China’s Space Station Construction Achieved A Complete Success

On November 29,2022,the Shenzhou 15 manned spaceship blasted off atop a Long March 2F launch vehicle from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center,launching the 3-astronaut crew,FEI Junlong,DENG Qingming and ZHANG Lu,into space successfully.This was the last launch mission during the construction phase of China's space station.

After 6.5 hours’ flight,automatic rendezvous and docking maneuvers,the Shenzhen 15 manned spaceship successfully docked with the T-shaped space station complex.Then the Shenzhou 15 crew members transferred to the Tiangong space station and were greeted by the Shenzhou 14 crew members aboard.It was the first time that China has had six astronauts aboard the Tiangong space station,with three modules and three spaceships docked to it.

During the Tiangong space station construction phase,China conducted 12 launch missions,all completing their missions,objectives.Since the first spaceflight mission carried out on May 15,2020,China has launched 3 modules,4 cargo spaceships and 4 crewed spaceships into their preset orbit,enabling the completion of China’s “heavenly palace”,the Tiangong space station.All modules,crewed spaceships,cargo spaceships of the space station,relay satellites and the Long March series of carrier rockets used for launching these spacecraft were developed by China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation(CASC),along with CASC subordinated institutes and companies involved in development of subsystems in the project.

Artist's concept of China's Space Station

NEW VOYAGE OF SHENZHOU SPACESHIP,A LIFE SUPPORT SHIP

Shenzhou spaceship is also a life support ship.

It consists of an orbital module,a return model and a propulsion module,with 14 subsystems.It is a spacecraft of the most strict requirements in terms of reliability and safety in China.

The Shenzhou 15 task was the 10th crewed spaceflight mission conducted by China.Arriving at the space station port,the Shenzhou 15 spaceship docked at a forward port on the node of Tiangong while the Shenzhou 14 spaceship docked at the nadir docking port of the node.

The new crew of Shenzhou 15 made a handover with the out going Shenzhou 14 crew and will continue in reviewing and demonstrating the in-orbit long stay ability of astronauts over the next six months.

It was the first time for China having two spaceships parked on the space station simultaneously,which was a new challenge for spaceship identification and on-orbit control.

During the handover,the telemetry information of the two manned spaceships was transmitted through different docking lines to ensure safety of air supply and integrity of the two spaceships’ information transmission.The space station system provided ventilation and thermal support for the two manned spaceships at the same time,and the air supply had to be reasonably distributed according to the different thermal environments of the two spaceships,adjusted inline with their needs.In the case of the docking of two spaceships at the same time,researchers had developed coordinated and matched emergency-escape strategies to ensure the safety of astronauts.

In order to meet the high-density mission requirements of launching two spaceships and maintaining a rolling standby during the year,over the space station construction phase,the manned spaceship system production adopted a batch development mode.In the key technology verification and construction phases of the space station,four manned spaceships from Shenzhou 12 to Shenzhou 15 have been launched.

To fulfill the project task,the Shenzhou manned spaceship team insisted on implementing an innovation-driven development strategy,fully achieving the optimization of the batch production technology process covering the whole process of product development,AIT,launch site,flight control,etc.,which greatly improved the efficiency and benefit of spaceship development,shortened the development process of the manned spaceship prior to factory completion from 17 months to 14 months,and optimized the launch site testing process reducing it from 59 days to 46 days.

The Shenzhou 15 launch mission was faced with freezing weather almost -20 degrees Celsius.Despite the weather the Shenzhou manned spaceship team validated the supportability of the two sets of air supply equipment in the fairing configured at the launch site,and set it to supply air according to the upper temperature limit.At the same time,a risk control plan was developed to ensure that the propellant temperature of the return module and propulsion module could meet the launch requirements in view of the possible failure of the low temperature of air supply during the period of launched.

The Shenzhou manned spaceship team has continued to explore and improve the “Jiuquan-Beijing” two-way parallel remote testing mode,promoting the digital transformation of the project testing,effectively improving the capability and efficiency of spaceship batch production testing.

LM-2F CONTINUES IN ITS GLORY

The Long March 2F carrier rocket is the first version of China’s manned launch vehicle,which has been involved in every step of the “three-step” strategy of China’s manned space program.It is the only rocket among Chinese rockets in service that has a fault detection system and an escape system.It shoulders the special mission and responsibility of ensuring astronauts’safe access to space.Since the first flight in 1999,LM-2F has launched 15 Shenzhou spaceships,one target spacecraft and one space laboratory into orbit,with a 100% success rate.

LM-2F carrier rocket

A new batch of LM-2F carrier rockets and new ground equipment have been used for the Shenzhou 15 manned launch mission,which were comprehensively upgraded and optimized compared with previous rockets,including 45 improvements in technical status,as well as 11 improvements in ground test,launch and control,gas supply and distribution systems.The new technical status changes of the rocket and ground facilities have improved the reliability,safety and risk resistance capability of the rocket,and the pre-launch launch process operation has become more automatic and simple,reducing the risk of human operation errors.

High reliability,high safety and high adaptability are the priority goals of the LM-2F rocket,which remain unchanged.For this last launch,the rocket developers focused on eliminating some weaknesses recognized,and made 26 technical changes and upgrades to improve reliability.At present,the reliability index of the rocket has been improved to 0.9895 and the safety index has reached 0.99996.

