China is expected to send up to 11 satellites into orbit over
the next 14 months, before it stages its second manned space
mission in 2005, a top aerospace official told China Daily
on Friday.
Zhang Qingwei, president of China Aerospace Science and
Technology Corp, said that China will send a communication
satellite into space on Saturday, followed by a geospace
exploration satellite in December.
The planned lift-offs, together with two others staged since
China's first manned spaceflight on October 15, will bring the
number of space launches in a month to a record high, Zhang
said.
"The active space program reflects our experience and expertise,
especially our confidence in the quality and reliability of Chinese
launch vehicles and spacecraft,'' said Zhang, whose company is the
major manufacturer of China's four unmanned and one manned
spacecraft and carrier rockets.
Zhang said he is upbeat about the upcoming launch scheduled for
a few days' time.
Already the Long March 3A rocket, which will send the
communication satellite into orbit, has been used in seven launch
missions, all successfully, he said.
The communication satellite will lift off from the Xichang
Satellite Launch Center in southwest China's Sichuan
Province, Zhang said.
The launch will be the 74th by the country's Long March carrier
rockets since 1970, and the 32nd consecutive successful launch
since October 1996, he said.
Zhang, who is also deputy chief commander of the country's
manned space program, said on Friday China will not conduct
spaceflights in 2004.
He did not say why, but confirmed that a second manned mission
is scheduled for 2005.
China's first manned spacecraft -- Shenzhou-V -- carried one
astronaut into space and returned to earth safely after circling
the planet 14 times on a 21-hour mission. But Shenzhou-VI will
spend five to seven days in space with more than one person aboard,
Zhang said.
Wang Liheng, director of the Science and Technology Commission
under Zhang's company, said the number of astronauts to be sent
into space on the second manned flight would be decided after
experts completed analysis of the data collected from
Shenzhou-V.
After drastically improving the quality of satellites and
reliability of their launch vehicles over the past three decades,
Chinese scientists have been able to substantially shorten the time
interval between two launches, Zhang revealed.
In the past, when a satellite and a rocket were transported to a
launch center, it used to take ground scientists up to two months
to test the rocket and erect the assembled parts on the launching
pad to be checked again.
Testing time reduced
The testing system is so improved that scientists can dispense
with the ground checks and test a carrier rocket and its payload on
the launching pad, Zhang said.
"This has reduced the testing time to 20 to 30 days, meaning
that we can conduct a launch mission every 20-something days,'' he
said.
The turnaround time between two launches is one of the fastest
in the world, Zhang claimed.
It will give the Chinese commercial launch service provider an
edge in vying for customers, as some clients are sensitive about
the time interval between launches, he said.
More importantly, the increased efficiency of satellite launch
centers will allow China to send more satellites into orbit over a
given time -- at a lower cost -- to cater to national economic
development, Zhang said.
He said China plans to develop at least 30 satellites by the end
of 2005.
As demand for satellites in the country soars, China is
projected to launch around 10 satellites a year during the
2006-2010 periods, compared with an annual average of five launches
between 2001 and 2005, he said.
"To serve national economic growth, defence and scientific
research purposes, the country will send up to nine satellites into
space next year alone,'' Zhang said.
The satellites in the pipeline include APSTAR VI, made by the
French-based Alcatel Space for APT Satellite Co Ltd in Hong Kong.
It is China's first foreign-made satellite employing technology to
prevent sabotage, according to Liu Zhixiong, vice president of the
China Great Wall Industry Corp, China's sole launch provider.
(China Daily November 15, 2003)