Where is Tianhe (station core) in the newest schedule?
Quote from: RedLineTrain on 08/25/2017 03:43 pmQuote from: abaddon on 08/25/2017 03:37 pmQuote from: RedLineTrain on 08/25/2017 03:31 pmQuote from: FutureSpaceTourist on 08/25/2017 01:43 amSpaceX's great year continues, looking good to have the most launches of any launch provider globally this year.China expects about 30 launches.QuoteQ: How many launches are you planning for this year?A: Around 30; China has a lot of domestic launch needs. [my bold] For example, the Beidou navigation constellation is still at the deployment stage to become a global system by 2020. Also, there are some Chinese domestic programs for Earth observation, weather satellites, and also human exploration and deep space exploration programs. All these areas are requiring a significant number of launches. Last year we were on par with the U.S. for 22 launches. I think this year we might be No. 1 in terms of launches. (Editor’s note: this interview was conducted before the July 2 failure of China’s Long March 5 rocket.)[my bold]http://spacenews.com/back-to-back-commercial-satellite-wins-leave-china-great-wall-hungry-for-more/They have had eight (one failed) so far this year, so yeah... no.In 2015 at this point, China Great Wall had only three launches. Went on to launch 19 for the year.24 is still well short of 30 (although more than SpaceX will do).We'll see.
Quote from: abaddon on 08/25/2017 03:37 pmQuote from: RedLineTrain on 08/25/2017 03:31 pmQuote from: FutureSpaceTourist on 08/25/2017 01:43 amSpaceX's great year continues, looking good to have the most launches of any launch provider globally this year.China expects about 30 launches.QuoteQ: How many launches are you planning for this year?A: Around 30; China has a lot of domestic launch needs. [my bold] For example, the Beidou navigation constellation is still at the deployment stage to become a global system by 2020. Also, there are some Chinese domestic programs for Earth observation, weather satellites, and also human exploration and deep space exploration programs. All these areas are requiring a significant number of launches. Last year we were on par with the U.S. for 22 launches. I think this year we might be No. 1 in terms of launches. (Editor’s note: this interview was conducted before the July 2 failure of China’s Long March 5 rocket.)[my bold]http://spacenews.com/back-to-back-commercial-satellite-wins-leave-china-great-wall-hungry-for-more/They have had eight (one failed) so far this year, so yeah... no.In 2015 at this point, China Great Wall had only three launches. Went on to launch 19 for the year.
Quote from: RedLineTrain on 08/25/2017 03:31 pmQuote from: FutureSpaceTourist on 08/25/2017 01:43 amSpaceX's great year continues, looking good to have the most launches of any launch provider globally this year.China expects about 30 launches.QuoteQ: How many launches are you planning for this year?A: Around 30; China has a lot of domestic launch needs. [my bold] For example, the Beidou navigation constellation is still at the deployment stage to become a global system by 2020. Also, there are some Chinese domestic programs for Earth observation, weather satellites, and also human exploration and deep space exploration programs. All these areas are requiring a significant number of launches. Last year we were on par with the U.S. for 22 launches. I think this year we might be No. 1 in terms of launches. (Editor’s note: this interview was conducted before the July 2 failure of China’s Long March 5 rocket.)[my bold]http://spacenews.com/back-to-back-commercial-satellite-wins-leave-china-great-wall-hungry-for-more/They have had eight (one failed) so far this year, so yeah... no.
Quote from: FutureSpaceTourist on 08/25/2017 01:43 amSpaceX's great year continues, looking good to have the most launches of any launch provider globally this year.China expects about 30 launches.QuoteQ: How many launches are you planning for this year?A: Around 30; China has a lot of domestic launch needs. [my bold] For example, the Beidou navigation constellation is still at the deployment stage to become a global system by 2020. Also, there are some Chinese domestic programs for Earth observation, weather satellites, and also human exploration and deep space exploration programs. All these areas are requiring a significant number of launches. Last year we were on par with the U.S. for 22 launches. I think this year we might be No. 1 in terms of launches. (Editor’s note: this interview was conducted before the July 2 failure of China’s Long March 5 rocket.)[my bold]http://spacenews.com/back-to-back-commercial-satellite-wins-leave-china-great-wall-hungry-for-more/
SpaceX's great year continues, looking good to have the most launches of any launch provider globally this year.
