Conference 7.286::space

From: henry@utzoo.UUCP (Henry Spencer)
Newsgroups: sci.space,sci.space.shuttle
Subject: Space news from July 27 AW&ST
Date: 9 Sep 87 00:40:07 GMT
Organization: U of Toronto Zoology
  
    Another big spread on Chinese aerospace.  McDonnell-Douglas is
about to start talking to China about putting the PAM upper stage on
the LONG MARCH. McD-D recently got permission from the U.S. State Dept
to discuss the matter(!).  A formal export license will be needed to
pursue it in depth.  There is foreign interest, notably from
Australia's Aussat. 
 
    AW&ST visits Chinese booster factory.  "...a continual stream of
horse-drawn carts passed the facility's security wall next to small
peasant cottages with chickens running in the street..."  A movie
about the plant showed a wind tunnel test plainly involving an ICBM
prototype, although the Chinese will not confirm ICBM work at the
plant.  They are getting ready for a stretched version of LONG MARCH
2, preferably with a PAM as third stage.  The movie also showed as
many as four boosters in checkout simultaneously. 
 
    Another interesting story of how *competent* people respond to a
failure.  The first flight of the oxyhydrogen upper stage on LONG MARCH
3 was a partial failure, with premature shutdown during the second
burn.  The factory diagnosed the problem as bubbles in propellant
lines, developed and tested fixed components, ran four ground firings,
and then flew the new hardware carrying China's first Clarke-orbit
comsat -- SEVENTY DAYS AFTER THE FAILURE! 
 
    More indications that the Chinese are not fussy about clean-room
procedures except where it really matters. 
 
    The first-stage engines of LONG MARCH 2 run at less than 85% of
their rated maximum thrust, to provide a safety margin.  The same
engines will be used in the strap-on boosters for the LONG MARCH 2-4L
version. 
 
    China is preparing to launch another photographic spysat, the same
type they are marketing for civilian payloads.  AW&ST saw it being
readied.  The most remarkable thing is that it uses a *wood*
heatshield.  They say that they tested various fancy materials, but
concluded that a thick layer of oak worked well and was good enough. 
 
"There's a lot more to do in space   |  Henry Spencer @ U of Toronto Zoology
than sending people to Mars." --Bova | {allegra,ihnp4,decvax,utai}!utzoo!henry

From: henry@utzoo.UUCP (Henry Spencer)
Newsgroups: sci.space,sci.space.shuttle
Subject: Space news from Oct 5 AW&ST
Date: 18 Nov 87 01:08:03 GMT
Organization: U of Toronto Zoology
 
    Cover is a LANDSAT photo of the Hangzhou River delta, from the new
Chinese LANDSAT receiving station. 
  
    Pictures of Chinese LANDSAT facilities.  China is very
enthusiastic about use for the obvious civil applications, and is also
taking a good look at intelligence uses of the images.  A second
LANDSAT station is planned for western China; this will provide
complete coverage of the country, and incidentally better coverage of
India and the USSR (China's major enemies).  The Chinese are
emphasizing the high-resolution thematic mapper, and are paying little
attention to the old multispectral scanner except for tests and
possible marketing to neighbors.  The station is set up to receive
SPOT images as well, but is not equipped to process them yet.  Picture
of a boresight calibration antenna being hauled into position by
mulecart.  There were problems on the processing end because Beijing
has poor electric power (solved by a power conditioner), very low
humidity (solved by careful grounding of film-processing mechanisms),
and a lot of dust (a continuing problem).  One remaining concern is
that the Chinese do not seem to realize that the equipment contracts
did not including ongoing maintenance support; it took a while before
they realized that they had to get involved in the maintenance
procedures. 
 
Those who do not understand Unix are |  Henry Spencer @ U of Toronto Zoology
condemned to reinvent it, poorly.    | {allegra,ihnp4,decvax,utai}!utzoo!henry

VNS TECHNOLOGY WATCH:                           [Mike Taylor, VNS Correspondent]
=====================                           [Nashua, NH, USA               ]

                       Asian Satellite Set

    Three major companies from China, Hong Kong and Britain have signed
    an agreement to launch Asia's fist domestic telecommunications 
    satellite by early next year.  Cable and Wireless of Britain,
    Beijing's China International Trust and Investment Corp. and
    Hutchison Whampoa of Hong Kong will form a consortium for the $120M
    project using Teresat's WESTAR 6 communications satellite that was
    originally launched in 1986.  It failed to enter its correct orbit
    and was retrieved, refurbished, and renamed ASIASAT 1.

    {Electronic News, May 2, 1988}

  <><><><><><><>   VNS Edition : 1565      Friday  6-May-1988   <><><><><><><>

>             -< ASIASAT 1, Asia's first domestic comm. satellite >-
>    an agreement to launch Asia's fist domestic telecommunications 
>    satellite by early next year.  Cable and Wireless of Britain,
What exactly does this mean? I thought India (INSAT series), Indonesia,etc
to name a few already had "domestic telecommunications satellites"?

And are they going to "launch" a satellite or just "launch" their business
with the reclaimed WESTAR satellite?

thanks
-parthi

    You want accuracy in the news???
    
    I think this is saying two things
    
    - a satellite to provide comms services to the Asian region is being
    launched that is not owned by a particular country nor by Intelsat
    - it will be launched on a Chinese booster (I recall reading that
    elsewhere)
    
    It isn't really a domestic satellite, but a regional satellite.
    
    China and Japan already have their own domsats, launched by their
    own boosters. India (I think) and Indonesia have their own, launched
    by other countries. Its hardly "Asia's first domestic
    telecommunications satellite".
    
    gary

    	The following is from the Thursday, September 8, 1988 edition
    of THE BOSTON GLOBE:
                                  
        "China launches weather satellite"
    
    	Beijing - China yesterday [September 7] launched its first
    experimental weather satellite, the Wind and Cloud No. 1, the official
    Xinhua news agency said.  The satellite was launched by a Long March
    4 rocket from a space [center] in Taiyuan, north-central China,
    Xinhua said.  It will transmit information on clouds, Earth's surface,
    marine water color, vegetation growth, ocean surface temperatures,
    and ice and snow to satellite ground stations worldwide, the news
    agency said (AP).
                                                

        Some more details on the satellite:
 
        Note that this is the first Sun-synchronous launch by China (900
    km, 99.1 deg), the first flight of the Chang Zheng (Long March) 4
    booster, and the first flight from the Taiyuan Space Center (the other
    sites in China are Jiuquan for polar orbit recon flights and Xichang
    for geostationary missions).  I believe the satellite is the one
    referred to earlier by the Chinese as Fengyun I (anyone know enough
    Chinese to confirm this means Wind and Cloud?). 
 

    Thanks to Ces Carrington of the Kettering Group
                                    
    The Satellite is operation on 137.78 MHz in standard APT format
    he has good pictures of Great Britain Denmark and NOrway
    but I have yet to hear the transmiter on over New England USA
    It is Nasa obj 88 080a
    
    

Newsgroups: sci.space
Path: decwrl!ucbvax!ANDREW.CMU.EDU!ckk+
Subject: Chinese space launch pad
Posted: 30 Oct 88 22:29:22 GMT
Organization: The Internet
 
The Associated Press    APN-3316
AP 10/27 00:36 EDT a0413
By JIM ABRAMS
Associated Press Writer
 
    XICHANG, China (AP) -- Turbaned peasants trudge by, prodding water
buffalo and lugging firewood, and taking little notice of the towering
hollow structure from another time and for another universe. 

    Surrounded by green mountains in an isolated corner of Sichuan
province, the Xichang Satellite Center and its 11-story gantry is the
takeoff point for China's entry into the international satellite
launching market. 

    The base, normally closed to foreigners, is on display as China
enters final negotiations with Washington on issuing U.S. licenses for
the launch of three Hughes Aircraft Co. satellites. They would be the
first American satellites put into orbit by a non-Western country. 

    Agreement has been reached on safeguarding U.S. technology secrets
during the launch process and establishing China's liability in case
of accident. 

    Officials meet again in November to work out how to ensure that
Chinese prices, much lower than those charged by the U.S. Space
Shuttle or European Ariane services, won't jeopardize the American
commercial launching industry. 

    Xichang's first commercial venture could come as early as 1989
with the launch of Westar 6, an old satellite retrieved by the space
shuttle in 1984, for AsiaSat, a Hong Kong consortium.  An Australian
company, AUSSAT, intends to put two Hughes communications satellites
into orbit in the early 1990s. 

    China decided in the mid-1970s to build a rocket base in this
remote area because it is easy to defend, sparsely populated and has
clear winter days well suited for launches.  But while the base is
part of China's march to the 21st century, it is surrounded by
reminders of the Middle Ages. 

    The site is 40 miles north of Xichang, a small town accessible
from the provincial capital of Chengdu by twice-a-week airplane
flights or a 12-hour train ride.  On the road from Xichang, women wash
clothes in streams, water buffalo pull wooden plows through rice
paddies, and barefoot children scamper around mud-baked houses.
Farmers spread their grain on the road so truck wheels can help grind
it.  Between launches, the base looks abandoned. 

    The site, run by the People's Liberation Army, employs 1,200, but
new buildings to house the 141-foot Long March III rockets and satellites 
during pre-launch testing are almost empty.  Windows in the gantry blown 
out during the last launch in March have yet to be replaced. 

    About four miles from the launch pad, only two engineers sat at
monitors in the gymnasium-like control center. A smaller control center, 
built into the mountains at the launch site, was not shown to visitors. 