Since the LM-2F Y12 mission,the LM-2F development team has adopted the launch mode of “one launch,one backup” and “rolling backup”,adding “double insurance” to ensure the safety of the astronauts.

In the future,the project will evolve into an application and development phase lasting more than 10 years.The LM-2F carrier rocket will continue to carry out launch missions at a high frequency of two launches a year,which will play an important role in the operation of China’s space station.

CHINA SPACE STATION TIME LINE

Year 2020

On May 5,2020,the Long March 5B carrier rocket flew for the first time,launching a test ship of the new generation manned spaceship,the first flight mission in the space station phase was successful.

Shortly after,on May 8,the return module of the new generation manned spaceship test ship returned and landed safely.

Year 2021

On April 29,2021,the LM-5B rocket launched the Tianhe core module of the space station.

LM-5B is putting Tianhe into space

Over the period from May 29 to 30,the Long March 7 carrier rocket launched the Tianzhou 2 cargo spaceship,which docked with the backward port of the Tianhe core module.

On June 17,the Long March 2F carrier rocket launched the Shenzhou 12 manned spaceship,which docked with the forward port of the Tianhe core module.Astronauts NIE Haisheng,LIU Boming and TANG Hongbo entered the Tianhe core module.It was the first time that Chinese astronauts entered an indigenous space station of China.

On July 4,the crew of the Shenzhou 12 completed all the scheduled tasks for the first astronauts extravehicular activities in the space station phase.

On August 20,the crew of the Shenzhou 12 completed all the tasks set for the second astronauts extravehicular activity.

On September 17,the return module of the Shenzhou 12 manned spaceship returned to Earth,landing safely,with the crew in good condition.

On September 18,the Tianzhou 2 cargo spaceship separated from the rear port of the space station and the core module,then flew around to the front port,and completed automatic rendezvous and docking.

On September 20,the LM-7 rocket launched the Tianzhou 3 cargo spaceship,which docked with the rear port of Tianhe core module.

Between September 23 to 24,the four thrusters of the electric propulsion subsystem of the space station’s Tianhe core module completed their first on-orbit ignition test.

On October 16,the LM-2F carrier rocket launched the Shenzhou 13 manned spaceship,which docked on the radial port of the Tianhe core module.Astronauts ZHAI Zhigang,WANG Yaping and YE Guangfu entered the Tianhe core module.The Chinese space station welcomed the second flight crew and the first female astronaut.

Over the period from November 7 to 8,the crew of Shenzhou 13 completed all the tasks set for the first extravehicular activity,which was the first extravehicular activity in China's space history involving a female astronaut.

Between December 26 -27,the crew members of the Shenzhou 13 missioncompleted all the tasks set for the second extravehicular activity.

Year 2022

On January 6,2022,the test of the space station manipulator transposition cargo spaceship was successful,which was the first time that China used the space station manipulator to conduct a large in-orbit vehicle transposition test.

Artist's concept of Tianzhou 2

On January 8,the crew of Shenzhou 13 completed the manually controlled rendezvous and docking test with the remotely operated cargo spaceship and the space station assembly.

On March 27 and 31,the Tianzhou 2 cargo spaceship separated from the core module assembly of the space station and reentered the atmosphere under control.

On April 16,the return module of the Shenzhou 13 manned spaceship returned to Earth,landed safely,with the crew in good condition.

On April 20,the Tianzhou 3 cargo spaceship was separated from the rear port of Tianhe core module,flew around to the forward port,and completed automatic rendezvous and docking.

On May 10,the LM-7 rocket launched the Tianzhou 4 cargo spaceship,which docked with the rear port of Tianhe core module.

LM-7 carrier rocket

On June 5,the LM-2F carrier rocket launched the Shenzhou 14 manned spaceship,which docked on the radial port of the Tianhe core module.Astronauts CHEN Dong,LIU Yang and CAI Xuzhe entered the Tianhe core module.

On July 17 and 27,the Tianzhou 3 cargo spaceship separated from the space station assembly and reentered the atmosphere under control.

On July 24,the LM-5B rocket launched the Wentian experimental module.

LM-5B is preparing for launch

On July 25,the Wentian module was docked on the forward port of the Tianhe core module,allowing the Shenzhou 14 astronauts to enter the Wentian module,which was the first time that Chinese astronauts entered the scientific experimental module on orbit.

From September 1 to 2,the crew of Shenzhou 14 completed all the tasks set for the first extravehicular activities,which included the first time that Chinese astronauts had extravehicular activities from the air lock module of the Wentian experimental module.

On September 17,the Shenzhou 14 crew completed all the tasks set for the second extravehicular activity.

On September 30,the Wentian module completed its transposition,which was the first time that China used the transposition mechanism to implement the transposition operation of a large volume module section on orbit.

On October 31,a LM-5B rocket launched the Mengtian experimental module of the space station.

On November 1,the Mengtian experimental module was docked to the forward port of Tianhe core module.

On November 3,the Mengtian experimental module completed its transposition,completing the T-shaped basic configuration of the Chinese space station.(Aerospace China)

Artist's concept of Mengtian module