The Chinese did their second orbital launch in just over 50 hours (an all-time record) when the latest member of
was launched at 21:07 UTC yesterday (05:07 local time) from pad no. 3 of the
on a
rocket. The satellite (weighting at about 2.5 tonnes) was launched into an inclined geosynchronous transfer orbit (~220 X 35700 km X 55 degrees), where the satellite will raise its orbit to a geosynchronous orbit that could provide navigation signals across the Asia Pacific. This launch, the 10th of the Compass satellite system since April 2007, marks the first time the system reaches initial usability in China for military and civilian users (although the civilian user base is still rather limited as of today). Right now the system consists of 5 satellites in an inclined geosynchronous orbit, 3 in geosynchronous orbit (plus 1 that failed soon after launch), and 1 experimental satellite in a 12 hour medium Earth orbit. The system will continue to expand, with 6 more satellites to be launched in 2012 and then a bunch of more than 24 satellites into MEO by 2020. By then the Compass system will become one of the 4 global satellite navigation systems of the world (along with the GPS, GLONASS and Galileo systems). I for one cannot wait for the day that I can buy a cheap navigation device that make use of the "Make in China" GPS!
With this launch, China has done 17 orbital launch attempts in 2011 and achieved 16 successes, both all-time records. With at least 1 (and most probably 2) more launches in December and probably 3 more in January, the Long March series became one of the most flown orbital launchers of the world (especially considering that 16 out of the 17 launched were launched since late June!). Can China exceed the USA in the number of orbital launches done in 2011 (17+2 vs. 18+0), and could the Long March series beat the Soyuz rocket to become the most used rocket family in 2011 (17+2 vs. 15+4)? We will know soon!
Launch overview articles:
China breaks record with Long March 3A launch of another BeiDou-2 satellite (NASASpaceflight.com)
Successful Chinese space launch breaks annual record (Spaceflight Now)
Photos:
Launch videos:
http://video.sina.com.cn/p/news/c/v/...461588383.html
http://www.beidou.gov.cn/video/2011/...7dec7d0e73.flv
Launch discussion threads:
http://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/ind...?topic=27341.0
http://www.9ifly.cn/thread-7559-1-1.html (in Chinese)
Compass-IGSO 5, Long March 3A, December 1/2, 2011
their satellite navigation system