    Site officials say the simplicity of the operation is a main
reason for its competitive prices and high success rate. China
reportedly can undercut Space Shuttle or Ariane prices by as much as
30 percent.  Tong Lianjie, deputy director of the center, said the
price advantage is "mainly because our launching facilities are
simple, reliable and practical." He said the equipment, all produced
in China, is relatively cheap and "technical personnel in China have
fairly low salaries. We will not seek a high profit, although of
course we will seek a profit." 

    Tong gave assurances China will not pose a threat to other
satellite services. "Because of the limited number of launches, we
can't be that competitive in the international market." 

    Center officials said military control over China's space program
is another reason for its successes. Since 1970, when China became the
fifth nation after the Soviet Union, the United States, France and
Japan to launch a satellite with its own carrier rocket, it has had 23
successful launches and one failure. 

    "Military discipline is better than that of civilians, who spend
half the time smoking cigarettes and the other half working," said
Wang Yongde, deputy director of the center. 

    China's space program, overseen by the Ministry of Aeronautics and
Astronautics, is concentrating on building a more powerful version of
the Long March III and adding a second launch pad at Xichang by early
1990. This will give China the ability to put a payload of up to 8.8
tons in orbit, compared with 1.4 tons at present and 12 tons for the
Space Shuttle. 

    China has had feelers about its launching services from more than
a dozen countries and has signed an agreement with Brazil for future
joint development of satellites for the study of Earth. 

  "You mean you could have walked the galaxy and you simply never bothered?"

VNS TECHNOLOGY WATCH:                           [Mike Taylor, VNS Correspondent]
=====================                           [Nashua, NH, USA               ]

                               China Imagery

    The Chinese have purchased from the Soviet Union about 600 images of 
    China taken from Soviet spacecraft.  The Chinese have decided to buy
    several hundred more of the images being marketed by the Soviet
    Soyuzcarta organization. The Chinese also have their own Landsat
    ground station to obtain pictures from the two US Landsat spacecraft.  
    By also purchasing Soviet imagery, the Chinese can maintain their
    remote sensing surveys if the US is forced to stop providing Landsat
    images because of funding.
    {AW&ST Feb 27, 1989}

                            Mir Building Blocks

    Final preparations are under way for the launch of the first in a
    series of Soviet large building blocks that will be docked to the
    Mir manned space station. The module's base diameter is approximately 
    the same as the maximum diameter of the Mir station and its Kvant 
    module. The first building  block unit scheduled to be launched is 
    a service module with an increased diameter hatch for cosmonaut 
    extra-vehicular activity. 
    {AW&ST Feb 27, 1989}

  <><><><><><><>   VNS Edition : 1774      Monday 13-Mar-1989   <><><><><><><>

    	The December 1989 issue of ANALOG SF magazine has a very
    informative article on China's space program to date, including
    their plans for manned space missions.
    
        Larry
    

I heard on the news this morning amid the Panama items that Pres. Bush had
removed the sanctions against China and the three satellites that had been 
impounded/held are being released/exported.

    Re:.12
    	According to a White House official, three American built satelites
    have been given approval to be launched by China on Long March launch
    vehicles. The White House official stated emphaticly that the US was
    NOT removing trade sanctions against China (yeah! right! we're also not
    breaking our pledge to send high level diplomats to China).
    
    				Drew
    

Newsgroups: sci.space
Subject: NASA Headline News for 12/27/89 (Forwarded)
Date: 27 Dec 89 17:33:57 GMT
Reply-To: yee@trident.arc.nasa.gov (Peter E. Yee)
Organization: NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA
 
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Wednesday, December 27, 1989                  Audio: 202/755-1788
-----------------------------------------------------------------
  
    This is NASA Headline News for Wednesday, December 27:
 
    China will launch an unprecedented number of communications
satellites for both international and domestic clients in the 1990s,
according to a senior official of China's Ministry of Aerospace
Industry.  In 1990 alone, China will launch 10 major experimental
projects in addition to a number of communications satellites...one
being the Asiasat-1.  The spacecraft will be placed into a
geosynchronous orbit by a Long March 3 booster. 
-----------------------------------------------------------------
These reports are filed daily, Monday through Friday, at 12 noon, 
Eastern time.
----------------------------------------------------------------
A service of the Internal Communications Branch (LPC), NASA 
Headquarters, Washington, D.C.    

    I heard on the NPR today that China is about to launch a satellite
    to the Moon.   This would make China the 3rd such country to do
    so.  Does anyone have anymore information about this...
    
    cheers john
    

It's Japan, not China.  They plan to lauch a 3-stage rocket this morning
to send the Muses-A probe within 10,000 miles of the Moon.  I don't have
more details on hand.

				Mike

RE:<<< Note 327.16 by SHAOLN::DENSMORE "Dirty deeds and they're done dirt cheap" >>>

A issue of Aviation Week and Space Technology from last week or thereabouts
had a short article on this.  I recall the article saying that the mother
craft was to release a smaller lander which was to impact the Moon's surface.
							-- Tom

    	The launch of the JAPANESE lunar satellite has been delayed, for
    reasons which were unexplained.  They may launch it tomorrow.  It
    should also be noted that the probe which will *orbit* the Moon -
    not impact - is simply a small subsatellite primarily designed as
    an engineering test.
    
    	Larry
                        

It was launched this morning somewhere between 6:30 and 7:50 EST (at 6:30
the news report said "Due to be launched soon"; at 7:50 the headline said
it had been launched.  No word on how successful the launch was.  I presume
it sucessfully went out of sight, though.

Burns

    	Please post all follow-ups on the Japanese lunar probe to SPACE
    Topic 390.
    

From: mcdowell@cfa250.harvard.edu (Jonathan McDowell)
Newsgroups: sci.space
Subject: Space Report, April 10
Date: 10 Apr 90 13:43:26 GMT
Organization: Harvard/Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
 
    Jonathan's Space Report
 
    April 10, 1990 (No. 34)
 
    Remember Westar VI?  Challenger deployed it in February 1984, 
the Pam-D upper stage failed and left it in low orbit.  Discovery
retrieved it in November 1984, and the insurance company sold it.  The
satellite eventually ended up as Asiasat 1, property of Asia Satellite
Communications Co. of Hong Kong.  Asiasat 1 returned to orbit on April
7 aboard a Chinese Chang Zheng (Long March) 3 launch vehicle.  This
was the first Chinese launch of a non-Chinese satellite, from Xichang
Space Center. 
  
    April 12 will mark the 29th anniversary of the first human flight in 
space by Yuriy Alekseevich Gagarin aboard the spaceship Vostok 1.
 

From: clarinews@clarinet.com (WILLIAM HARWOOD, UPI Science Writer)
Newsgroups: clari.tw.space,clari.news.aviation,clari.news.military
Date: 15 Jun 90 19:17:20 GMT

	CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (UPI) -- China apparently is ignoring trade
agreements with the United States by selling rockets at unfairly low
prices, a practice that must be stopped to ensure a healthy commercial
launch industry, space advocates charged Friday.
	In a letter to U.S. Trade Representative Carla Hills, the National
Space Society, an organization of pro-space advocates, said if China
continues to sell its Long March rockets at such cut-rate prices,
American companies will not be able to compete in the world marketplace.
	``Beginning over two years ago, the Chinese government has offered
launches on its Long March vehicle at prices of $20 million to $30
million -- about half the price of a comparable commercial launch on a
U.S. or European vehicle,'' wrote Lori Garver, executive director of the
National Space Society.
	``Such pricing is below cost and constitutes an unreasonable,
unjustifiable burden on United States commerce.''
	The NSS said a continuation of such practices would violate trade
agreements between the United States and China and urged Hills to ``end
the Chinese practices immediately.''
	In 1988, the United States reached an agreement with China that
would limit commercial Chinese launches to no more than nine over a
six-year period and ``to price those launches on terms `on par with
those ... prevailing in the international market,''' Garver wrote.
	``It appears, however, that the Chinese are not abiding by this
agreement. Published reports suggest that the recent Chinese bid to
launch (a communications satellite) for the Arabsat consortium is again
in the $20-$30 million range.''
	Commercial launches by U.S. rockets and the European Ariane system
cost anywhere from around $50 million to more than $100 million,
depending on the ground services required, the weight of the satellite
and other factors.
	In the July issue of Scientific American magazine, Elizabeth
Corcoran and Tim Beardsley came to a similar conclusion about Chinese
launch pricing in an article titled ``The New Space Race.''
	``The Chinese ... are still apparently offering cut-rate prices,
which would violate their pledge to the U.S. to sell services at prices
comparable to those charged by the West.''
	The article quoted Douglas Heydon, president of the U.S. subsidiary
that markets Ariane boosters, as saying the Chinese bid to launch the
Arabsat communications satellite ``was about half of what we ... would
have to charge.''
	The magazine said the Department of Transportation ``was
investigating the concerns.''
	The National Space Society said Hills should take action to prevent
unfair competition from China and that ``sanctions'' should be imposed,
if necessary, to show the Chinese government ``the United States is
serious about this matter.''
	``If China were to abide by its international commitments on fair
pricing and number of launches, NSS would not be concerned,'' Garver
wrote. ``If China refuses to abide by those commitments, however, the
impact will be severe not only for the U.S. launch industry, but
ultimately for the payload sector and the future of the entire U.S.
commercial space industry.''
	In the wake of the 1986 Challenger shuttle disaster, NASA was
banned from launching commercial satellites in a bid to develop a
competitive private-sector launch industry in the United States.
	Three major U.S. rocket companies currently are marketing unmanned
boosters on a commercial basis to compete with the French-built Ariane
rockets, the Chinese Long March and the Russian Proton launch vehicle.
	In a major coup for the infant Chinese rocket program, President
Bush approved the launch of a communications satellite built by Hughes
Aircraft Co. aboard a Long March earlier this year.
	The high-profile flight marked the return to space of a satellite
that originally was launched from a space shuttle in 1984 but stranded
in a useless orbit by a booster failure. That satellite and another were
returned to Earth during a subsequent shuttle mission.

