NASASpaceFlight.com Forum
International Space Flight (ESA, Russia, China and others) => Chinese Launchers => Topic started by: zubenelgenubi on 01/19/2021 05:21 pm
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Cross-post:
Several local tour operators are currently advertising (https://9ifly.spacety.com/forum.php?mod=redirect&goto=findpost&ptid=94084&pid=794250&fromuid=19646) for a LM-3B Xichang launch on January 19, curiously stating that it's of a Tianhui series satellite. That's highly interesting because the series of cartography satellites doesn't seems likely to involve BLEO operations.
Either the tour operators got it wrong, or there's another LM-3B SSO launch soon, or (one theory from Chinese forums) it's the long rumored/reported Chinese geosynchronous SAR satellite. (note that SAR requires the antenna to be moving to work, so geostationary orbit won't work and people assume it would go to an inclined GSO)
As of 15 January:
"According to travel agency news, the mission was postponed to launch on 2021.2.5." (5 February)
http://www.spaceflightfans.cn/event/long-march-3-eocket-launch-tianhui-satellite (http://www.spaceflightfans.cn/event/long-march-3-eocket-launch-tianhui-satellite)
Tiantong-1 (03) successfully launched, as scheduled, on January 19.
The annual family holiday season accompanies and follows Chinese New Year. That holiday falls this year on February 12.
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Initial assembly of the next CZ-3B/? to be launched from XSLC.
Imagens from our friends 9ifly Chinese space forum.
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And two more.
Payload unknown, but possibly a Tianhui GEOSAR satellite.
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Per 9ifly the launch will be on February 5 at ~15:30 UTC.
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According to a post on 9ifly Chinese space forum, the rocket to be used os a CZ-3B/G3 with serial number Y77 and the payload is the 20-meter L-band SAR Tianhui-3 satellite to operate in GEO.
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Some reports out there says the official name of the thing on top is "TJSW-6" instead of Tianhui-x (https://9ifly.spacety.com/forum.php?mod=redirect&goto=findpost&ptid=94225&pid=799754&fromuid=19646). This isn't confirmed yet.
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Meanwhile in China it looks like this launch has been moved forward by one day to tomorrow:
A0218/21 - N260808E1142920-N261443E1140013-N255857E1135552-N255222E1142456
A TEMPORARY RESTRICTED AREA ESTABLISHED BOUNDED
BY:N260808E1142920-N261443E1140013-N255857E1135552-N255222E1142456
BACK TO START. ALL ACFT ARE FORBIDDEN TO FLY INTO THE TEMPORARY RESTRICTED AREA. VERTICAL LIMITS:GND-UNL. SFC - UNL, 04 FEB 15:29 2021 UNTIL 04 FEB 16:25 2021. CREATED: 03 FEB 12:59 2021
A0217/21 - N272159E1083649-N273125E1074312-N271528E1073945-N270603E1083315
A TEMPORARY RESTRICTED AREA ESTABLISHED BOUNDED
BY:N272159E1083649-N273125E1074312-N271528E1073945-N270603E1083315 BACK TO START.
ALL ACFT ARE FORBIDDEN TO FLY INTO THE TEMPORARY RESTRICTED AREA. VERTICAL LIMITS:GND-UNL. GND - UNL, 04 FEB 15:28 2021 UNTIL 04 FEB 16:25 2021. CREATED: 03 FEB 12:58 2021
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Meanwhile in China it looks like this launch has been moved forward by one day to tomorrow:
A0218/21 - N260808E1142920-N261443E1140013-N255857E1135552-N255222E1142456
A TEMPORARY RESTRICTED AREA ESTABLISHED BOUNDED
BY:N260808E1142920-N261443E1140013-N255857E1135552-N255222E1142456
BACK TO START. ALL ACFT ARE FORBIDDEN TO FLY INTO THE TEMPORARY RESTRICTED AREA. VERTICAL LIMITS:GND-UNL. SFC - UNL, 04 FEB 15:29 2021 UNTIL 04 FEB 16:25 2021. CREATED: 03 FEB 12:59 2021
A0217/21 - N272159E1083649-N273125E1074312-N271528E1073945-N270603E1083315
A TEMPORARY RESTRICTED AREA ESTABLISHED BOUNDED
BY:N272159E1083649-N273125E1074312-N271528E1073945-N270603E1083315 BACK TO START.
ALL ACFT ARE FORBIDDEN TO FLY INTO THE TEMPORARY RESTRICTED AREA. VERTICAL LIMITS:GND-UNL. GND - UNL, 04 FEB 15:28 2021 UNTIL 04 FEB 16:25 2021. CREATED: 03 FEB 12:58 2021
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Some reports out there says the official name of the thing on top is "TJSW-6" instead of Tianhui-x (https://9ifly.spacety.com/forum.php?mod=redirect&goto=findpost&ptid=94225&pid=799754&fromuid=19646). This isn't confirmed yet.
According to another post on 9ifly, the satellite on board will in fact be TJSW-6.
