In 2021, the number of space launches in China ranks first in the world

Source: China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation

Draft: Wang Zheping

At 00:43 on December 30, 2021, the Long March 3B carrier rocket successfully sent the communication technology test satellite 9 into the predetermined orbit, drawing a successful conclusion to the 2021 launch mission of China Aerospace.

According to statistics, the number of continental space launches in 2021 will reach 55 times, ranking first in the world. From the major victory in the construction of The Chinese space station to the "Tianwen-1" expanding the new journey of interstellar exploration on the mainland, in the year when the number of space launches has once again set a new historical record, the mainland's space industry has made remarkable achievements, a number of major space projects have reached or gradually approached the set goals, and longer-term exploration plans are ready to be launched.

55 times

The number of launches in 2021 reached a new high, and many major space projects on the mainland entered the harvest period

In 2021, the number of space launches in China reached a new high. Including the Long March series of rockets, the Kuaizhou series of rockets and the rockets developed by private space companies, a total of 55 launch missions were carried out throughout the year, sending hundreds of spacecraft (including onboard) into space.

Among them, the Long March series of carrier rockets completed 48 launches in 2021, and the annual number of launches reached the highest "40+" in history for the first time, with a launch success rate of 100%, laying a solid foundation for the mainland to accelerate the construction of a space power. In this year, the Long March series of carrier rockets completed the 400th launch, and the Long March 5B, Long March 2F, and Long March 7 successfully completed the construction task of the manned space engineering space station that year with five launches, sending the tianhe core module, two groups of astronauts, and two cargo spacecraft into space respectively. The "Gold Medal Rocket" Long March 3A series carrier rocket completed a total of 12 launches, achieved 12 victories in 12 battles, and achieved the "full house" of the mission throughout the year.

This is not only a quantitative change, but also reflects the progress of the national aerospace industry strength, space mission execution and the country's overall scientific and technological strength in the new era.

In the past year, it is not only a "big year" of the number of space launches, but also a big year of space in terms of weight, and many major space projects on the mainland have entered a fruitful harvest period.

In 2021, the construction of the Chinese space station in orbit was in full swing, and two groups of Chinese astronauts Chinese entered their own space station and carried out a space stay for up to 6 months. The Tianwen-1 probe launched by the Long March 5 carrier rocket in 2020 also landed on Mars in 2021 and successfully achieved patrol exploration. On October 14, 2021, the mainland's first solar exploration satellite "Xihe" successfully entered the predetermined orbit, and the mainland officially entered the "sun exploration era".

Aerospace experts pointed out that the successful implementation of major space missions and the smooth progress of planning are of great significance to achieving a new leap forward in the field of aerospace technology and promoting the continent from a space power to a space power.

96%

The Long March series of rocket launches have a world-class success rate, sending more than 700 spacecraft into space in 51 years

At present, the mainland aerospace has entered the normalization stage of high-density launches. While launching at high density, it has maintained a fairly high success rate.

Taking recent years as an example, in 2018, the world's space launches a total of 114 times, successfully 109 times, China launched 39 times, successfully 38 times; in 2019, the world's space launches a total of 103 times, successfully 95 times, China launched 34 times, successfully 31 times; in 2020, the world implemented a total of 114 launch missions, China carried out 39 space launches, launched 89 spacecraft, the number of launches and launch payload mass ranked second in the world. By 2021, the number of space launches on the mainland will reach a record 55.

The Long March rocket is the absolute main force of the mainland's space launch. The "Dongfanghong I" satellite launched on April 24, 1970 was its first flight, and in 51 years, the Long March series of carrier rockets carried out 92% of the space launch missions on the mainland, sending more than 700 spacecraft into space, with a launch success rate of 96%.

Academician Long Lehao, senior adviser to the first president of the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation, said that of the 400 launches of the Long March series of rockets, it took 37 years to achieve the first 100 launches; the second 100 launches took more than 7 years; the third 100 launches took more than 4 years; and the fourth 100 launches took only 2 years and 9 months.

