Up to now, the test star and the network star combined, the star network has played a total of 13 times. Let’s briefly talk about which rockets are used in these missions and what are the characteristics of these rockets.
The first time was to shoot two experimental stars from the Fifth Academy, using the Long March 2C/YZ-1S in Jiuquan. Chang 2C is a rocket of the First Academy, which is improved on the basis of Chang 2. It is a two-stage configuration rocket. The propellant uses dinitrogen tetroxide/uniform dimethylhydrazine. The Chang 2-C rocket is my country’s longest-serving rocket and has been in service for more than 40 years. The biggest feature of the Chang-II C is that it and its improved version are the only launch vehicles among my country’s Long March series of rockets that have the ability to launch satellites in low-Earth orbit, sun-synchronous orbit, geosynchronous transfer orbit and large elliptical orbit at the same time. In addition, Chang-II C is also a rocket that has successfully performed missions at three inland launch sites: Jiuquan, Xichang, and Taiyuan.
The second time was to launch three tiny test satellites from the Eighth Institute and Shanghai, using the Long March 2D/YZ-3. The Changzheng-2D is a rocket from the Eighth Institute, which is also a two-stage configuration. Although the name is the Chang-2 series, it is the blood of the Chang-4. It is an improvement on the Chang-4A, with three sub-stages reduced, and is mainly used to launch payloads in low-Earth orbits and sun-synchronous orbits. When the Chang Er Ding was developed, it was mainly to meet the launch requirements of returnable satellites. At that time, the Chang Er Ding development team was composed of personnel transferred from the Chang Sijia development team. Technically, it also fully inherited the technical foundation of the Chang 4 series rockets, so it is said that it has the blood of the Chang 4 rocket.
The third time was to use Jielong 3 to hit a tiny inclined orbit test star in Shanghai. Jielong 3 is a solid rocket from the First Academy of Sciences. Jielong 3 mainly focuses on thermal launch at sea and is compatible with land launch. This mission was also carried out at sea, specifically in the waters near Yangjiang, Guangdong, using the Borun Jiuzhou cargo ship, which was guaranteed by the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center.
The fourth time, the Long March 2C was also used to hit the three inclined orbit test satellites of the Fifth Academy. It was hit in Jiuquan using the 9401 station. Chang 2C, Chang 2D, Chang 4B, and Chang 4C can all be hit here.
Then we hit high-orbit satellites three times in a row, all using the Long March 3B. Changsanyi is a rocket of the First Academy of Sciences. It is a three-stage and a half configuration. It is mainly used to launch heavy-duty satellites in geostationary transfer orbits and Beidou navigation satellites. The successful development of Changsanyi has given our country the ability to launch geostationary transfer orbit satellites. The advantages of Changsha 3B are high maturity, sufficient optimization, high load-carrying ratio, and low launch cost. However, its disadvantages are also obvious. The first is the transportation capacity. Now Changqijia can also fly to the GTO orbit, and the transport capacity reaches 7 tons, while Chang 3B only has 5.5 tons; secondly, Chang 3B cannot launch the Dongfanghong 5 platform satellite, and the Dongfanghong 5 satellite The platform is a brand new super-large satellite platform developed by our country to meet the needs of the next generation of large geosynchronous orbit communication satellites and earth observation satellites; finally, the first and second sub-stages of Chang 3 B are used for boosting dinitrogen tetroxide/uniform dimethyl hydrazine. Under the global trend of using environmentally friendly propellants, Chang 3 B is also facing the fate of being eliminated.