    I wonder how much of the cost of launching a satellite is due to
    the labour costs (ie. the cost of paying people for their work)?
    
    If China's labour costs are lower than those of NASA or ESA,
    could it be that their launches really are cheaper than those of
    these other organisations?                          
    
    Just curious as to whether this is just US internal politics talking.
    
    
    David Hazel

    According to an AP article China launch a satellite
    on 07/16 with a new carrier rocket that has the ability
    to carry an eight ton satellite into low earth orbit (LEO).
    
    It is an improved Long March 2 rocker, and carried a simulatin
    satellite and a small experimental Pakistaini satellite into orbit.
    It was launch from the Xichang launch site in SW China's Sichuan
    province.
    
    It has a low inclination of about 28 deg so it wont be visable
    in New England but you may want to check for radio beacons etc.
    
    Latest nasaelement set indicate it is in the following orbit
    

    1990 - 59a  Set:    3, Obj:  20685
          Epoch Year: 1990  Day: 197.615457120    Orbit #       5
          Inclination  =  28.49030000     R.A.A.N      = 300.75560000
          Eccentricity =   0.05580880     Arg of Per   = 133.17320000
          Mean Anomaly = 231.69040000     Mean Motion  =  14.91337254
          Drag         =  0.38675E-02     Frequency    =        0.000
          S.M.A.       =    6971.8579     Anom Period  =      96.5576
          Apogee Ht    =     982.7889     Perigee Ht   =     204.6069

    59b         Set:    3, Obj:  20686
          Epoch Year: 1990  Day: 197.615857870    Orbit #       5
          Inclination  =  28.49250000     R.A.A.N      = 300.75780000
          Eccentricity =   0.05629410     Arg of Per   = 133.15910000
          Mean Anomaly = 231.74780000     Mean Motion  =  14.90258717
          Drag         =  0.24447E-02     Frequency    =        0.000
          S.M.A.       =    6975.2213     Anom Period  =      96.6275
          Apogee Ht    =     989.7251     Perigee Ht   =     204.3975

    

    The other day a friend said that the Chinese use oak as a heat shield
    of space craft.
    
    Is this true.
    
    The reason given for using oak was that it takes ex amount of time for
    it burn away and is a cheap solution .

    Re:.25
    	Yes it's true; the Chinese use oak as a heat sheild on their
    recoverable capsules (both commercial and military). It is pretty low
    tech and has some technical disadvatages (e.g. oak is not as good an
    ablative material as more advanced artificial ablative materials, pound
    for pound) but it is relatively inexpensive and the fabrication
    techniques have existed for millenia. What really counts is that it
    works!
    
    				Drew
    

Resent-From: Harold Pritchett <HAROLD@uga.cc.uga.edu>
Resent-To: Space discussion group <space+@andrew.cmu.edu>
Date: Thu, 19 Jul 90 09:10 N
From: "Rob A. Vingerhoeds / Ghent State University" 
       <ROB%AUTOCTRL.RUG.AC.BE@uga.cc.uga.edu>
Subject: Chinese Launchers Information
 
    At 09 Jul 90 Paul Shawcross <PSHAWCRO%NAS.BITNET@vma.cc.cmu.edu> wrote:
 
> >Anyone out there know the stats for Long March (payload to LEO, GTO, GSO,
> >etc.)?
> >--Glenn Serre
> >serre@tramp.colorado.edu
>
> This info is a couple years out of date, and I don't have
> the references anymore.  But anyway, . . .
>
>
> Launcher              payload     orbit
>
> Long March 1           -  360kg  440km/70 deg   2 launches
> CZ1D (LM1 derivative)  -  900kg  300km/70 deg   offered
> Long March 2 (CZ2)     - 1700kg  440km/70deg    16+ launches
> CZ2-4L                 - 9000kg  LEO            proposed
> CZ2-8L                 -13000kg  LEO            proposed
> Long March 3 (CZ3)     - 1400kg  GTO            3+ launches
> CZ3-4L                 - 3000kg  GTO            1991
> CZ3A (sometimes LM4)   - 2250kg  GTO            1992
> CZ3A-4L                - 5000kg  GTO            proposed
> Saturn 1 class -20000kg LEO                     late 90s
>
> The Long March 1 used liquid and solid fuels, the Long March
> 2 used liquid fuels, and the Long March 3 used cryogenic
> fuels (earlier than the USSR!).  The program has only had
> one recorded failure, the third stage of the first CZ3, but
> a second CZ3 was launched successfully only 3 months later.
>
>
> Paul Shawcross
> pshawcro@nas.bitnet
>
 
As far as I know, there was more than one failure:
 
date           launcher
 
01-11-1969     CZ-1
12-07-1974     FB-1
04-11-1974     CZ-2
30-07-1979     FB-1
 
CZ-1 stands for Long March 1, CZ-2 for Long March 2 and FB-1 for 'Feng Bao'
(storm), which is a variant of the CZ-2 launcher.
 
Some more information about the launchers:
 
Launcher   stages   launch mass   payload
 
CZ-1       3        81600          300 kg to 440 km (70 deg)
CZ-1C      3        88000          400 kg to 600 km (70 deg)
                                   400 kg to 400 km (99 deg)
FB-1       2        191000        2500 kg to 200-400 km (63 deg)
                                  2000 kg to 200-2500 km (63 deg)
CZ-2       2        193000        3000 kg to 200-400 km (63 deg)
CZ-3       3        202000        1400 kg to 200-35786 km (31.1 deg)
CZ-4       3        ??            2500 kg to 800 km sunsynchroneous
 
New variants of the existing launchers for the (near) future (under
development):
 
Variant 1 of CZ-2 : A launcher that should be able to launch a comsat of the
type Hughes HS-376 to a geostationary orbit, with a PAM-D as extra stage.
 
Variant 2 of CZ-2 : A launcher that can launch a comsat of type Hughes
HS-399, that should then use an apogee booster.
 
Variant 3 of CZ-2 : A launcher that can bring a Molniya satellite to a
drift-orbit of 400-40000 km.
 
Variant 4 of CZ-2 : A launcher with 4 or 8 strap-on boosters (designated
CZ2-4L and CZ2-8L in the list of Paul Shawcross) and an improved second
stage.
 
Variant of CZ-3 : A launcher with an improved first stage (CZ-3A). This
rocket can bring 2500 kg to a geostationary transfer orbit. It can be used
with strap-on boosters as well. These variants are probably the ones
mentioned by Paul Shawcross as CZ3-4L and CZ3A-4L.
 
A new variant of the Long March 4 with 4 strap-on boosters should be able to
bring 5300 kg to a geosynchroneous tranfer orbit. First flight expected in
1991.
 
Anyway, there are some differences between our two lists, but I hope that
this information will help.
   
Rob Vingerhoeds
 
***************************************************************************
* Rob A. Vingerhoeds                        Ghent State University        *
* member scientific staff                   Automatic Control Laboratory  *
*                                           Computer Science              *
*                                                                         *
* Grotesteenweg Noord 2                     tel: +32-91-22.57.55 ext 320  *
* 9710 GENT - Zwijnaarde                    fax: +32-91-22.85.91          *
* Belgium                                   email: ROB@AUTOCTRL.RUG.AC.BE *
***************************************************************************
 

    Reut 09/03 2036 CHINA LAUNCHES SECOND WEATHER SATELLITE
 
    BEIJING, SEPT 4, Reuter - China successfully launched its second
weather satellite into orbit on Monday and first transmissions showed
it was working normally, state radio said. 

    A Chinese-made Long March-4 rocket carried the satellite "Fengyun
Number One," an improved version of the first satellite launched in
September 1988, from Taiyuan space centre in northern China into
geo-stationary orbit, it said. 

    "With the help of photographs from this satellite we will improve
the precision of weather forecasting in China," the radio said.  "This
will serve national defence and economics and also enable China to
send weather data to the world," it added. 
 

    09/05 09:04 Balloon satellite launch successful
 
    Beijing, September 5 (XINHUA) -- China's first balloon satellite,
"Atmosphere 1," blasted into space atop carrier rocket "Long March 4"
Monday, is now in orbit and has begin to expand, an official from the
Space Center of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) said here today.
 
He said that "Atmosphere 1" would obtain for China data on atmospheric
density at altitudes of 400km to 900km above sea level.
 
By ten o'clock last night the five man-made satellite observation
stations in Changchun, Nanjing, Lintong, Kunming and Guangzhou,
respectively, successfully observed the balloon satellite and provided
the first photographic data.
 
"Atmosphere 1" is composed of two balloon-shaped satellites with
diameters respectively 3m and 2.5m.  The were launched by the carrier
rocket "Long March 4," which carried China's second experimental weather
satellite, "Fengyun 1," into space the day before yesterday.
 
The CAS official said that the balloon satellite is made of
50-micron-thick aluminum-plated polyester film, which was folded into
two 40-cm-diameter containers before launching and later ejected into
space. 
 
According to the official, data on high-altitude atmospheric density is
of great value for research into the upper atmosphere's impact on space
shuttle orbits and the impact of sun movements on the upper atmosphere.
 
He said that at daybreak and at dusk the balloon satellite can be viewed
from observatories, and the CAS space center is ready to provide
satellite orbit data, time schedules and other reference materials.
 
