Tim Furniss/LONDON
The People's Republic of China may celebrate its 50th anniversary this month with the launch of an unpiloted orbital test flight of a manned launcher, 30 years after the country launched its first satellite into space. This will pave the way to China's first piloted flight, likely to take place between 2003 and 2005, say Chinese officials (Flight International, 23-29 June), although it could be much sooner.
"Some Western observers believe a maiden two-man flight could come in late 2000," says Phil Clark of the Molniya Space Consultancy in London, which monitors the Russian and Chinese space programmes. "After all, the original plan was for an unmanned test flight in 1998, with a manned flight this year."
Even before pictures of the manned spacecraft appeared on the Internet, much was known about the "921" project - the name given to the overall Chinese manned space programme, including the manned craft, launch vehicle, training and communications network. The Internet pictures were reportedly taken by Mongolian construction company workers at the Jiuquan launch pad last year.
The Chang Zheng (Long March) 2F booster, also shown, is an uprated version of the LM2E satellite launch vehicle. The spacecraft is based on the design of the Russian Soyuz TM craft, which made regular trips to and from the Russian Mir space station.
The spacecraft will carry two astronauts, although reports have suggested that a crew of four could be supported. Some observers doubt the authenticity of the Internet pictures, pointing to the similarity of the booster's assembly building to that of the Space Shuttle at the Kennedy Space Center, Florida.
Manned programme
At the Paris air show in June, China Great Wall Industry (CGWIC) executives confirmed some details of the manned space programme. Liu Zhixiong, a vice-president at CGWIC, confirmed to Flight International that the manned space rocket and craft are under development and that an unmanned test flight is scheduled for late 1999-2000.
The Internet pictures clearly show the LM2E-based design of the booster with a Russian Soyuz-like payload shroud on its top, together with a Soyuz-type launch escape tower. China has been working closely with Russia in the design of the spacecraft and two astronauts have undergone a Soyuz training programme.
Liu says that the main difference in the processing of the Long March F booster is that it is conducted in the vertical position in a purpose-built facility at Jiuquan and, unlike other Long March boosters, is rolled to the launch pad vertically on the transporter. "Normal Chinese practice is to assemble the rocket, stage by stage on the launch pad. This is not a practical way for rapid re-use," says Clark.
The rocket was first rolled out in May last year. US spy satellites spotted it on the Jiuqaun launch pad, however, and it was rolled back soon after. "This was followed by several roll-outs to the pad and back as Chinese technicians tried to solve technical problems with the vehicle before the hoped-for maiden flight in September-October 1998," says Clark.
The LM2E first flew in July 1990. It used a stretched two-stage core of the LM2C and had four liquid strap-on boosters. Clark says that, while the LM2E can place 9t into low earth orbit, the 2F will increase this to 10t through various upgrades, including improvements to the nitrogen tetroxide and hydrazine-based propellants on the core stage and strap-ons.
To be man-rated, the vehicle has been improved with, among other things, new electronics. The manned spacecraft is mounted on the 2F under a payload shroud which, although it is not an exact copy, is similar to that used by the Russian Soyuz which employs four aerodynamic flaps for stabilisation of the emergency escape rocket. "Solid-propellant rockets have been added to the top of the shroud before it tapers towards the tower, which is not of a Soyuz design," says Clark.
More recently, Wang Xingqing, general designer with the Chinese Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology, confirmed the existence of Project 921, but said that the manned flight is more likely to happen in 2005. In addition, officials have been openly discussing a new LM2EA, which is likely to be ready next year.
The 2EA will be able to place into orbit a 14t module similar to, but smaller than, the individual units on the Russian Mir space station. The 2EA is based on an original design of an LM2/8L, an LM2C with eight strap-on boosters, but now carries four strap-ons twice the length of the original units on the 2E.
The design of the Chinese manned spacecraft is clearly linked to the establishment of a national space station, supported by 2EA launches. The Russian vehicle on which he Chinese craft is based has been used for various manned missions since 1967, mostly as a ferry to space stations, including the Mir.
"The craft has been uprated several times and is now known as the Soyuz TM. A further upgrade, the TMA, is in the pipeline to support International Space Station missions," says Clark. The 8t Chinese spacecraft, which would be close to 3m (10ft) in diameter, is similar to the Soyuz apart from one detail - instead of the Russian forward spherical orbital module, the Chinese craft incorporates a cylindrical one, with an androgynous docking system that resembles the smaller US Docking Module used to join the Apollo and Soyuz in 1975.
"Another difference from the Soyuz," says Clark, "is that the Chinese craft uses two pairs of solar panels on the rear and forward modules, rather than the one pair used by the Russian craft." Like the Soyuz, the Chinese craft will be manoeuvrable. The use of the docking module is unlikely for the first manned flight, but will be an inherent part of the spacecraft and is more likely to be used either when China sends its space station module into orbit, or for a possible joint flight of two Chinese craft.
The close link to the Russian manned space programme has been maintained with the 1996 arrival of a group of Chinese "trainers" and two "taikonauts", Wu Tse and Li Tsinlung, at the Yuri Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Centre in Zvezdny Gorodok (Star City) near Moscow. Taikonaut is taken from "taikong", the Chinese word for space or cosmos.
Wu and Li are said to be the prime candidates for the first manned flight. Unofficial Russian sources report a new cadre of Chinese pilots expected at Star City soon. Fifteen to 20 Chinese staff are working at Star City on the manned programme, mostly on flying experiments designed by Oriental Scientific Instruments' I&E Group of Beijing, for use on Russian zero-g aircraft.
Plans for the manned flight include the development of a worldwide tracking capability, with the deployment of three refurbished and re-equipped Yuan Wang space tracking ships in the Atlantic, Indian and Pacific Oceans. A fourth ship has recently been added to the fleet.
"Data transmission rates have been increased by a factor of 400," says Clark. If the two-man mission is flown on the first Chinese piloted space vehicle, it will "probably be the most ambitious maiden manned flight, with a manoeuvrable spacecraft, two crew and a mission lasting a day or more," says Clark.
Source: Flight International
