At 0:09 a.m. on December 14, 2021, the Long March 3B carrier rocket was successfully launched at the Xichang Satellite Launch Center, sending the Tianlian-2 02 satellite into space smoothly, and the launch was a complete success.
The main task of the "Skylink" relay satellite system is to provide data relay and measurement and control services for spacecraft, space stations, low- and medium-orbit satellites, etc., and to provide measurement and control support for spacecraft launches, so it is also figuratively called "satellite of satellites".
Affected by the distortion of the Earth and the problem of the field of view, most spacecraft operating at an orbital altitude of several hundred kilometers can only make two-way contact with the spacecraft when flying over the ground measurement and control system. For example, without the help of the "SkyLink" satellite, the single communication time with the ground usually does not exceed 10 minutes.
At 23:35 on April 25, 2008, China's first Tianlian satellite, Tianlian-1 01 Satellite, rushed to space under the support of the Long March 3 C rocket, taking the first step in launching and building the "Tianlian" constellation. In the next ten years, Tianlian 1 02 to 05 satellites and Tianlian 2 01 satellites have also been successfully launched, realizing global network operation.
Since the construction of the "Tianlian" relay satellite system, all of China's Tianlian satellites have been successfully launched at the Xichang Satellite Launch Center.
"It is equivalent to moving the ground measurement and control station to an orbit at an altitude of 36,000 kilometers, which can not only provide data transmission between spacecraft under its orbit, but also build an 'information bridge' between satellites and the earth." Deng Hongqin, director of the Xichang Satellite Launch Center, introduced.
The data transmitted by the spacecraft and the instructions and information transmitted from the ground are all connected by the Beijing Space Information Transmission Center and the "Tianlian" relay satellite system for real-time transmission. In the eyes of the center engineers, the Skylink satellite is like a good friend of the spacecraft, helping China's spacecraft in orbit to report the situation to the "parents" on the ground, and also passing on their glorious and glorious moments to the people of the whole country for the first time.
In the "Chang'e-5" launch mission, the "Tianlian" relay satellite system set up an information transmission link between the carrier rocket and the Wenchang Space Launch Site in space tens of thousands of kilometers away, guiding "Chang'e" to fly to the moon. Not long ago, when the Chinese space station conducted the "air classroom" teaching, the audio and video exchanges between heaven and earth were unimpeded with the help of the "sky chain".
"It is the accurate and stable data transmission of the Tianlian satellite that has set up a data 'transit station' that has been going back and forth between heaven and earth, making the 'heavens and the ends of the world as neighbors' that have been chanted for thousands of years become a reality." Dong Chongqing, secretary of the party committee of the Xichang Satellite Launch Center, said.
Photo: Zheng Zhongli Mao Xingxiang