Academician Long Lehao believes that the continuous shortening of the interval between every hundred launches of the Long March rocket not only shows that the high-density launch of the Long March rocket has been normalized, but also reflects the rapid development of China's aerospace and the rapid improvement of China's scientific and technological level and comprehensive national strength.

Especially since the Eighteenth National Congress of the Communist Party of China, the Long March series of carrier rockets have continuously improved their launch capabilities, launching low, medium and high earth orbits and different types of spacecraft, so that Chinese the pace of exploring the universe has gone further:

-- The new generation of carrier rockets represented by the Long March 5, Long March 7, and Long March 8 successfully made their first flight, the mainland's new generation of carrier rockets has gradually improved, and the ability to enter and exit space has been further strengthened;

——The Long March 3B carrier rocket successfully launched the "Chang'e-4" to complete the first soft landing on the far side of the moon, and the Successful launch of the "Chang'e-5" rocket for the first time to realize the sampling and return of extraterrestrial space and earth on the mainland, adding a new footnote to the Dream of the Chinese Nation's Lunar Exploration;

——The Long March 5 rocket launched the "Tianwen-1" Mars probe, and China took the first step in independent planetary exploration;

——The Long March 3A series rocket completed all the tasks of Beidou navigation satellites and helped the Beidou global satellite navigation system to be fully completed;

——The Long March 5 B, Long March 2 F, and Long March 7 carrier rockets successively sent the Tianhe core module, the Shenzhou XII manned spacecraft, and the Tianzhou-2 cargo spacecraft into the predetermined orbit, laying a solid foundation for the construction of the mainland space station...

At present, the Long March series of carrier rockets have reached the world-class level in terms of launch success rate and orbit accuracy.

More than 40 times

This year, we will complete space launch missions, including the first flight of the Long March 6 carrier rocket

As a means of launching into space, the launch vehicle is the premise and foundation of space activities, which determines the height and size of the space exploration stage.

According to the plan of China Aerospace Science and Technology Group, the development unit of the Long March series of carrier rockets, there will be more than 40 space launch missions in 2022, including 6 major missions for manned spaceflight, including 2 cargo spacecraft, 2 Shenzhou spacecraft and experimental module I. and experimental module II. This year, the Chinese space station will be fully completed, which also means that the "three-step" development strategy of the mainland's manned space project will finally be realized. In addition, this year will also complete the launch of the first flight of the Long March 6 A carrier rocket and other key rocket models.

In the future, after the space station enters the operation stage, the Long March 2 F and Long March 7 carrier rockets will maintain the frequency of twice a year. And in the near future, major space projects such as the fourth phase of the lunar exploration project, asteroid exploration, Jupiter exploration, manned lunar exploration, and the first Mars sampling will be expected to start. For these major aerospace engineering tasks, innovation and exploration are unprecedented, and the risk challenges are unprecedented.

Long Lehao said that continuous innovation is the key to China's aerospace industry. It is necessary to adhere to the forefront of science and technology in the world, have the courage to propose new scientific research directions, and strive to narrow the gap with the world's top science and technology. In the direction of space exploration and technological route, China's aerospace has gradually formed its own characteristics, showing China's wisdom and Chinese solutions in the world's aerospace field. The core technology and key components of the Long March series carrier rockets have been firmly in their own hands from beginning to end.

Based on the international development trend of spaceflight, maintaining the advanced level of the space transportation system, and at the same time, according to the needs of space launches, the blueprint of the new generation of Long March series carrier rockets is becoming a reality, a series of new carrier rockets have been unveiled one after another, and a new generation of manned carrier rockets and heavy carrier rockets are being developed as planned. As a powerful supplement to China's aerospace, private rocket and satellite research and development institutions such as Blue Arrow Aerospace, Galaxy Power, and Galaxy Aerospace are also accelerating on the commercial space track.

Aerospace experts pointed out that continuing to strengthen independent innovation and constantly conquering key core technologies Chinese the pace of space exploration will be more stable and farther.

Source: People's Daily