A man with a face mask visits an exhibition depicting a spacecraft and robbers on Mars in a shopping mall in Beijing on Wednesday. China’s first Mars probe, Tianwen-1, entered the Mars orbit on Wednesday after flying 215 days in space. Photo: AP
China plans to launch more than 40 space launches by 2021, with the construction of the country’s first space station as its top priority, China’s leading domestic rocket contractor, Aerospace Science and Technology Corp (CASC), said on Wednesday.
In the 2020 Blue Book of China Aerospace Science and Technology Activities CASC released a press conference on Wednesday, saying parts of the space station, including the Tianhe nuclear cabinet, the Tianzhou 2- and -3 cargo spacecraft, and the Shenzhou-12 and 13 manned spacecraft, will be launched into space in 2021. word.
Seven more commercial launches are planned, which will be open to market users who want to send micro-sized and small satellites into space, the Blue Book said.
China carried out 39 launches in 2020, sent 89 spacecraft into space and broke the record for total weight at 103.06 tons, an increase of 29.3 percent over the previous year.
China’s number of space launches and the weight of payloads in 2020 are both second in the world after the US, which explores the biggest progress with China’s space exploration, the Blue Book said.
With the completion of the annual aviation developments, China has achieved remarkable achievements in a number of leading technologies and major breakthroughs in space missions.
China’s latest modern missile, the Long March-5B, undertook a successful first flight in May, sending the compilation of a test version of the next-generation manned spacecraft with a test cargo spacecraft to a planned orbit. .
The trial has opened the official chapter of the construction of the space station in China, which lays a solid foundation for a future manned landing on the moon, ‘the Blue Book said.
During the experimental flight, China conducted a series of spatial experiments, such as its first attempt to create 3D printing in orbit, aimed at studying the feasibility of ‘homemade’ manufacturing in space to solve the problem of long supply lines. during exploratory expeditions. .
Even more exciting for space lovers around the world, China undertook voyages to the moon and Mars in 2020, indicating that China has the growing confidence in the field after years of relentless efforts.
The country’s first Mars reconnaissance project, Tianwen-1, which has a triple mission to orbit, land and sail in one flight, undertook a trip to the Red Planet on 23 July 2020.
After flying 215 days in space, which took it about 212 million kilometers from Earth, he successfully entered the Mars orbit on Wednesday and will remain there for another three months, with all payloads switched on for scientific study, before it finally China’s The national space administration says in a statement sent to the Global Times.
China’s first lunar monster recovery mission, Chang’e-5, ended its journey on December 17, 2020, after a 23-day adventure to the neighboring celestial body, with 1,731 grams of lunar soil left, making China the third country to successfully make lunar samples after the earth and bring the former Soviet Union back to earth.
As one of the most complex and challenging tasks in the country’s aviation history, Chang’e-5 has achieved multiple firsts, including the very first takeoff from the lunar surface, and the first encounter and dock in the lunar orbit.
Impressive as the performance is, Chinese space analysts note that there are some technological gaps in the field compared to the US. Song Zhongping, an aerospace expert and TV commentator, told the Global Times on Wednesday that the US remains the leading force in the global space exploration race.
“In the early 1960s, the US gained a head start. Thanks to a relatively strong scientific base that laid the foundation for aviation development, the US formed a more mature, balanced mode with NASA leading the national space programs and Elon Musk at the forefront of the aviation industry’s commercial areas. ‘
However, he noted that China has developed its own path, unlike the US. “We have drawn the blueprint for future space missions as a whole and then divided it into parts that will realize step by step in a consistent way.”
Song illustrates this idea with examples from China’s BeiDou navigation satellite system, space exploration and manned missions.
Despite the devastating pandemic that hit the world last year, China not only kept its head high and made steady progress with its own space missions, but also participated in various space cooperation projects with countries such as Argentina, Ethiopia, Egypt and other countries along the country. Belt and road routes.
Various types of collaboration were involved, such as satellite exports, collaborative research and development, satellite launches and application services.