Gaofen-7 - CZ-4B - Taiyuan - November 3, 2019 (03:22 UTC)

[Steven Pietrobon]

Grid fin!

http://www.9ifly.cn/forum.php?mod=redirect&goto=findpost&ptid=14212&pid=688818

[Steven Pietrobon]

Some other images.

http://www.jintiankansha.me/t/MLxU1u1RUF

[Galactic Penguin SST]

Interestingly none of the rumored co-passengers have been mentioned in the reports so far. We will have to see if they are really flying with GF-7.

Edit: They are indeed flying on this flight.

[Steven Pietrobon]

Report on one the satellites. Article says that 精致一号/Jingzhi 1/Exquisite 1 was launched in November 2017, but I can't find the corresponding launch for this.

"On November 3, 2019, at 11:22:39, the Long March 4B carrier rocket ignited at the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center, successfully carried out a four-star launch, successfully put the exquisite high-score test satellite into a predetermined orbit, the exquisite high-score test satellite is the second satellite of the exquisite microsatellite platform, It is also the first application of the platform on high-score remote sensing payloads.
...
The series' debut star, the Exquisite One satellite, was successfully launched in November 2017 and has been in orbit for two years so far. High-score remote sensing "exquisite high score" satellite platform weighs about 30KG, load carrying capacity of up to 60KG, maximum load power is not less than 200W."

https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/gYYHdZqeqfW9Vccfcdscow

[tehwkd]

Report on Jifeng satellite (Xiaoxiang No. 1 08 Star), the 15th satellite by Tianyi Research Institute


https://www.weibo.com/ttarticle/p/show?id=2309404434519905140746

[Steven Pietrobon]

Short video showing the first stage return. Vehicle looked pretty steady coming in for a vertical landing.

https://www.weibo.com/3613317253/Ieu2tAOoF?type=comment

twitter.com/LaunchStuff/status/1190865283357007877

[Steven Pietrobon]

Y38. Landing mission was called SGD-01.

http://www.9ifly.cn/forum.php?mod=redirect&goto=findpost&ptid=14212&pid=688901

[whiztech]

first object

1 44703U 19072A   19307.26107553 -.00000072  00000-0  00000+0 0  9995
2 44703  97.4860  20.0004 0011496 267.9276 150.8970 15.22978440    13

505 km x 489 km, 97.49º

[Galactic Penguin SST]

https://twitter.com/LaunchStuff/status/1190921856519413760

[Liss]

Report on one the satellites. Article says that 精致一号/Jingzhi 1/Exquisite 1 was launched in November 2017, but I can't find the corresponding launch for this.

The series' debut star, the Exquisite One satellite, was successfully launched in November 2017 and has been in orbit for two years so far. High-score remote sensing "exquisite high score" satellite platform weighs about 30KG, load carrying capacity of up to 60KG, maximum load power is not less than 200W.

https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/gYYHdZqeqfW9Vccfcdscow

Hede-1 (HEAD-1) on 15 Nov 2017?
It was described as having "exquisite" satellite platform (”精致”卫星平台).

[eeergo]

.

So why is there a quite noticeable exhaust contrail?

[tehwkd]

So why is there a quite noticeable exhaust contrail?

n2o4 venting? Maybe trying to avoid the smashdown boom that the gridfinned lm2c had or perhaps using it as a visual indicator to find it more easily?

[eeergo]

So why is there a quite noticeable exhaust contrail?

n2o4 venting? Maybe trying to avoid the smashdown boom that the gridfinned lm2c had or perhaps using it as a visual indicator to find it more easily?

Doesn't look reddish (could be the illumination though), looks almost like a hidrocarbon-rich sooty exhaust similar to an aircraft's. Just wondering if there's any open loop separate system powering the fins that may be causing it.

[tehwkd]

So why is there a quite noticeable exhaust contrail?

n2o4 venting? Maybe trying to avoid the smashdown boom that the gridfinned lm2c had or perhaps using it as a visual indicator to find it more easily?

Doesn't look reddish (could be the illumination though), looks almost like a hidrocarbon-rich sooty exhaust similar to an aircraft's. Just wondering if there's any open loop separate system powering the fins that may be causing it.

Details about these fins haven't been released but the ones in the summer launch of Long March 2C were electric. My guess is that the video is of low enough quality filmed far enough away that it could be orange/red but we don't have enough pixels to be sure.

[Alter Sachse]

[Alter Sachse]

17:25....18:10

Control room screen censored 

[tehwkd]

https://twitter.com/pbdes/status/1190996368791416833

China's @CGWIC Long March 4B rocket launches Chinese smallsat builder #Spacety 6U cubesat carrying 1st solid-iodine propulsion unit from @ThrustMe_  of France. Satellite has deployed & is communicating. Switch-on & results from ThrustME unit expected w/in a week.

[Chris Bergin]

Rui's article!

https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2019/11/63864/

https://twitter.com/NASASpaceflight/status/1191000580543729666

[Liss]

The correct transcription for the Tianyi satellite is Dianfeng.

[Satori]

The correct transcription for the Tianyi satellite is Dianfeng.

So, Xianxiang-1-8 is incorrect or Dianfeng is another designation for the satellite?