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Some reports out there says the official name of the thing on top is "TJSW-6" instead of Tianhui-x (https://9ifly.spacety.com/forum.php?mod=redirect&goto=findpost&ptid=94225&pid=799754&fromuid=19646). This isn't confirmed yet.
According to another post on 9ifly, the satellite on board will in fact be TJSW-6.
Actually this isn’t quite settled down yet, the mystery deepens with launch day mail covers (a traditional memorial collectible) issued lately include BOTH a mail cover for the launch of TJSW-6 AND tracking of the launch of Tianhui-3 from the Yuan Wang tracking ships.
These usually only pop up days before launch. Maybe TJSW-6 is a cover name of Tianhui-3 or something? :-\
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...launch day mail covers (a traditional memorial collectible) issued lately include BOTH a mail cover for the launch of TJSW-6 AND tracking of the launch of Tianhui-3 from the Yuan Wang tracking ships.
Could there be two satellites? One larger satellite and another, smaller, yet also important satellite?
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There was one source which thinks it's not the GEO SAR everyone is thinking of, but an early warning sat in the same series as TJSW-2/5. :-X
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There was one source which thinks it's not the GEO SAR everyone is thinking of, but an early warning sat in the same series as TJSW-2/5. :-X
And Spaceflightfans.cn is listing the GEOSAR sat for other launch in February... or not...
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Liftoff confirmed.
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The usual reports of earthquakes are being posted announcing that the launch took place.
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Launch success confirmed.
Launch time: 15:36UTC.
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And in fact is TJSW-6.
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Launch photo...
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Launch video posted by CASC on Weibo
https://twitter.com/conexionspacial/status/1357364917138042882
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SAST was reported as the satellite manufacturer, which most likely rules out the GEO SAR theory for this one (it's apparently by CAST) & matches w/ this being yet another of the TJSW(2 and 5) early warning satellites built by them.
According to reports TJSW-6 seems to be yet another satellite that was impacted by the Antonov An-124 grounding earlier last year, with it ultimately transported in 2 parts (satellite platform and payload) by road and rail respectively after the original planned rail route was down for repairs as well. (source (https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/s6qXNrMIsJSifHnZqDvuwQ))
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Success
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15:36:04.286
CZ-3B/G2
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Rui's article:
https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2021/02/china-launches-tjsw6/
https://twitter.com/ChrisG_NSF/status/1357393358629576710
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Launch video from Channel 13:
https://tv.cctv.com/2021/02/05/VIDEqJkaJ68wBswpVrSqqxSm210205.shtml (https://tv.cctv.com/2021/02/05/VIDEqJkaJ68wBswpVrSqqxSm210205.shtml)
Launch code could be: 07-124
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TJSW 2 2017 Jan 05 15:18:04 CZ-3B/G2
TJSW 5 2020 Jan 07 15:20:15 CZ-3B/G3 ?
TJSW 6 2021 Feb 04 15:36:04 CZ-3B/G2 (?)
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https://twitter.com/TSKelso/status/1357442660840054784
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Orbits are not exactly the same as of TJS-2 and TJS-5.
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Can't find anything via any open-source information suggesting a launch out of China or Russia or any other published launch schedules.
?!
How about this forum and this thread?
One reply to his tweet pointed him to this thread.
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2021-010A/47613 in 193 x 35811 km x 28.49° Arg of perigee: 180.07°
2021-010B/47614 in 155 x 34436 km x 28.48°
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TJS-6 looks similar to TJS-2 and TJS-5
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Seems to be a mission patch.
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Seems to be a mission patch.
I wonder why there is a 3 on it. I see four hypotheses:
- It's Tiantong-1 n°03 patch, that he didn't change between the two flights.
- It's the patch of the mysterious Tianhui-3 that might fly soon.
- This is a reference to the Huoyan-1 program, TJSW might be the third satellite according to some rumors (https://space.skyrocket.de/doc_sdat/tjs-2.htm).
- It has another meaning, or it's just random.
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HIT issued a news item on their intelligent information processing system on TJS-6 http://news.hit.edu.cn/2021/0208/c11508a220737/page.htm which resembles very much what they said in January 2017 on TJS-2 http://news.hit.edu.cn/98/2f/c1510a170031/page.psp .
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Now in GEO near TJS-5
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And the inclination is 1.0° as it was initially for TJS-2 and TJS-5, too.
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Belated post, from SeeSat-l (http://www.satobs.org/seesat/Mar-2021/0037.html) on March 6 UTC:
Chinese Rendezvous in GEO?
Heads up to any observers with visibility of GEO at 180° longitude.
Chinese TJS-5 (47613/2021-010A) and TJS-6 (44978/2020-002A) satellites came within 60 km of each other Mar 5 at around 20:00 UTC. Minor differences in inclination and eccentricity are causing them to oscillate up to about 600 km apart but to all intents and purposes they have made rendezvous.
