China is planning to undertake 30 space launch missions in 2017

Seen here is China's Long March 4C rocket. Image: Reuters

  04 Jan 2017 , 15:57

China plans to conduct some 30 space launch missions in 2017, a record-breaking number in the country’s space history, said China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation. Long March-5 and Long March-7 rockets would be used to carry out most of the space missions, the China News Service reported.

Long March-5 is China’s largest carrier rocket. The successful test launch of the vehicle in November in Hainan would pave the way for space station construction, analysts said. Wang Yu, general director of the Long March-5 program, said 2017 is a critical year for China’s new generation of carrier rockets and the Long March-5 rockets would carry Chang’e-5 probe to space.

The probe would land on the moon, collect samples and return to Earth. On the other hand, Long March-7, the more powerful version of Long March-2, would send China’s first cargo spacecraft Tianzhou-1 into the space in the first half of 2017, according to Wang Zhaoyao, director of China Manned Space Engineering Office.

Tianzhou-1 was expected to dock with Tiangong-2 space lab and conduct experiments on propellant supplement, People’s Daily reported. China conducted 22 launch missions in 2016 and 19 in 2015. The country successfully tested its Long March-7 rocket in June 2016, and has gradually shifted to new generation rockets that reduce the use of toxic rocket fuels.

IANS

China launches the first satellite communication smartphone to work with Tiantong-1

Tiangong, Representational Image

  07 Nov 2016 , 09:46

China’s aerospace technology company has unveiled the first satellite smartphone designed for use with the country’s first mobile communications satellite, Tiantong-1 (TT-1), media reports said. The new smartphone, developed by the state-owned China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC), is scheduled to go on sale in two-to-three months, South China Morning Post reported on Sunday.

CASC launched TT-1 into an equator-hugging, geostationary orbit about 35,000km above the earth on August 6, this year. Satellite experts said the new satellite smartphone was a product of the ‘space-based Silk Road’, a long-term strategy proposed by Chinese aerospace companies, institutions and scholars to support the country’s “One Belt, One Road” initiative.

“The TT-1 smartphone is so far capable of covering the territory of China and the whole of South China Sea. We are going to expand our coverage to the whole world by launching a network of TT satellites in the next five years,” said an engineer from CASC. According to the report, the smartphone was specially designed for emergency communication by field geologists or relief workers in remote areas, or when ground telecommunication networks were interrupted by natural disaster or accidents.

Besides satellite coverage, the smartphone is compatible with multiple ground-based cellular networks, including 4G LTE and 3G, supports SMS, WeChat, video and data transmission, and allows free switching between satellite and ground communication. The smartphone will retail from around 10,000 yuan ($1,480), with communication fees starting from around 1 yuan a minute — a tenth of the price charged by Inmarsat.

IANS