"Atmosphere 1" was developed by researchers from China's Aviation and
Aerospace Ministry, Shanghai Aerospace Administration, the Man-Made
Satellite Observation Center under CAS, Beijing University and Zijinshan
Observatory.
 

    The Dallas Remote Imaging Group are picking up what it
    believe  to be 'Fengyun Number One' on137.795 MHz
    this seem to match 1990 081A
    with 897x881 km orbit at an inclination of 98.9 deg
    
    john
    

    re: .29
    
    Sounds a lot like "Echo 1".  I remember climbing a hill with my family
    to watch it one evening.  It was so bright you couldn't miss it.
        John Sauter

From: henry@zoo.toronto.edu (Henry Spencer)
Newsgroups: sci.space,sci.space.shuttle
Subject: Space news from December 10 AW&ST
Date: 4 Jan 91 03:12:24 GMT
Organization: U of Toronto Zoology
 
The Chinese feel that the Long March 2E gives them a sufficiently large
booster to consider manned spaceflight [at 9 tons to low orbit, I should
hope so!] and is studying the possibility of a four-man capsule.
-- 
"The average pointer, statistically,    |Henry Spencer at U of Toronto Zoology
points somewhere in X." -Hugh Redelmeier| henry@zoo.toronto.edu   utzoo!henry

Article        32220
From: wa2ise@cbnewsb.cb.att.com (robert.f.casey)
Newsgroups: sci.space,soc.culture.china
Subject: Status of Chinese polar orbiting satellite FY-1B
Date: 17 Jun 91 01:42:12 GMT
Sender: news@cbfsb.att.com
Organization: AT&T Bell Laboratories 
 
The following was copied from amateur radio packet network:
 Msg# TSF  Size #Rd  Date  Time From   MsgID        To
57980 BF   1967   1 08-Jun 0010 ZL4HG  KGJB47627573 WESAT@AMSAT ()
 Sb: FY-1B STATUS 4-Jun-1991
 
>From the NOAA Electronic Bulletin Board...
 
Posted: Tue, Jun  4, 1991   9:54 AM EST              Msg: KGJB-4762-7573
From:   C.STATON
To:     sub.noaa.sat.1
CC:     r.bernstein, b.howard
Subj:   OS: FY-1B STATUS - 6/4/91 
 
STATUS OF CHINA'S POLAR ORBITING SATELLITE - FY-1B (JUNE 4 1991)
 
The Satellite Meteorological Center (SMC) of China's State
Meteorological Administration (SMA) reported an updated status of
FY-1B as of June 4, 1991.  In early May 1991, the attitude of FY-1B
was re-established but was shortly lost again.  Utilizing the
magnetometer controls, and testing throughout May, SMC has been able
to gain attitude control but finds intermittent computer problems
result in loss of control.  This problem is minimized by cutting of
the automated magnetic control system beyond China's monitoring
region.  Therefore, on orbits covering China attitude control is
maintained, while "blind" orbits may result in accumulated attitude
errors. SMC feels that for most orbits over the U.S., that the
attitude of FY-1B should be "OK". 
 
As of this writing, the HRPT is turned on and is broadcasting on 
1704.5 MHZ.  The APT is NOT on at this time. This configuration 
"may last for some time".  It was not indicated by SMC if or when 
they will resume APT transmissions.
 
Congratulations to SMC and lets hope FY-1B can resume some sort 
of "routine" observations.
 
Carl Staton
NOAA/NESDIS
 
EOF
Note: I have no additional info on the above.  WA2ISE

Article: 39084
From: wa2ise@cbnewsb.cb.att.com (robert.f.casey)
Newsgroups: sci.space
Subject: Chinese Telecommunications satellite stranded in space
Date: 9 Jan 92 17:54:02 GMT
Sender: news@cbfsb.att.com
Organization: AT&T Bell Laboratories
 
4. Chinese Telecommunications Satellite Stranded in Space ............. 35
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
From:   Huijie
Source: APDJ, 01/08/92
 
HONG KONG  -- Problems encountered  soon after launch have left a  Chinese
telecommunications  satellite  stranded in  space, a satellite expert said
Wednesday.
 
The  launch  problem,  the  second such mishap with a Long March 3 rocket,
occurred  when  the  third stage of the rocket malfunctioned, the official
Chinese Xinhua News Agency confirmed Wednesday.
 
Xinhua  said  the  glitch during the Dec. 28 launch has left the satellite
in  a  "slightly  different  orbit  than  planned,"  but said "the various
systems on the satellite are operating normally."
 
But Steve Durst, editor and publisher of Space Fax Daily, a Honolulu-based
publication which first reported the mishap,  said the satellite was curr-
ently not operating.
 
China  has  aggressively  pursued  foreign  support  and customers for its
satellite  launching  services,  provided by the China Great Wall Industry
Corp.  In  its  most  notable project to date, Great Wall on April 7, 1990
launched  AsiaSat  1, a telecommunications satellite. That satellite began
its  life  as  Westar VI; it was built by the U.S. company Hughes Aircraft
Co., and launched by the U.S. Space Shuttle in 1984.
 
Technical  problems  stopped  Westar  VI from entering geostationary orbit
and another Space Shuttle launched retrieved it eight months later.
 
After  the  AsiaSat  launch, the Bush administration has so far refused to
grant  China  the  right  to  send  U.S.-made satellites into space. China
asked  U.S.  Secretary  of State James A. Baker III to drop the ban during
his visit to Beijing in October.
 
excerpted from:   *  *  *  C h i n a  N e w s  D i g e s t  *  *  *

Article: 39089
From: jbh55289@uxa.cso.uiuc.edu (Joshua B. Hopkins)
Newsgroups: sci.space
Subject: Re: Chinese Telecommunications satellite stranded in space
Date: 9 Jan 92 18:58:02 GMT
Sender: usenet@ux1.cso.uiuc.edu (News)
Organization: University of Illinois at Urbana
 
Does 'Slightly different orbit than planned' mean LEO instead of GEO? :)
Seriously though - Why does it seem to be so hard to get to geossynchronus
orbit?  Counting WESTAR and Palapa from the early shuttle mission, Intelsat
on the Titan a while back, this glitch, and others I'm sure I missed, upper
stages seem to have a pretty high failure rate.
 
		'Of course, I could be wrong'
			 Josh 'Kumquat' Hopkins

Article: 39094
From: henry@zoo.toronto.edu (Henry Spencer)
Newsgroups: sci.space
Subject: Re: Chinese Telecommunications satellite stranded in space
Date: 9 Jan 92 21:22:47 GMT
Organization: U of Toronto Zoology
 
In article <1992Jan9.185802.28683@ux1.cso.uiuc.edu>
jbh55289@uxa.cso.uiuc.edu (Joshua B. Hopkins) writes: 

>Seriously though - Why does it seem to be so hard to get to geossynchronus
>orbit? ...
 
The biggie is whether upper stages will ignite properly and burn for
their full rated period.  These failures look odd only because you
don't figure in all the launch failures that result from a rocket
stage failing lower down. 
 
>...  Counting WESTAR and Palapa from the early shuttle mission, Intelsat
>on the Titan a while back, this glitch, and others I'm sure I missed, upper
>stages seem to have a pretty high failure rate.
 
Relighting stages in space is tricky, which accounts for some of it,
and may account for the Long March failure in particular.  It took GD
a long time and many failures to get Centaur to relight reliably, for
example. The other failures are various different mechanisms:  Westar
and Palapa had nozzle failures (they used the same brand of kick
motor), the Titan Intelsat failure was a wiring error, etc. 
-- 
"Breakthrough ideas are not             | Henry Spencer @ U of Toronto Zoology
from teams."  -- Hans von Ohain         |  henry@zoo.toronto.edu  utzoo!henry

    it would be a LEO not a GEO  at least as of the latest element set I
    have seen    john
    
    91088A           1.0  0.0  0.0 (Launch 91-88-  A)   Set:    5, Obj:  21833
          Epoch Year: 1991  Day: 363.489359840    Orbit #      13
          Inclination  =  31.03370000     R.A.A.N      = 258.07100000
          Eccentricity =   0.14536420     Arg of Per   = 185.16200000
          Mean Anomaly = 172.36510000     Mean Motion  =  12.81764148
          Drag         =  0.55194E-02     Frequency    =        0.000
          S.M.A.       =    7712.4736     Anom Period  =     112.3452
          Apogee Ht    =    2455.4311     Perigee Ht   =     213.1961
    
                     

    Looks like some sort of parking orbit, waiting for a third stage burn
    to put it into transfer orbit.
    
    gary

Article: 39208
From: wa2ise@cbnewsb.cb.att.com (robert.f.casey)
Newsgroups: sci.space
Subject: China to launch 3 foreign satellites in 92
Date: 13 Jan 92 20:09:30 GMT
Sender: news@cbfsb.att.com
Organization: AT&T Bell Laboratories
 
    From China News digest:

 * China to Launch Three Foreign Satellites in 1992
 
[Reuter] 01/08/92 BEIJING, - China will launch three satellites for
foreign countries this year, including two made in the United States, an
official of the Ministry of Aerospace Industry said on Wednesday.
 
Two U.S.-made telecommunications satellites will be launched for Australia
in the spring and autumn, the official, quoted by the New China News
Agency said.

Article: 1868
From: clarinews@clarinet.com
Newsgroups: clari.news.gov.international,clari.tw.telecom,clari.tw.space
Subject: Chinese rocket fails in satellite launch
Date: 22 Mar 92 13:27:20 GMT
 
	BEIJING (UPI) -- The launch of a U.S.-made Australian
satellite was aborted Sunday after a Chinese rocket booster flared 
out on the launch pad, an embarrassment for China's space program
broadcast live on national television. 

