China's growing space program will take another great leap
skyward this year.
With a record number of satellite launches planned for 2004, the
space program is entering a pivotal period.
"We are looking to place 10 satellites into orbit in 2004, more
than any other year in China's space history,'' Zhang Qingwei, a
top aerospace official, told China Daily yesterday in an
exclusive interview.
The launch of new "stars" is the dramatic climax of the drive to
boost China's aerospace industry. A new next-generation satellite,
currently under development, is expected to help the country
entrench itself firmly within the world's small but technologically
demanding space community.
The new model is a large-scale satellite based on a new
platform. It has an expected mission life of 15 years, Zhang
said.
Zhang's comments were the clearest official statement to date
concerning China's space plans for 2004.
Last year the nation not only blasted six satellites into orbit
but also joined the very small club of nations who have put men in
space. Other than China, only the former Soviet Union and the
Unites States have accomplished the feat.
Including Probe-1, the first Sino-European joint satellite
launched last week, there are 16 Chinese satellites still operating
in orbit. That's far short of the surging needs created by economic
growth and national defense requirements, Zhang said.
Satellites with different functions, from weather to remote
sensing and geographic information as well as scientific research
ones, are key to speeding up the country's economic growth and
communication systems.
That's why more than 30 satellite launches were planned for the
period between 2001-05 period alone. The 10 in the pipeline for
this year include meteorological, natural resources and marine
observation and geospace exploration satellites, Zhang said.
The first of them, a small one carrying scientific experiments,
will blast off from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in
southwest China's Sichuan
Province around the end of this spring.
But China's plans to boost its orbital presence go far beyond
2004.
A constellation of small environmental monitoring and disaster
forecast satellites will be established by 2010, said Yuan Jiajun,
president of the Chinese
Academy of Space Technology.
Also, by leveraging the country's proven launch expertise, China
is seeking to provide in-orbit delivered satellite solutions for
foreign countries, said Jiang Weixing, vice-director of CASC's
Aerospace Department
But despite the number of launches, China's satellite
manufacturing industry will have to jump some hurdles to boost
sought-after exports.
For years, the country has worked to export made-in-China
satellites. To date, however, it has only managed to export
satellite components under a 2002 agreement Yuan's academy signed
with France's Alcatel Space.
China's latest Dongfanghong satellite series, Dongfanghong-III,
stands at only 3,000 watts in output power and has a working life
of eight years. That's sometimes below the world's average, Jiang
said.
Mindful of the disparities with similar industries in other
space-faring nations, the State Council has approved a massive plan
to develop China's new-generation communications satellite
platform. The new models have longer life spans, are more reliable
and have a higher capacity, he said.
Investment in the platform to date has amounted to 1.3 billion
yuan (US$156 million), he said.
Satellites based on this "most sophisticated" platform are
expected to last for 15 years, carry up to 50 transponders and
weigh about 5,100 kilograms at takeoff.
Its end-of-life power output is expected to reach 10,000 watts,
which will put it in line with the most advanced systems currently
in use, Jiang said.
More than that, China's newest platform will be capable of
performing similar functions as the world's leading satellite
platforms. That includes the world-leading Boeing702 of the Boeing
Co, SB4000 of the Alcatel Space and A2100 of Lockheed Martin
Commercial Space Systems, said Hu Zhongmin, another official of the
CASC.
The Chinese platform could be used to develop large
communication systems, live broadcast satellites and other types
purposes, Hu said.
Ultimately, the new satellites will deliver cleaner signals to
ground based platforms even if they use smaller antennas, said
Zhang.
The first satellite system and the first satellite?--
Sinosat-II?-- to be built on this platform will be launched in
the first half of 2005, Zhang said.
He said satellites based on the new large-scale platform will
find a niche in the global commercial satellite market.
In fact, CASC is close to an agreement with the APT Satellite Co
in Hong Kong to supply a backup satellite based on the new platform
for APSTAR VI, a telecommunications array scheduled to be launched
this year, Jiang said.
(China Daily January 6, 2004)