Long March 5 | Tianwen-1 (Mars Global Remote Sensing Orbiter and Small Rover)
Launch Successful
L - -- : -- : -- : --
Launch Window
July 23, 2020, 4 a.m. - July 23, 2020, 7 a.m.
July 23, 2020, 4 a.m. - July 23, 2020, 7 a.m.
Tianwen-1 ("questions to heaven") Mars mission includes a Martian orbiter and a lander/rover duo. This will be China's first mission to Mars. The spacecraft will reach Mars in February 2021. Lander will remain attached to the orbiter for two to three months before attempting its landing. The chosen landing area is Utopia Planitia, a huge basin formed by a large impact far back in Mars' history. The rover is expected to be in operation for about 90 Martian sols. The Tianwen-1 orbiter will provide a relay communication link to the rover while performing its own scientific observations for one Martian year. The orbiter will operate in a polar orbit in order to map Mars' morphology and geological structure while also using the Mars-Orbiting Subsurface Exploration Radar instrument to investigate soil characteristics and water-ice distribution. It will also measure the ionosphere and the electromagnetic and gravitational fields, the new paper reported. The rover will have 13 instruments detecting things such as topography, soil, environment, atmosphere, water ice, physical field and internal structure. It will investigate the surface soil characteristics and water-ice distribution with its own Subsurface Exploration Radar. It will also analyze surface material composition and characteristics of the Martian climate and environment on the surface.
Long March 5 is a Chinese heavy lift launch system developed by China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology (CALT). CZ-5 is the first Chinese vehicle designed from the ground up to focus on non-hypergolic liquid rocket propellants. Currently, two CZ-5 vehicle configurations are planned, with maximum payload capacities of ~25,000 kilograms (55,000 lb) to LEO and ~14,000 kilograms (31,000 lb) to GTO. The Long March 5 roughly matches the capabilities of American EELV heavy-class vehicles such as the Delta IV Heavy.
The China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC) is the main contractor for the Chinese space program. It is state-owned and has a number of subordinate entities which design, develop and manufacture a range of spacecraft, launch vehicles, strategic and tactical missile systems, and ground equipment. It was officially established in July 1999 as part of a Chinese government reform drive, having previously been one part of the former China Aerospace Corporation. Various incarnations of the program date back to 1956.
INFO WIKI
China's Tianwen-1 mission celebrates two years in Martian orbit, as China remains silent on status of their Zhurong rover as NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter reveals the rover has not moved for months.
Images from NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter reveal that China’s Zhurong rover remains stationary on the Red Planet as China remains silent on the status of its spacecraft.
The two spacecraft making up China’s first interplanetary mission are both suffering issues, with the rover potentially lost on the surface after winter hibernation.
China has released landing process footage from its Zhurong rover as well as video and sounds of the vehicle roving on Mars.
Classified payload for the U.S. National Reconnaissance Office.
NS-31 is the 11th crewed flight for the New Shepard program and the 31st in its history.
A batch of 27 satellites for the Starlink mega-constellation - SpaceX's project for space-based Internet communication system.
A batch of 21 satellites for the Starlink mega-constellation - SpaceX's project for space-based Internet communication system.
Ninth batch of satellites for a reconnaissance satellite constellation built by SpaceX and Northrop Grumman for the National Reconnaissance Office to…
Chinese classified satellite claimed to be for communication technology test purposes. Actual mission not known.
Soyuz MS-27 will carry two cosmonauts and one astronaut to the International Space Station aboard the Soyuz spacecraft from the Baikonur Cosmodrome i…
A batch of 27 satellites for the Starlink mega-constellation - SpaceX's project for space-based Internet communication system.
A batch of 28 satellites for the Starlink mega-constellation - SpaceX's project for space-based Internet communication system.
A batch of 27 satellites for the Starlink mega-constellation - SpaceX's project for space-based Internet communication system.