	The failure occurred during the launch of the Aussat B-1
communications satellite at the Xichang space center in southwest
China's Sichuan Province.  Officials said they could not immediately
determine the cause of the problem. 

	Initial reports indicated a fault in the first stage of the
Chinese Long March 2-E rocket triggered an automatic safety system
that shut down the rocket motors, officials said. 

	``We will be assessing the cause of the problem, and assessing
what to do about it, but there's not much we can say at this point,''
said Gordon Pike, a senior official of Optus Communications, the
Sydney-based firm that will operate the satellite. 

	In a telephone interview from the Xichang launch site, Pike
said officials were ``highly confident'' the satellite, made by Hughes
Corp. of the United States, had not been damaged.  He said it was too
early to tell when another launch could be scheduled. 

	The launch was broadcast live on nationwide television and
appeared to be proceeding smoothly, as technicians conducted the final
countdown and pressed the button for rocket ignition. 

	With its nose cone gleaming white and emblazoned with the
Australian, U.S., and Chinese flags, the rocket's motor ignited,
sending bright orange flame down onto the pad.  But it suddenly flared
out in a rush of white smoke. 

	Pike said it appeared a failure in the rocket's first stage
had triggered a ``controlled shutdown'' by the automatic safety system. 

	Moments after the failure, a grim-faced official of the Great
Wall Industrial Corp., the Chinese launch contractor, read a statement
over the television broadcast pledging to ``discover the reason as
soon as possible.'' 

	``Failures are inevitable in scientific pursuits but we, Great
Wall Corporation, as the Chinese contractor for Aussat, nevertheless
express our regret,'' he said. 

	The incident was all the more embarrassing because state media
had run a blitz of glowing dispatches on China's space program before
the launch.  More than two hours after it occurred, the official Xinhua
news agency had still not reported the failure. 

	It also marked a new setback for the communist government's
bid to put China into the world commercial space race, following
numerous technical glitches and political setbacks dating to the June
4, 1989, crushing of the Chinese pro-democracy movement. 

	Sunday's scheduled launch was possible only because President
Bush granted a one-time waiver of sanctions, imposed on China in
response to the Beijing massacre, that bar transfer of U.S. satellite
technology to China. 

	China's aggressive exports of missiles and nuclear technology
also have hindered its launch business, prompting new U.S. curbs on
satellite technology transfers last summer. 

	Washington lifted the curbs this month with China's vow to
support the anti-proliferation guidelines of the Missile Technology
Control Regime. 

	Despite the spotty record of China's home-grown space
industry, Beijing has lured several satellite launch contracts with a
package rate of about $25 million that sharply undercuts the
industrialized West's going rate of about $40 million. 

	Asiasat 1, also built by Hughes and financed by China and Hong
Kong, was lofted successfully in April 1990 by the same single-use
Long March 2-E thruster selected for the Aussat launch. 

	But Beijing also acknowledged that a Chinese-made satellite
launched in December atop a Long March 3 rocket was put into a virtually 
useless orbit due to what officials gingerly called ``rocket misbehavior.'' 

Article: 70831
From: xiong@bsu-cs.bsu.edu (Bo Xiong)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.china
Subject: [News] Chinese Probe Rocket Failure
Date: 24 Mar 92 07:49:18 GMT
Sender: <xiong@bsu-cs.bsu.edu>
Organization: Indiana University
 
This is a forwarding:
 
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Original-From: ****@***.**.edu
03/23 AP   Chinese Probe Rocket Failure
 
   BEIJING (AP) -- Chinese crews on Monday began dismantling a rocket
to determine why it failed to launch an Australian satellite, in an
embarrassing setback to China's young international launch business.  

   The Long March 2-E rocket was to have blasted off Sunday with
China's second foreign commerical payload. But a live television
broadcast showed the rocket ignite, then fail to move. 
 
   The state-run Xinhua News Agency issued its first acknowledgement
of the failure early Monday. 
 
   "An abnormal thrust in the first stage of the rocket triggered an
emergency shutdown of the engines," Xinhua quoted an unidentified
official as saying. 
 
   By mid-morning, investigators had no additional information, said
Emery Wilson, spokesman for Hughes Aircraft Co., which made the satellite. 
 
   "They have yet to be able to make a close inspection of the rocket
and an analysis of all their data," Wilson said by telephone from a
hotel near the Xichang Launch Center in remote southwestern China. 
 
   He said workmen were removing the rocket's nose cone, containing the
satellite, before draining the fuel and beginning a close examination.  
 
   Xinhua said the rocket and satellite were both undamaged, but
Wilson was cautious. 
 
   "We don't know yet," he said. "We haven't seen the spacecraft yet."  
 
   The satellite is owned by Optus Communications, a newly formed
private Australian telecommunications carrier that provides
television, radio and telephone services. 
 
   The launch was to have symbolized the company's arrival as
competition for Australia's government-owned domestic carrier Telecom
and overseas carrier OTC. 
 
   Optus spokesman Leighton Farrell said by telephone from Sydney that
the launch failure was "not a setback at all." 
 
   "It has no impact on our customers at this stage," he said. The
satellite was intended to replace one that runs out of fuel at year's end. 
 
   Optus chief executive Bob Mansfield said in a radio interview in
Australia that the company was relieved nothing worse happened. 
 
   "If the thing had fallen over or got up a mile or two and then gone
haywire, that's when we would have had extreme problems," he said.
"Everything is on the ground and can be fixed." 
 
   He said the company hoped to reschedule a launch within a few months.  
 
   China's commercial launch company, Great Wall, already plans to
launch a second Optus satellite this year. 
 
   Great Wall has been trying for several years to break into the
international launch business.  
 
   But it recently lost to McDonnell Douglas Corp. in bidding to launch an
Indonesian satellite.  
 
   The main stumbling block to that and other launches was U.S. export
licensing for the satellites. Many satellites are American-made, and
export to China requires presidential permission. 
 
   China's main attraction is its low price -- reportedly just $30 million.  
 
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
Forwarded to SCC by Bo Xiong in Chicago

Article: 70837
From: gaojeng@durras.anu.edu.au (J.Gao)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.china
Subject: Rocket failure: engine trouble.
Date: 24 Mar 92 10:19:55 GMT
Sender: news@newshost.anu.edu.au
Organization: Computer Services Centre, Australian National University
 
According to a eyewitness report carried in a newspaper here, four of
the eight engines (motors) failed to ignite after the button was
punched in.  People could only see fire belching from four. 
 
J. Gao

Article: 42113
From: bankst@kauri.vuw.ac.nz (Timothy Banks)
Newsgroups: sci.space
Subject: re: Aussat Failure.
Date: 24 Mar 92 20:37:35 GMT
Sender: news@rata.vuw.ac.nz (USENET News System)
Organization: Victoria University of Wellington
 
re: The recent query about the Aussat launch. Here is a clipping from
the _Evening Post_ ( a Wellington paper).
 
"Satellite launch date known soon"
 
A new lauch date is expected to be known soon for the Aussat satellite
due to give an Australian telecommunications company the capacity to
sell "dosmestic" service in New Zealand. 
 
Optus Communications is waiting on the new launch date after last
night's aborted launch of a Chinese Long March rocket, carrying the
first of its Aussat B series satellites. Though two of the satellites
now used by Optus to provide Aussat links go out of useful orbit this
year, there is still excess capacity on another longer-term satellite.
This is the Aussat 3 satellite Optus already uses to provide private
network services to New Zealand, as well as offering switched
telephone services across the Tasman [the sea between NZ and Aussie]
for the Australian public. 
 
The Aussat B series of satellites due to be launched this year would
have given the capacity to provide services within New Zealand as well
as between the two countries. Speacking on Australian ABC [Aust.
Broadcasting. Co.] radio program AM yesterday, Optus chief executive
Bob Mansfield said the biggest problem with the satellite setback had
been knowing whether the satellite had been damaged. "The answer to
that was 'no' and we are very very releived about that" he said. 
 
"If the thing had fallen over or got a mile or two up [Who was
educated before metrics kicked in, I wonder? :-)] and then gone
haywire, that's when we would have had extreme problems because the
satellite is then irrecoverable. Everything is on the ground and can
be fixed." 
 
The launch of the Optus B1 from the XiChang space centre in China's
southwestern province of Sichuan was aborted apparently because of a
technical failure. The rocket's engines ignited, then shut down down.
- NZPA 
 
[Hope this is useful]
 
-- 
Timothy Banks, Physics Department, Victoria University of Wellington, NZ.
  Bankst@kauri.vuw.ac.nz, bankst@matai.vuw.ac.nz, bankst@rata.vuw.ac.nz
         Banks@beagle.phys.vuw.ac.nz, CCD@vuwst1.vuw.ac.nz 
  "He's dead, Jim!" "OK, you take the tricorder, I'll take the wallet!"

Article: 1934
From: clarinews@clarinet.com (JEFFREY K. PARKER)
Newsgroups: clari.news.gov.international,clari.tw.space,clari.news.gov.budget
Subject: China vows manned space flight by 2000
Date: 7 Apr 92 11:08:16 GMT
 
	BEIJING (UPI) -- China, brushing off a recent string of launch
setbacks, said Tuesday it would loft astronauts into space by the year
2000 as the first step toward launching its own space station. 

	``Before the year 2000 China will have completed its research
into experimental manned spacecraft and carrier rockets,'' the State
Commission on Science and Technology said in a report excerpted by the
official Xinhua news agency. 

