925_2788572.htmlAFAIU this CZ-2C launch was initially planned to take place prior to the CZ-3B/Chinasat-9A launch in June which had launch codename "07-79""07-79" is the start code for the zhongxing-9A。
Lets wait for the windows to shake at Xichang...
Liftoff confirmed.
Our familiar insider implies a successful launch
Official annoucement of launch success for Yaogan-30 group 01 "for electromagnetic detection and related technical tests"http://news.xinhuanet.com/politics/2017-09/29/c_1121745112.htm [/font][/size]
Note that there is already a YG-30 launched in May 2016. It could be merely a muddling water designation, but it could also show some kind of relationship with that one.Will be interesting to see what orbit do they end up with.....
Quote from: Galactic Penguin SST on 09/29/2017 05:08 amNote that there is already a YG-30 launched in May 2016. It could be merely a muddling water designation, but it could also show some kind of relationship with that one.Will be interesting to see what orbit do they end up with.....Maybe the Chinese screwed up with the numbering system or mis-translated it into western numbers, and it should be Yaogan Weixing 31A, B and C?
Quote from: Phillip Clark on 09/29/2017 10:07 amQuote from: Galactic Penguin SST on 09/29/2017 05:08 amNote that there is already a YG-30 launched in May 2016. It could be merely a muddling water designation, but it could also show some kind of relationship with that one.Will be interesting to see what orbit do they end up with.....Maybe the Chinese screwed up with the numbering system or mis-translated it into western numbers, and it should be Yaogan Weixing 31A, B and C?I think this might be likely. I am not sure, if the triplet is on this single launch vehicle or if there will be three launches for three satellites. Lets see, how many objects will be tracked.
Orbit data from NORAD:42945/2017-058A: 592 x 601 km x 35.01 deg.42946/2017-058B: 593 x 601 km x 35.00 deg.42947/2017-058C: 593 x 601 km x 35.00 deg.42948/2017-058D: 583 x 678 km x 34.93 deg. (rocket 2nd stage)Had the orbit been 100 km lower I would have checked if the satellites are following the X-37B , but what kind of satellites would use a 600 km, 35 deg. incl. orbit?
Quote from: Galactic Penguin SST on 09/29/2017 03:14 pmOrbit data from NORAD:42945/2017-058A: 592 x 601 km x 35.01 deg.42946/2017-058B: 593 x 601 km x 35.00 deg.42947/2017-058C: 593 x 601 km x 35.00 deg.42948/2017-058D: 583 x 678 km x 34.93 deg. (rocket 2nd stage)Had the orbit been 100 km lower I would have checked if the satellites are following the X-37B , but what kind of satellites would use a 600 km, 35 deg. incl. orbit? High-revisit ship tracking over the Pacific:
While official statements following Chinese satellite launches usually ascribe functions such as scientific research, land resource surveys, crop yield studies, and disaster relief, the Yaogan satellite series is assessed to include high-resolution optical imaging sensors, synthetic aperture radars, and electronic intelligence (ELINT) sensors for intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR).The latest satellites appear to have been deployed as a triplet group, which is similar to the Yaogan 16, 17, 20, and 25 satellites, which were also deployed as triplets (for example Yaogan 16A, 16B, and 16C).Their function is assessed to be for ELINT in support of maritime surveillance, not only in terms of detecting transmissions from a ship's radars but also for providing geolocation of the emitter by measuring the time difference in arrival of the intercepted signals at each of the satellites.
South China Morning Post PUBLISHED : Friday, 29 September, 2017, 11:00pmStephen ChenMonths after rocket failure, China sends spy satellites into spaceChinese military’s three new probes will form a constellation to ‘monitor electromagnetic signals’China successfully put three new reconnaissance satellites into orbit using a Long March-2C rocket on Friday – its first launch in nearly three months.All launch activities had been put on hold after two failures in June and July that have delayed Beijing’s ambitious space programme, which includes lunar exploration.The three Yaogan-30 satellites were launched from a centre in Sichuan province. They will join a larger probe launched in May last year to form a constellation to “monitor electromagnetic signals” and other unspecified missions, state news agency Xinhua reported.The satellites are capable of intercepting radio signals from communications on Earth. They could also pick up the electromagnetic pulses generated by a nuclear explosion to gather intelligence after a thermonuclear weapon test, according to scientists.But the mission and technical details of the satellites was not disclosed.“These are military assets – they are not for civilian use, there’s no access,” said Li Xiaoming, a researcher at the Institute of Remote Sensing and Digital Earth at the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Beijing.The Yaogan satellites are owned and operated by the People’s Liberation Army. The Chinese military has carried out more than 30 launches of the satellites since 2006, according to state media reports.In the past, official announcements have listed civilian applications for the probes such as land use analysis and disaster relief, but this time there was no mention of any civilian uses.They were developed by the Micro-Satellite Research Institute at the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Shanghai, according to Xinhua.They are “just the first batch” of a number of similar satellites being developed for a planned global surveillance network, according to a researcher familiar with the project.Equipped with cutting-edge sensors, the small satellites orbit the Earth in large numbers and at relatively low altitudes – meaning they can take continuous, high-definition images and pick up extremely faint signals, a job previously done by bigger satellites, the researcher said.China was also developing large reconnaissance satellites, the researcher said, some of them equivalent to the biggest spy satellites of the United States.But problems with the Long March rocket have delayed their launch.The new Long March-5 heavy-lift launch vehicle lost power and plunged into the Pacific Ocean in July, taking with it China’s largest communications satellite.That came just weeks after the unsuccessful launch of the Long March-3B due to a technical glitch in June.Tian Yulong, secretary general of the China National Space Administration, told an international space conference in Beijing early this week that they had yet to determine what went wrong during the July launch.Chinese space scientists and engineers have identified the cause of previous failures within weeks and sometimes hours of the malfunction. This time, months on, the authorities have yet to provide any details.More than 80 per cent of the technology used in the Long March-5 – China’s biggest and most sophisticated rocket – was new, according to state media reports.Tian said the team hoped to determine the cause of the problem by the end of this year. All space flights requiring heavy-lift launch vehicles would be delayed, including its mission to build a space station, he added.http://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/2113427/months-after-rocket-failure-china-sends-spy-satellites-space
Well, it occured that this is not a triplet but three separate spacecaft. As of today, they are positioned along the orbit and separated by 120°.