The eighth time was to use the Long March 12 to hit a test star of Galaxy Space. The Chang 12 is definitely a rocket worthy of attention, and it will definitely be indispensable for future StarNet missions. Chang Twelve is a rocket of the Eighth Institute, with a two-stage configuration. At the beginning, the Eighth Institute raised its own funds and did not even have a serial number. It was called XLV20. In January 2024, XLV20 was officially named Long March 12. The Chang Twelve is not only my country’s first 3.8-meter-diameter rocket, but also the first rocket in the Long March series to use coal-based aerospace kerosene to fly into space. This is very important. my country’s national situation is rich in coal and little oil. Different from traditional petroleum-based aerospace kerosene, coal-based aerospace kerosene solves the historical problem of a single source of raw materials for my country’s aerospace kerosene. From a power point of view, the first-stage YF-100J, as a deeply improved version of the YF-100, maximizes the potential of the YF-100 and provides strong and efficient power for the Chang Twelve. However, the performance of the second-stage YF-115 is somewhat tasteless. As the first-generation liquid oxygen kerosene engine developed in my country, the YF-115 has a relatively conservative nozzle area and unsatisfactory specific impulse. Among my country’s new generation launch vehicles, all rockets that use YF-115 have a payload ratio far lower than rockets that do not use YF-115. The most typical one is the Long Qijia. The second-stage working section requires the engine to provide a positive angle of attack to resist gravity loss, which seriously reduces the rocket’s transportation capacity.
The ninth time was the first batch of networking stars launched by StarNet. From this time on, StarNet finally started launching networking stars. The satellites were built by the Fifth Academy, using Long March 5B/Yuanzheng 2, and a total of 10 satellites were shot. The Chang-5B is a very well-known rocket. It is famous not only because it is the new generation launch vehicle with the largest low-Earth orbit carrying capacity in my country, but also because it is used to launch our country’s space station. The Chang-5B has launched a total of 6 times so far, and the first four times were all for the space station. As for the mission, the first time was to verify the key technologies of the space station, and then the Tianhe core module, Mengtian test module, and Wentian test module were successively launched. The other two launches were to build network satellites for the Star Network. From this, we can also see the coordination ability of the Star Network and the importance of the country. The Chang-5B is also my country’s first one-and-a-half-stage rocket, with a core diameter of 5 meters and four 3.35-meter boosters. Although the Chang-5B was developed by the First Academy, the booster was developed by the Eighth Academy. The four boosters provide the rocket with more than 90% of the take-off thrust.
The tenth time was to use the Long March 8A to hit the second batch of network stars. It was also the first flight of the Long March 8A. A total of 9 stars were hit. The Changbajia is a rocket of the First Academy. Based on the Changba, it is replaced with a universal hydrogen-oxygen final stage. Changbajia is a two-stage and a half configuration, with a core diameter of 3.35 meters and two boosters of 2.25 meters. Changbajia can be played at either Hainan Commercial Development Station No. 1 or Wenchang Space Launch Site 201 Station. Although Changbajia has only played once, Changbajia will definitely be the main rocket for satellite Internet networking in the future, and it is worth paying attention to.
The eleventh time also used the Long March-2D, the same as the second time, but this time it used the test stars of Galaxy Space and Changguang Satellite, a total of 4 satellites. Another difference from the second time is that the launch base is also different. The second time was in Xichang, this time it was in Jiuquan.
The twelfth time was to use Long March 5B to hit the third batch of network stars, and also hit 10 stars.
The thirteenth time I hit the fourth batch of network stars, I used the Long March No. 6A, but this time I only hit 5 stars. Chang Liujia is currently the only rocket that has both Xingwang’s networking star and Yuan Xin’s networking star. The Chang Liujia has a two-stage and a half configuration, but its boost is a solid boost, which not only takes advantage of the large solid power thrust, but also takes advantage of the liquid power’s stable thrust and high specific impulse. In addition, Chang Liujia also has a great feature. It is the only rocket among my country’s new generation of medium-sized launch vehicles that can be launched from inland launch sites. This is very important. Since it can be launched from inland launch sites, the launch density is more guaranteed. However, Chang Liujia also has a big bug. Because Chang Liujia needs to adapt to the landing area of the original Long March series rockets, its boost is not separated at the best time, which affects Chang Liujia’s transport capacity to a certain extent. Another point is that the second stage of Chang Liujia also uses YF-115. The problem of YF-115 has been mentioned before. As the first generation of liquid oxygen kerosene engine developed in my country, YF-115 can be said to have great scientific research significance, but in actual use, the thrust is not satisfactory.