	China's first manned spacecraft will be tested initially
``without astronauts actually aboard,'' the report said. ``Then it
will send astronauts into space aboard the craft,'' it said. 

	``China is also hoping to build a space station capable of
conducting scientific experiments,'' Xinhua said, quoting the report
as saying the station ``will eventually develop into a laboratory
capable of processing and producing new materials.'' 

	Xinhua did not specify why the Communist government had
decided to undertake such an ambitious and expensive program,
especially at a time of serious economic difficulty as foundering
state industries sap billions from China's deficit-mired treasury. 

	The renewed commitment to space research follows a series of
mishaps in China's fledgling space industry, most recently its
embarrassing failure last month to loft an Australian communications
satellite atop the much-ballyhooed Long March 2-E rocket. 

	Although the Aussat partners have expressed their support for
China's cut-rate commercial launcher, the failure has prompted some
rethinking among other potential customers overseas. 

	Adding to concern over China's entry into the potentially
lucrative launch business was space officials' acknowledgement that a
Chinese satellite launched in December atop a Long March 3 booster
went into a virtually useless orbit due to ``rocket misbehavior.'' 

	The government report, titled ``Outline for China's Long and
Medium-term Development of Space and Technology,'' calls for
extensive renovation of China's launch centers at Xichang, Sichuan
province, Jiuquan, Gansu province and Taiyuan, Shanxi province. 

	The commission's report also stresses the need for advancing
and accelerating China's own home-grown space technology. 

	``Before they send up the astronauts, Chinese scientists will
have to solve a number of key technological problems, which include a
life-support system inside the spacecraft, remote-control emergency
rescue operations (and) return and recovery technology for the manned
missions, '' Xinhua said. 

	China also must begin selection and training of astronauts and
research into the monitoring of their health while in space, the
report said. 

	The report said a ground simulator for astronaut training was
``on schedule for development,'' as were space medical experiments and
applied space technology. 

	China launched its first space vehicle in 1964, a crude
ballistic missile that, along with Beijing's detonation of its first
nuclear fission device the same year, fueled Cold War fears in
Washington and Moscow about China's military intentions. 

	China lofted its first satellites in 1970 and 1971, but the
ideological infighting of the 1966-76 Cultural Revolution delayed
development of the government-run space industry until the 1980s, when
China launched nearly 30 satellites aboard a range modified ballistic
missiles. 

	China's greatest space success came in April 1990 with the
lofting of AsiaSat, an American-made 24-transponder communications
satellite jointly owned by China and a Hong Kong syndicate. 

Article: 2326
From: clarinews@clarinet.com
Newsgroups: clari.news.gov.international,clari.tw.space,clari.tw.telecom
Subject: China predicts new Aussat launch attempt in 3 months
Date: Mon, 20 Apr 92 5:54:04 PDT
 
	BEIJING (UPI) -- China said Monday it must replace the eight
Chinese-made boosters that ignited but failed to loft an Australian
satellite last month, forcing a delay of a least three more months
before the launch can be rescheduled. 

	A month-long inquiry traced the failure of the March 22 launch
of the Aussat B-1 satellite to ignition circuitry in the Chinese Long
March 2 rocket, officials told the state-run China News Service. 

	``The breakdown lay in the ignition-control wires, not in the
engine system itself,'' CNS said. 

	The eight boosters bundled together to form the rocket's first
stage were not damaged in the launch attempt, but nevertheless must
all be replaced because they fired briefly before computers sensed the
circuit error and aborted the mission, officials said. The Long March
boosters cannot be re-used once fired. 

	Aussat's U.S. maker, Hughes Aircraft Corporation, and the
consortium that owns it has proclaimed confidence in China's launch
system and willingness to reschedule the launch. 

	CNS quoted Chinese officials as predicting another launch
attempt in ``probably in three months.'' 

	China's fledgling commercial space program suffered acute
embarrassment when the Long March rocket, emblazoned with the Chinese,
U.S. and Australian flags, flared and fumed but failed to budge at the
Xichang launch pad in south China's Sichuan province. 

	A live nationwide television broadcast of the launch fizzle --
and a Chinese announcer's use of the word ``failure'' -- only deepened
the sense of embarrassment. 

	Attempting to bounce back from the episode, an official of the
Great Wall Industrial Corp. that makes the Long March system gave a
revised view of what is no longer being called a failure. 

	``Aerospace technology is in the fields of high technology,
high investment and high risk,'' Great Wall Vice President Chen
Shouchun told CNS. 

	``The fortune in last time's misfortune was in the automatic
emergency shutdown of the Long March 2 rocket, which left the
satellite, the rocket and launching field all sound and intact. This
demonstrates China's perfect design,'' Chen said. 

	China hopes to become a major player in the world launch
market, offering to loft other countries' satellites for about $25
million, far underselling France's Ariane program and several American
launch systems. 

Article: 47299
From: gnb@duke.bby.com.au (Gregory N. Bond)
Newsgroups: sci.space
Subject: Optus I-B/Long March launch scheduled 2300Z 13 Aug
Date: 11 Aug 92 07:30:44 GMT
Sender: usenet@melba.bby.oz.au (news READER id)
Organization: Burdett, Buckeridge & Young, Melbourne, Australia
 
Launch of the Optus I-B satellite is scheduled for 0900 AEST (+1000)
August 14 (2300Z August 13) according to reports in todays papers.
The launch will be from Xichang, China on a Long March booster.  This
will be the second attempted launch, an earlier try on March 22 was
aborted just after main engine ignition due to some unspecified
problems (from memory, low chamber pressure on one of the strap-ons).
Luckily, there was no major fire and the payload was unharmed.
 
Optus I-B is a Hughes-built bird, known until recently as Aussat I-B.
It is the first of two new-generation satellites providing
direct-broadcast TV and carrier services to Australia.
 
(Actually, the whole thing is a complete WOMBAT(*) and is the booby prize
for Optus gaining the licence as the second Australian phone carrier).
 
Greg.
 
((*) WOMBAT, a large but nearly-blind burrowing mammal of legendary
stupidity native to Australia. Also SLA: Waste Of Money, Brains And Time.)
--
Gregory Bond <gnb@bby.com.au> Burdett Buckeridge & Young Ltd Melbourne Australia
``USL has never sold long distance.  You're going after the wrong men in black 
  hats.  (Or, in the case of Plan 9, black space suits)'' - Tom Limoncelli

Article: 1316
From: clarinews@clarinet.com (DAVID R. SCHWEISBERG)
Newsgroups: clari.news.gov.international,clari.tw.aerospace,clari.biz.products
Subject: On second try, China launches Australian satellite
Date: Fri, 14 Aug 92 0:06:50 PDT
 
	BEIJING (UPI) -- A Chinese rocket carried a U.S.-built
communications satellite into orbit Friday, after an attempted
blastoff earlier this year fizzled on the launch pad. 

	Technicians cheered lustily as the white Long March 2-E
rocket, colorfully emblazoned with the flags of the United States,
Australia and China, cleared the pad just after 7 a.m. local time (7
p.m. EDT Thursday) at China's Xichang Space Center in southwest
Sichuan Province. 

	The rocket carried U.S.-made communications satellite Optus
B-1, which China launched under contract to Optus Communications, an
Australian telecommunications firm. 

	Chinese, American and Australian officials applauded and
gleefully exchanged ``high five'' hand claps as mission control
announced the craft had achieved primary orbit. 

	``Hen hao, guys,'' exulted Dick Johnson of satellite-maker
Hughes Aircraft, using Chinese for ``very good.'' 

	Officials said the satellite achieved an elliptical low-Earth
orbit ranging from 125 miles to 650 miles above the planet. 

	The successful blastoff -- broadcast live on state television -- 
clearly boosted China's small but growing commercial space program.

	The first attempted launch of Optus B-1 failed March 22, when
its carrier rocket ignited, but flamed out on the launch pad. 

	Experts later blamed a tiny amount of aluminum particles,
which contaminated electrical works in the rocket's ignition, blowing
circuits and triggering an automatic shutdown. 

	China has launched a total of 31 satellites since 1970.  Officials 
also plan several future blastoffs, including an envisioned manned space 
flight early in the next century. 

From:	DECWRL::"usenet-space-news-request@ames.arc.nasa.gov" 16-AUG-1992 
        01:54:58.99
To:	sci-space-news@rutgers.edu
CC:	
Subj:	* SpaceNews 17-Aug-92 *

SB NEWS @ AMSAT < KD2BD $SPC0817
* SpaceNews 17-Aug-92 *

Bulletin ID: $SPC0817

                              =========
                              SpaceNews
                              =========

                        MONDAY AUGUST 17, 1992

SpaceNews originates at KD2BD in Wall Township, New Jersey, USA.  It
is published every week and is made available for unlimited distribution.

* THE FREJA SCIENTIFIC SATELLITE *
==================================
The FREJA scientific satellite, designed and built by the Swedish
Space Corporation is intended for research into the aurora.  It will
be launched "piggyback" by a Long March 2C rocket from the Jiuquan
Satellite Launch Center in China (41N, 100E) in the beginning of
October 1992.  Launch is planned for October 5 at 0615-0800 UTC. FREJA
is planned to enter an orbit with perigee at 605 km, apogee at 1748 km
inclined at 63 degrees.  The argument of perigee is planned to be 262
degrees.  FREJA is a sun-pointing spinner (10 RPM) with a 2.2m
diameter weighing 257 kg at launch and 215.5 kg in its final orbit. 

