Data chart: Long March 5B Rocket Source: China News Network Author Guo Chaokai
In 2021, China's space launches are expected to exceed 40, and the number of launches throughout the year will reach a new high. Among them, the most eye-catching is the space station construction task jointly launched by multiple Long March rockets.
The Long March 5B rocket will launch the core module of the space station, the Long March 2F rocket will send astronauts into the space station by launching the Shenzhou manned spacecraft, and the Long March 7 rocket will launch the Tianzhou cargo spacecraft. The reporter interviewed Jiang Jie, a member of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and a carrier rocket expert of the First Academy of China Aerospace Science and Technology Group, to explain in detail the "three rocket swordsmen" who jointly built the Chinese space station.
The Long 5B rocket will complete its first application launch
The construction of space station is a more complex and huge system, including multiple rendezvous and docking tasks, which requires the rocket to complete the "zero window" launch. It requires the rocket to ignite and lift off at the pre calculated time, minute by minute. This is not a small challenge for the new generation carrier rockets Long March 5B and Long March VII.
According to the plan, the Long March 5B Yao-2 rocket will launch the core module of the manned space station in the first half of this year, which is also the first practical launch of the Long March 5B rocket. This mission is the basis for the key technology verification phase of the manned space station, which has a direct impact on the subsequent cargo spacecraft and manned spacecraft launch mission. It is a matter of national concern and cannot be missed.
Jiang Jie said: "Long March 5B is a first stage and a half rocket. It is the only (first type) first stage and a half direct to orbit rocket in service in the world at present. The system is simple and has high inherent reliability. During the development, it overcame the technical problem of high thrust direct to orbit precision control, and met the high-precision orbit entry requirements of payloads."
In addition, the Long March 5B rocket also uses the largest fairing in China, 20.5 meters long and 5.2 meters in diameter. During its development, it broke through the separation control technology of large fairing to meet the launch mission requirements of the space station segment.
Data picture: Long March 2F Rocket Source: China News Network Long 2F Rocket Enters High Density Launch Stage
This year, three rockets of Long March 2F rocket will enter the site, two rockets will be launched, and one rocket will be on duty in turn. At the same time, in order to ensure 100% safety of astronauts, the Long March 2F rocket will also perform emergency duty to ensure that the space station emergency rescue mission can be carried out at the first time in case of emergency.
In order to adapt to and meet the needs of various missions and follow-up tasks, the Long March 2F rocket has continued to make adaptive improvements to improve the reliability of the whole rocket. Compared with the Long March 2F Yao 11 rocket, 72 of the 108 changes in the technical status of Yao 12 rocket involve reliability improvement; Of the 113 technical status changes of Yaoxisan Rocket, 77 involve reliability improvement. "The flight reliability of the Long March 2F rocket has been improved from 0.97 to 0.98, and the escape system has also been adapted to further improve the safety of astronauts," said Jiang Jie.
Jiang Jie said that 2021 is the first year of the in orbit construction of the manned space station, which is a milestone for the Long March 2F rocket. From 2021 to 2023, the Long March 2F rocket is expected to complete seven launch missions, which is of great responsibility, and also indicates that the Long March 2F rocket has entered the stage of high-density launch.
Data picture: Long March 7 rocket Long Seven Rocket Launches "Narrow Window" into Tianzhou Cargo Ship
According to the plan, the Long March 7 Yaosan rocket will launch the Tianzhou-2 cargo spaceship, which will rendezvous and dock with the core module in orbit. Due to the particularity of manned space mission, the rocket executing the mission will adopt the "zero window" launch technology. The new generation carrier rocket uses low-temperature fuel, and the pre launch process is complex, especially after entering the 3-minute process, there are many system projects such as power, control, ground launch support, and serious coupling. Any problem in any link will lead to missing the launch window.
Jiang Jie revealed that in the space station mission, the Long March 7 rocket used a new method of satellite navigation timing to independently correct the takeoff time for the first time, expanding the launch requirements of the manned space rendezvous and docking mission from "zero window" to "narrow window", ensuring the orbit entry accuracy with the target orbital plane, and improving the adaptability of the rocket launch mission in the space station project.
In the Tianzhou-2 cargo spaceship mission, the Long March 7 Yao-2 rocket will carry out technical improvements in terms of simplifying telemetry parameters and improving the coating of the transition section. In order to further improve the reliability of rocket systems and products, and draw inferences from other rocket quality problems, the Long March 7 Yao-3 rocket will also improve the design of rocket and ground products.
According to the manned space station construction mission plan, China will continue to implement 11 flight missions this year and next, and complete the construction of the space station in orbit around 2022. "The space station construction task has attracted worldwide attention, and it is the first time in China's space history that multiple Long March rockets have carried out the same task," Jiang said.
