China’s Long March 11 carrier rocket launched into the sky, and successfully sent the “Jilin 1” high score 03-1 group of satellites into a 535-kilometer sun-synchronous orbit through the “Nine Stars” .
The “Jilin One” high score 03-1 group consists of 3 video imaging mode satellites and 6 push-broom imaging mode satellites. Among them are the “CCV Video” satellite and the “Bilibili Video Satellite” that children have been looking forward to.
On the same day, Bilibili Video Satellite also released a dynamic statement:
I am in space and feel good.
Let’s review those exciting scenes again.
The rocket stood up.
Launch into space.
Wait, how does this launch pad feel like it’s at sea?
Indeed, the Long March 11 carrier rocket was launched in the Yellow Sea. This is the second time that my country has successfully implemented a maritime launch mission, and it is also the first true maritime commercial application launch.
It can be said that China Aerospace has a stable and efficient maritime launch capability.
So, why launch at sea?
Why choose sea launch?
There is a term called “location conditions” in geography, which refers to the conditions, characteristics, and attributes of a region itself. It is a comprehensive concept that includes natural resources, geographic location, economy, technology, politics, and culture.
To build a space launch site, the location conditions that need to be met are generally: low latitude, sparsely populated, flat terrain, wide view, suitable climate and meteorological conditions, and sometimes ensure that there are no large cities or important projects in the active section of the launch direction. And other factors.
I believe many people know that my country has four major space launch sites, Jiuquan, Xichang, Taiyuan, and Wenchang. They have witnessed the vigorous development of my country’s aerospace industry for more than half a century.
With the continuous maturity of land launches, my country’s maritime launch technology has also begun to deploy.
The sea launch is actually based on the following considerations:
First, improve the rocket carrying capacity.
Generally speaking, the offshore launch platform is closer to the low latitude area near the equator, and the rocket can make full use of the additional speed of the earth’s rotation on the equator, thereby saving fuel and improving the carrying capacity.
Second, improve the safety of rocket launches.
After the rocket lifts off for a period of time, the “wreckage” such as boosters will fall. In the worst case, the rocket will fall due to the failure of the launch. The sea launch platform is sparsely populated, which largely guarantees safety.
Third, increase flexibility and mobility.
The offshore launch platform is easier to move on a large scale, has good task adaptability, and can meet the launch requirements of different orbital payloads through flexible selection of launch points and landing areas.
For example, this rocket launch mission used the following “Debo-3” power ship as the launch platform.
“Our Space” introduced this special ship on Zhihu:
The total length is nearly 160 meters, the width is nearly 40 meters, the load is about 20,000 tons, and the speed is more than 20 kilometers per hour. It is propelled by full electric power and has the function of rapid load adjustment.
Of course, in addition to the above advantages, marine launches inevitably face some influencing factors. Compared with land, marine launch sites are more affected by natural environments such as sea conditions.
China’s first home port for maritime launch
On June 5, 2019, the Long March 11 carrier rocket achieved “one arrow and seven stars” in the Yellow Sea by sea launch. my country’s first solid carrier rocket sea launch technology test was successful.
【SpaceX launch pad concept map】
It is undeniable that the era of normalization of China’s maritime launches is really coming , as Elon Musk said:
The ocean spaceport is the future of interstellar spacecraft and their launch vehicles.
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