Q: How many launches are you planning for this year?A: Around 30; China has a lot of domestic launch needs. [my bold] For example, the Beidou navigation constellation is still at the deployment stage to become a global system by 2020. Also, there are some Chinese domestic programs for Earth observation, weather satellites, and also human exploration and deep space exploration programs. All these areas are requiring a significant number of launches. Last year we were on par with the U.S. for 22 launches. I think this year we might be No. 1 in terms of launches. (Editor’s note: this interview was conducted before the July 2 failure of China’s Long March 5 rocket.)[my bold]
Thinking about annual Chinese launch rates, cross-posting from the Formosat-5 launch discussion thread:Quote from: abaddon on 08/25/2017 03:45 pmQuote from: RedLineTrain on 08/25/2017 03:43 pmQuote from: abaddon on 08/25/2017 03:37 pmQuote from: RedLineTrain on 08/25/2017 03:31 pmQuote from: FutureSpaceTourist on 08/25/2017 01:43 amSpaceX's great year continues, looking good to have the most launches of any launch provider globally this year.China expects about 30 launches.QuoteQ: How many launches are you planning for this year?A: Around 30; China has a lot of domestic launch needs. [my bold] For example, the Beidou navigation constellation is still at the deployment stage to become a global system by 2020. Also, there are some Chinese domestic programs for Earth observation, weather satellites, and also human exploration and deep space exploration programs. All these areas are requiring a significant number of launches. Last year we were on par with the U.S. for 22 launches. I think this year we might be No. 1 in terms of launches. (Editor’s note: this interview was conducted before the July 2 failure of China’s Long March 5 rocket.)[my bold]http://spacenews.com/back-to-back-commercial-satellite-wins-leave-china-great-wall-hungry-for-more/They have had eight (one failed) so far this year, so yeah... no.In 2015 at this point, China Great Wall had only three launches. Went on to launch 19 for the year.24 is still well short of 30 (although more than SpaceX will do).We'll see.NSF experts, please correct me if I'm wrong...Generally, Chinese orbital launches are more plentiful in the last half of the chronological year than in the first half.Launch campaigns schedule around Chinese New Year. (Chinese New Year falls on the New Moon between January 21 and February 20.)The Chinese rocket engineers would appear to be in several stages of recovery from four different partial or full launch failures of four launch vehicles:CZ-4C failure, Aug. 31, 2016CZ-2D partial launch failure, Dec. 28, 2016CZ-3B/G2 partial launch failure, June 18, 2017CZ-5 failure, July 2, 2017That's 4 different returns-to-flight to accomplish. Getting from 8 launches thus far this year, to (around) 30, in 4 months, seems extremely ambitious.Do you think that they'll make this goal? Or even get anywhere close to it?[Mods: Please create a splinter thread if you think this is more appropriate as its own thread.]
...Generally, Chinese orbital launches are more plentiful in the last half of the chronological year than in the first half....
Quote from: zubenelgenubi on 08/25/2017 07:15 pm...Generally, Chinese orbital launches are more plentiful in the last half of the chronological year than in the first half....Yes, and in numbers it looks even more biased to the end of year, the attached graph shows launches by calendar month for three Chinese launch sites.So that typically China makes half (or even more) of its launches during the last four months of the year.My guess on the reason - the climate:Jiuquan and Taiyuan are located in *Inner Mongolia Desert* region which has very rough winter. The prominent feature is VERY high contrast in day-night temperatures, up to 30 °C. Yes, the temperature can be in plus at noon, and then it drops below minus 25°C after midnight. This creates a lot of problems for assembly of large aluminum things like rockets, also it makes difficult to handle some liquids and (especially) compressed gases.That's why (as I understand it) we do not see many (any) launches in Jan-Feb from Jiuquan and Taiyuan.With respect to this year, one would expect 8-10 more Chinese launches in Sept-Dec - based on these historical patterns only.However, this was difficult year for Chinese space industry with several failures, therefore I'd guess the actual year total will be lower.
Earlier this month, a post in the Baidu Tieba claimed CZ-5 Y3 will launch with SJ-18 02 in Q2 2018, but the post is deleted now
China launch schedule2017September 29 - CZ-3B/YZ-1 - XSLC - Beidou-3M1; Beidou-3M2 (or November)?? September (TBD) - CZ-3B/G2 - XSLC - ZX-6C Zhongxing-6CAugust 31September 4September 6September 14September 14September 17September 18
Well with the BDS launch being ruled out for the next launch out of Xichang (which, per people now selling launch day post covers, is indeed coming soon), it seems that the payload on board might be ChinaSat-6C instead, though even those people on Chinese forums can only speculate.
Quote from: Satori on 08/31/2017 02:47 pmChina launch schedule2017September 29 - CZ-3B/YZ-1 - XSLC - Beidou-3M1; Beidou-3M2 (or November)?? September (TBD) - CZ-3B/G2 - XSLC - ZX-6C Zhongxing-6CAugust 31September 4September 6September 14September 14September 17September 18AndQuote from: Galactic Penguin SST on 09/20/2017 01:47 amWell with the BDS launch being ruled out for the next launch out of Xichang (which, per people now selling launch day post covers, is indeed coming soon), it seems that the payload on board might be ChinaSat-6C instead, though even those people on Chinese forums can only speculate. Question 1Are the CZ-3B's with differing upper stages distinguishable by visual inspection?Or, to state more clearly:If someone saw the next LV on the pad, or images were shared of the LV on the pad, could the upper stage be deduced, and therefore determine the payload?Question 2Could two launch campaigns be prosecuted simultaneously on the two available pads at Xichang?