The CZ-2C puts the Chinese FSW-1 main satellite and FREJA into a
203-317 km parking orbit at a 63 degrees inclination.  FREJA's orbit
must be raised to reach scientifically interesting regions and to keep
the satellite from decaying.  A Thiokol STAR 13 A rocket motor fires
at the southern apex of the parking orbit to give FREJA an apogee of
1748 km. As the apogee is reached approximately 50 minutes later, a
Thiokol STAR 6B rocket motor fires to raise perigee to 605 km, high
enough to keep the orbital attitudes unchanged for 1 to 2 years. 

FREJA will transmit low-speed telemetry (1200 baud V.23) on 400.550
MHz (in addition to high-speed telemetry on S-band, 2208.1629 MHz). 
The transmitter has 2 watts of RF output power.  The V.23 signals are
frequency modulated on the carrier and can be received on a normal
NBFM scanner receiver.  A circularly polarized antenna is recommended
since the transmit antenna is a simple quarter-wave whip giving linear
polarization. 

The satellite will transmit a 20 second long message containing:

- Housekeeping telemetry from the platform and experiments.

- A one-page operational message from the FREJA Operations Center (FOC)
  at Esrange, Kiruna, Sweden.  Typical contents are: Orbital parameters,
  attitude, spin rate, experiment operational modes, etc.

A decoding, readout, and display software package for operation under
MS-DOS will be available from SSC after launch.  This link is called
the LSL (Low Speed Link) and will operate twice per day; one pass over
Europe and one pass over North America.  The transmitter will be on 

- Over Europe on passes with the ascending node at 10 degrees west +/-
  23 degrees, or 120 degrees west +/- 23 degrees, whichever occurs closest
  to normal working hours.

- Over North America on passes with the ascending node at 113 degrees east
  +/- 23 degrees, or 120 degrees west +/- 23 degrees, whichever occurs
  closest to normal working hours.

[Info via Sven Grahn, FREJA Project Manager, Swedish Space Corporation]

* WORLD SPACE CONFERENCE NEWS *
===============================
Hans van de Groenendaal ZS6AKV, President of SA AMSAT will be
delivering a paper at the World Space Congress 1992 to be held in
Washington DC from August 28 till September 5. 

His paper "Use of Satellite and Satellite signals to inspire interest
in Natural Sciences in Developing Countries" has been scheduled in the
session on Educational Opportunities in the Space Life Sciences on
Saturday September 5. 

The paper will review current and planned Amateur Radio Satellites,
SAREX missions and weather satellites and the opportunities offered
for projects in schools to develop an interest in the natural sciences. 

The value of Electronic Clubs at schools as a means of introducing a
wide spectrum of pupils to the sciences will also be discussed and
role satellites and in particular Amateur Radio Satellites can play,
explored. 

[Info via Hans ZS6AKV]

* FEEDBACK/INPUT WELCOMED *
===========================
Mail to SpaceNews should be directed to the editor (John, KD2BD) via any
of the following paths:

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INTERNET : kd2bd@ka2qhd.de.com

MAIL     : John A. Magliacane, KD2BD
           Department of Electronics Technology
           Advanced Technology Center
           Brookdale Community College
           Lincroft, New Jersey  07738
           U.S.A.

    <<=- SpaceNews: The first amateur newsletter to be read in space! -=>>

/EX
-- 
John A. Magliacane                 FAX  : (908) 747-7107
Electronics Technology Department  AMPR : KD2BD @ NN2Z.NJ.USA.NA
Brookdale Community College        UUCP : ...!rutgers!ka2qhd!kd2bd
Lincroft, NJ  07738  USA           VOICE: (908) 842-1900 ext 3607

Article: 2889
From: clarinews@clarinet.com (United Press International)
Newsgroups: clari.tw.space,clari.tw.health.aids,clari.news.military
Subject: Foreign News Briefs
Date: Mon, 21 Dec 92 13:12:53 PST
 
_C_h_i_n_a _l_a_u_n_c_h_e_s
_A_u_s_t_r_a_l_i_a_n _s_a_t_e_l_l_i_t_e 

	BEIJING (UPI) -- A Chinese rocket hurled a U.S.-made
Australian communications satellite into orbit from a launch site in
southwest China Monday, the country's fifth successful commercial launch. 

	The Chinese Long March 2E rocket blasted off the launch pad at
the Xichang Space Center in Sichuan Province about 7:20 p.m. and
lofted the Optus B-2 satellite into space, officials reached by
telephone in Xichang said. 

	It was China's third successful launch this year of a foreign
satellite and the fifth successful commercial satellite launch. The
launch successes, including two Australian satellites, have quickly
enabled China to become a low-priced alternative to the U.S. space
program and the European Ariane program. 

	``The two successful launches of Australian satellites tell
the world that the Long March 2E has entered the international
launching business,'' said Tang Jinan, president of the Great Wall
Industrial Corp., China's launch company, in a statement carried by
the official Xinhua news agency. 

A slightly later report indicates that the satellite was lost, though...the
controllers were unable to communicate with it, and it was being considered
"a total loss".  Not clear if it was a LV problem or the sat itself.

Burns

Article: 2890
From: clarinews@clarinet.com (United Press International)
Newsgroups: clari.tw.space,clari.tw.health.aids,clari.news.military
Subject: Foreign News Briefs
Date: Tue, 22 Dec 92 4:07:17 PST
 
_A_u_s_t_r_a_l_i_a_n _f_i_r_m
_s_a_y_s _s_a_t_e_l_l_i_t_e
_l_o_s_t_, _t_o _b_e _r_e_p_l_a_c_e_d 

	BEIJING (UPI) -- A U.S.-made Australian communications satellite 
has failed after being launched by China and has been classified as lost, 
the Australian telecommunications operator said Tuesday. 

	Optus Communications, the Sydney-based firm that owned the
satellite, said in a statement that despite an initially successful
launch Monday night, technicians could not make contact with the
satellite and that it had been ``written off as lost. ... The cause of
the problem with B-2 has not been determined.'' 

	The statement said that under Optus' its contract with the
satellite's U.S. manufacturer, Hughes Aircraft Co., ``provision was
made for a replacement satellite to be provided in the event of lack
of success for in-orbit delivery,'' and that the replacement could be
ready for launch in ``as little as 18 months.'' 

                               ------
_C_h_i_n_a _h_o_p_e_s _t_o _e_a_s_e
_e_c_o_n_o_m_i_c _t_h_r_o_t_t_l_e_,
_b_o_o_s_t _e_f_f_i_c_i_e_n_c_y 

	BEIJING (UPI) -- Concerned by a ``seed of inflation,'' China is
planning to tighten monetary controls and stress more efficient growth
next year to avoid overheating the economy, a state-run newspaper said
Tuesday.

	``If the nation continues to bury itself in the solely pro-growth
strategy, while churning out stockpiles of goods, the economy will
become inflated,'' warned an article in the official China Daily.

	The article, reporting on a national planning conference held last
week, noted warnings by Chinese leaders published over the weekend that
unbridled growth could overheat the economy and rekindle high inflation.

Article: 1516
From: clarinews@clarinet.com (UPI)
Newsgroups: clari.tw.space,clari.tw.aerospace
Subject: Explosion apparently caused failure in launch of Aussie satellite
Date: Wed, 23 Dec 92 15:11:19 PST
 
	LOS ANGELES (UPI) -- American engineers said Wednesday they
have found evidence of an explosion during the failed launch of an
Australian satellite in China. 

	The satellite, called Optus B2, was built in Los Angeles by Hughes
Space and Communications and broke up during launch Monday on a Chinese
rocket in south-central China.

	Hughes engineers said they can see a brief fireball on the video
taken during the boost phase of the launch. A search team found several
items that appear to be part of the launch vehicle and spacecraft, but
have not been able to determine what caused the breakup.

	Hughes spokesman Emery Wilson said a team of experts will try to
determine if it was the rocket or the satellite that exploded. The
satellite was insured.

	Optus B2 was one of two new Hughes communications satelites purchased
by Optus Communications, Australia's sole domestic satellite operator.
The first went into service a week ago, also aboard a Chinese rocket.

    I predict this will really kill the Chinese launch business.  If they
    can't even tell if their booster blew up (or at worse if they pretend
    that it was successful when it was not) then not many Western companies
    will trust them!
    
    Burns
    

Article: 2960
From: clarinews@clarinet.com (UPI)
Newsgroups: clari.news.gov.international,clari.tw.space
Subject: Chinese rocket cleared in satellite failure, report says
Date: 2 Feb 93 11:34:59 GMT
 
	BEIJING (UPI) -- An investigation into the launch failure of a U.S.-
built Australian satellite in December has found the Chinese carrier
rocket operated normally and was not to blame, a state-run newspaper
said Tuesday.

	The Guangming Daily quoted Chinese space specialists as saying the
clearing of the rocket came after an investigation and a visit to China
by a dozen American technicians last month.

	The satellite, manufactured by Hughes Aircraft Co. of the United
States and owned by the Sydney, Australia-based firm Optus
Communications, was launched Dec. 21 aboard a Long March 2-E rocket from
China's Xichang Space Center in southwest Sichuan Province.

	The rocket appeared to place the Optus B-2 satellite in orbit but
officials later disclosed a small explosion had occurred and the
satellite had broken up.

	The Guangming Daily said the American space experts examined launch
telemetry, analyzed the data and checked wreckage found of the satellite
and that ``the result of the investigation indicates the flight of the
rocket was completely normal.''

	The newspaper said the explosion occurred in the satellite vehicle
itself about 45 seconds into the launch. It did not speculate on a
cause, but said the outcome indicated ``the performance of the Chinese
rocket is very reliable.''