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https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/nagpur/objects-that-landed-in-chandrapur-most-likely-chinese-rocket-debris/articleshow/90628725.cms
Objects that landed in Chandrapur most likely Chinese rocket debris
Bengaluru/Chandrapur: The blazing light trail observed in parts of Vidarbha, and also by some people in Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh, on Saturday night may have been caused by a Chinese rocket body debris. Two metallic objects landed in Ladbori and Pavanpar villages in Sindewahi tehsil in Chandrapur district, triggering panic among the villagers.
Chandrapur district collector Ajay Gulhane said that the state disaster management authority has been asked to take custody of both the objects.
A metal ring of around 10x10 feet circumference landed in Ladbori village at around 7.45pm on Saturday. “We were preparing a community feast, when the sky blazed with the red disk which fell with a bang on an open plot in the village. People ran to their home fearing explosion and remained inside for nearly half an hour,” said a woman.
“The other piece, a large metallic ball, fell in a dried pond near Pavanpar village at the same time. Villagers brought the ball weighing around 10kg to the village.”
According to Chopne, the metallic sphere appears to be a device containing hydrogen fuel used in booster rockets for satellite launch.
“The CZ-3B was originally predicted to have a re-entry time of 4.37pm IST and impact location close to Myanmar. Post event, USSPACECOM put the re-entry time as 7.42pm IST with impact location as Arabian Sea. With the latest orbital information from USSPACECOM, the closest match to the observed re-entry over India has to be from Chinese CZ-3B, which was launched on February 4 last year,” a senior Isro official said.
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https://twitter.com/frustratedpluto/status/1510264256427614213
https://twitter.com/planet4589/status/1510274696524279810
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https://twitter.com/ANI/status/1510515706160291840
https://twitter.com/JournoMudholkar/status/1510476688810946565
https://twitter.com/daydreamer455/status/1510321253156257792
https://twitter.com/KKD88/status/1510262990293159937
https://twitter.com/JitendraG007/status/1510473965000560643
https://twitter.com/JournoMudholkar/status/1510564682180231168
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https://www.facebook.com/ISRO/posts/pfbid02fvqoFUG7Hw3B6ogv819xbFbb4XGveBZZXq9HjRPbeZ2ZqG9GgMGCMXGAQse4o94dl
Inputs from several sources are received on the mysterious flashing light seen in the sky during the evening hours on April 2, 2022, in Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh. Formal communication has been received from the office of the district magistrate and district collector of Chandrapur, Maharashtra. It is reported that a metal ring and a cylinder-like object or found in an open field in Pawanpur village. As requested by the district administration, a team of scientists from ISRO is visiting Pawanpur for inspection and further scientific inquiry.
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https://www.thehitavada.com/Encyc/2022/4/9/2-ISRO-scientists-visit-Sindewahi.html
2 ISRO scientists visit Sindewahi
TWO officials of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), Thirvanantapuram, on Friday, visited Sindewahi Police Station to inspect the objects that had fallen from the sky at Pawanpar village and other parts of Sindewahi and Brahmapuri tehsils recently. Parts of SLV including a metal ring and six cylinders were found at different places in Sindewahi and Brahmapuri.
Two cylinders were found in Pawanpar and Maregaon villages on April 3 while two more cylinders found at Gunjawahi (Kotha)and Asolamendha pond areas on April 4. The cylinders weighed around 6.839 kgs and bore the same number (3CCA301001 B) on them, informed sources. Meanwhile, two more cylinder (6.839kgs) and (2.865kgs) were later found at Bodra and Shelda in Brahmapuri tehsil.
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India’s space agency is examining a large metal ring and a cylinder-like object that fell into rural western India April 2, with a preliminary investigation suggesting they could be parts of a Chinese space rocket’s upper stage that reentered the atmosphere that day.
Two scientists from the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) conducted the onsite investigation in Sindewahi on April 15. They tentatively labeled the objects as parts of a Chinese Long March rocket, according to local reports. A formal investigation is underway.
The metal ring is reportedly two to three meters in diameter and weighs more than 40 kilograms. The cylinder-like object is about a half meter in diameter.
Space-watcher Jonathan McDowell of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics tweeted April 4 that the ring was consistent with a piece of China’s Long March 3B rocket. In another tweet,McDowell said the crashed objects could be parts of the third stage of Long March 3B serial number Y77, which was launched in February 2021. China remains silent on the reentry incident.
https://spacenews.com/india-examining-crashed-space-debris-suspected-to-be-parts-of-chinas-long-march-rocket/
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The mysterious 3 may just be the CZ-3 series launch party.
https://twitter.com/ClosertoSpace/status/1430450339250114560
And to me, the TJSW5 and TJSW6 look the same, but the TJS2 looks a bit different.
Seems to be a mission patch.
I wonder why there is a 3 on it. I see four hypotheses:
- It's Tiantong-1 n°03 patch, that he didn't change between the two flights.
- It's the patch of the mysterious Tianhui-3 that might fly soon.
- This is a reference to the Huoyan-1 program, TJSW might be the third satellite according to some rumors (https://space.skyrocket.de/doc_sdat/tjs-2.htm).
- It has another meaning, or it's just random.