China’s Indigenous Space Program
Develops in Leaps and Bounds

The Shenzhou 10 spacecraft, to be launched in June of 2013, will be a manned flight. It will pioneer a transport service to ferry equipment, supplies and astronauts to the space station and back.

Zhang Bainan pointed out that the Shenzhou spacecrafts 1 through 9 each accomplished a breakthrough in China’s space program: Shenzhou 5 was China’s first manned flight, Shenzhou 6 took more than one person on a multi-day mission, Shenzhou 7 saw China’s first space walk, and Shenzhou 8 and 9 marked the first unmanned, then manned rendezvous and dockings. The launch of Shenzhou 10 will see no “firsts,” but its mission is no less crucial. The previous flights are in some sense all “experimental,” meant to pave the way for “formal operation,” which starts with Shenzhou 10. Future missions will primarily provide transport services and further test the flight worthiness of China’s spacecrafts.

At this early stage, the focus of China’s space missions is firmly on building up space station capabilities and technology. The Shenzhou series, space rendezvous and docking technology and the Tiangong 1 module constitute the first step in what will be a long line of increasingly ambitious Chinese aerospace projects.

China, bear in mind, has achieved so much in space in a very short time. From the country’s very first spacecraft to manned docking, only 10 launches have been made. It’s a remarkable achievement and a testament to the expertise of the country’s aerospace engineers.

Satellite “Exports”

In theory, China and the U.S. have a cooperative working relationship when it comes to space. But in reality, the past 14 years have seen very little mutual development of the two countries’ aerospace industries.

China has nevertheless established cooperative ties with other countries. Chinese rockets have sent up seven European satellites, and four China-made communication satellites and one remote sensing satellite currently provide services to populations in Asia, Africa and South America.

Thanks to cooperation with China, Nigeria has become the first African nation to control a communications satellite with four frequency bands. The NigComSat-1R satellite, developed in China and launched from the country in December 2011, not only helps meet the country’s needs in communication, broadcasting, broadband multimedia, navigation services, distance education and other fields, but also directly and indirectly creates up to 150,000 jobs in the communications sector. It saves broadband users in Nigeria over US $95 million per year, and cuts US $660 million in telephone relay and data exchange service fees for African users.

Venesat-1 is Venezuela’s first satellite. It was launched in October 2008 and marked China’s first satellite “export” to Latin America. Venezuela has many remote areas, jungles and mountains, and satellite technology increases the integration of residents of those areas with the modern economy. The Venezuelan satellite also provides coverage across South America and the Caribbean, and is serving to integrate the region’s telecommunications networks.

On December 19, 2012, the Long March 2D (LM-2D) carrier rocket sent Turkey’s GK-2 Earth observation satellite into orbit. Egemen Imre, chief engineer of Satellite Systems Design Group, under the Turkish space institute TUBITAK UZAY, remarked that the LM-2D won the bid over other global competitors after they had thoroughly evaluated candidate countries’ technological abilities and costing.

China has also signed communications satellite export contracts with Bolivia, the Republic of Belarus, Indonesia, Laos and a number of other countries. Soon, people of these nations will enjoy greatly improved high-definition TV programs, distance medical services, distance education, and government emergency communications services.

Closer Cooperation

Since 2006, China has taken an active role in carrying out international aerospace industry exchanges and cooperation in various forms, and signed cooperative agreements and memorandums of understanding on the utilization of space for peaceful purposes with countries, space institutions and world organizations. It has also participated in aerospace events held by the U.N. and other world organizations, and supported commercial cooperation in the field.

The China-Brazil resources satellite ushered in a new era of cooperation between China and Brazil in remote sensing satellite technology and satellite application products, ending the history of both countries’ relying on third parties in the acquisition of Earth observation satellite data. The satellite has proven extremely useful, for instance in the effective monitoring of illegal logging activities in Brazil’s Amazon Rainforest, and is lauded as a model for South-South cooperation in science and technology.

China and Germany signed a cooperative framework agreement in the field of manned flight. The two countries have cooperated in zero gravity life sciences experiments on the Shenzhou 8 spacecraft.

China has established a long-term cooperation plan with Russia through the mechanism of the Space Cooperation Sub-committee under the Prime Ministers’ Meeting between the two countries. Chinese volunteer Wang Yue participated in Russia’s 520-days “Mars Trip,” the first simulation of a manned exploratory mission to Mars.

Since the Asia-Pacific Space Cooperation Organization was officially established in 2008 China has played an active role in regional aerospace cooperation. Under the framework of the organization, the country made substantive contributions to the establishment and operation of a space data sharing platform, ground-based surveillance of orbital objects, research into compatible navigation terminal systems and other projects. It also assisted in formulating and publishing data policies for mini-satellites agreed to by nations in the Asia-Pacific.

“It is our wish that the space station China is working to build will provide the world with another platform for scientific cooperation. It is shaping up to be a landmark event in human beings’ exploration of space,” said Zhang Bainan. This is a wish shared by all Chinese aerospace engineers.