	Chinese officials since the incident have worked feverishly to pin
the blame on something other than their rocket, fearing a major
embarrassment to the country's fledgling commercial space program.

That's what the Chinese say, anyway.  I believe that Hughes is saying that the
shroud opened prematurely exposing the satellite to a supersonic airstream.

Burns

Article: 1757
From: clarinews@clarinet.com (NICK DRIVER)
Newsgroups: clari.biz.economy.world,clari.tw.aerospace,clari.biz.misc
Subject: China to launch five satellites despite U.S. export restrictions
Date: Wed, 4 Aug 93 7:38:02 PDT
 
	BEIJING (UPI) -- Lack of funding and continued sanctions on United
States satellite technology sales have hampered Chinese efforts to
modernize its satellite industry, a senior space official said Wednesday.

	Qi Faren, president of the China Academy of Space Technology, said
China will nevertheless launch five domestically made satellites in the
coming 13 months, as well as a number of U.S.-made satellites.

	But in a rare news conference in the guarded space agency compound,
he said U.S. government export licence restrictions have hurt the academy's 
ability to sell satellites abroad and launch foreign-made craft.

	``We are not as capable (as foreign companies), but the competition
is also unfair,'' he said.

	``Any space-related company must use parts from other companies, but
we are always met with pressures and bans on foreign technology -- how
can we compete?'' he said.

	China will send up five of its own satellites, including the 4,600 
lb (2,100 kg) 24-transponder communications satellite Dongfanghong 3,
before October 1994, Qi said, a number equal to the total number sent up
in the last three years.

	U.S. industrial electronics company Motorola announced this week that
it would use Chinese rockets to launch some of 66 satellites for use in
a huge cellular telephone grid. The deal is subject to U.S. Department
of Commerce waivers of existing export restrictions on satellite
technology to China.

	Qi complained that U.S. interference had forced Chinese satellite
makers to buy more expensive Japanese and German components. He also
said the worries over military applications were unwarranted, stressing
that his government-controlled satellite company had few military uses.

	``I suppose that out of the 24 transponders, one may be rented by a
military company -- but I am not in sales, so I am not sure,'' he said.

	The U.S. Congress prohibited the export of military-use technology,
including satellites, to China to protest the 1989 crackdown on student
protesters in Tiananmen Square.

	After waiving those restrictions in December 1989, President Bush
halted the export of U.S.-made satellite components for the
Dongfanghong-3 communications satellite in 1991 because of worries that
China could re-export the technology to Pakistan or the Middle East.

	Qi also said high costs and decreased government investment
threatened to scuttle previously announced plans to send a man into
space around 2000.

	``China is making its best efforts to effect a manned space launch,''
Qi said, adding that China has had the necessary technology for years,
including a 100 percent recovery rate for recoverable satellites.

	``In the near term it is not profitable, but if the government
decides to make the launch, we will do our utmost to make it successful,'' 
he said.

	Lower government investment in the space sector has forced the
academy to flog sales of its satellites abroad. But despite a successful
satellite-launching trade over the past few years, no foreign companies
have bid for China's satellites, Qi said.

Article: 1781
From: clarinews@clarinet.com (UPI)
Newsgroups: clari.tw.aerospace,clari.tw.space
Subject: New China rocket to launch first satellite next year
Date: Mon, 16 Aug 93 0:51:44 PDT
 
	HONG KONG (UPI) -- China's newly developed Long March ``A''
rocket will soon undergo test firing and is scheduled to launch a
communications satellite in the first half of 1994, the pro-China Wen
Wei Po newspaper said Monday. 

	The new rocket will have a satellite payload capacity of 2.5
tons compared with 1.4 tons for the current Long March rocket. 

	Increased payload and advanced technology in the Long March
``A'' will place China in the front ranks of satellite-launching
nations and help China capture a bigger share of the world market, 
Wen Wei Po said, citing information from the China Carrier Rocket
Technology Research Institute. 


Article: 3288
From: clarinews@clarinet.com (UPI)
Newsgroups: clari.tw.space,clari.news.gov.international,clari.tw.telecom
Subject: Hughes, China shrug at satellite failure
Date: Sun, 15 Aug 93 0:03:45 PDT
 
	BEIJING (UPI) -- A U.S. satellite maker and China's launch
firm have declared each other not guilty in the explosion of an
Australian-owned satellite last December, but both will take steps to
prevent another failure, official media reported Sunday. 

	The official Xinhua news agency quoted a spokesman for the
Great Wall Industry Corp., China's state-run commercial launch
company, as saying his firm and Hughes Space and Communications Co.
had declared the seven- month probe of the satellite failure ended. 

	The account, in a statement released by both companies, said
neither the U.S.-built spacecraft nor the Chinese rocket was to blame
for the explosion of the satellite after launch last Dec. 21, but left
unexplained the cause of the failure. 

	The Hughes-built Optus B-2 satellite, being launched for Optus
Communications of Sydney, Australia, blew up about 48 seconds after
launch aboard a Chinese Long March 2E rocket from the Xichang space
center in southwest China's Sichuan Province. 

	Shrugging off any embarrassment to China's fledgling
commercial launch industry, Chinese officials maintained their rocket
performed flawlessly and staged a bizarre victory party even after
they knew the satellite had disappeared from tracking. 

	The Great Wall spokesman said the company and Hughes ``agreed
to conclude the Optus B-2 failure investigation and use their best
efforts to launch another Optus satellite in the first half of 1994.''

	The statement appeared to be a business version of a consent
decree, with neither party admitting blame. But both agreed to take
measures to ``preclude a recurrence of the Optus B-2 anomaly,'' the
statement said. 

	It said Hughes ``is making design and process improvements''
to its HS-601 satellite and Great Wall ``will make design and process
improvements'' in the Long March 2E rocket. 

	``Both parties are currently under way to finalize the details
of these improvements and the contractual arrangement for the Optus
B-3 launch,'' the statement said. 

	It said that after lengthy analysis of telemetry from the
Optus B-2 launch, inspection of debris and other tests, Great Wall
determined that ``no design, manufacturing or integration flaw'' of
the rocket was to blame for the failure. 

	Similarly, Hughes ``also found no design or manufacturing flaw
in the spacecraft itself which could have caused the failure,'' it said. 

	Each company accepted the other's conclusions, it said.

Article: 69745
From: yu@compstat.wharton.upenn.edu (Jingchun Yu)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.china,sci.space
Subject: Re: Who was responsible for the failure of Launching Satellite.
Date: 20 Aug 93 00:10:04 GMT
Sender: news@netnews.upenn.edu
Organization: University of Pennsylvania
 
In article <1993Aug17.181116.50183@ns1.cc.lehigh.edu>
hw03@ns1.cc.lehigh.edu (HAO WEI) writes: 

>>+>In <140080@netnews.upenn.edu> yu@compstat.wharton.upenn.edu
>   (Jingchun Yu) writes:
>>+>
>>+>>Is there any news about this launching and the explainations of the 
>>+>>failure from three sides in this three-way cooperation?
>>+>
>>+>The three sides have conspired not to reveal the truth. Don't know who's 
>>+>the culprit. :(
>>+>
>>+>Gao, Jie
>>+
>>+There is a rumor that there was no satellite at all on the rocket.
>>+It is speculated that China stole the satellite before the rocket
>>+was launched.  At one time all American guarding the satellite were
>>+invited to a party and that was the time the original satellite was
>>+replaced with a lemon.  Another speculation was the satellite was
>>+dropped from the rocket before entering the orbit and the satellite
>>+was retrived by Chinese secretly.
>>+
>>+Do you believe that?
>>+
>>There is a rumor (source: Y.Duan) that the satellite was taken away by
>>aliens who happen to see the launch process very funny and thought the
>>satellite would be a nice toy for their kidds. They took it away. And
>>they promised to return later. Gee, they are huge!
>>
>>Y.Duan
>>
>Good explaination.  Ha Ha :-)
 
The August 13th "Ren Min Ri Bao" carries a story as follows:
 
    After the satellite (Australia Otpus-B2) was missing, both China's
Great Wall Corporation and U.S. Hughes were like ants in a hot wok. 
A few days later, some local residents reported that they found some
burned parts of satellite in the nearby mountainous area.  U.S. Hughes
staffs run quickly to the spot (by the contract, no Chinese is allowed
to be near the satellite without American consent) and coundn't help
weeping when they saw the debris of the satellite. 

    The result of the investigation is that the satellite itself (not
the Long March rocket) exploded and broke the satellite capsule on the
rocket and some parts of the rocket fell off the rocket.  The rocket
itself, having sustained this explosion, continue to go up with the
remaining part of the satellite and finally reach the expected
destination and sent the letovers of the satellite into the orbit with
great accuracy.  The leftover satellite could still be tracked.  Surely
it was useless. 

    From this story, it seems that the launch itself was a success.
Especially its survival of the satellite explosion showed its high
quality. 

    But anyway, the whole launch was a failure and it certainly was a
loss for any parties involved:  China Great Wall Industry Corporation,
US Hughes Corporation, and Australia Communication Satellite Corporation. 
In that sense, anyone is responsible for the success and the failure. 
 
Article: 69767
Newsgroups: sci.space
From: henry@zoo.toronto.edu (Henry Spencer)
Subject: Re: Long March and Hughes: who is responsible
Date: Fri, 20 Aug 1993 07:37:46 GMT
Organization: U of Toronto Zoology
 
In article <CC1M14.FxC@un.seqeb.gov.au> al012@un.seqeb.gov.au (
ANTHONY LEE) writes: 

>Does anyone know if they have decided who is responsible for the
>lost of Optus B2 ?  The Chinese Space agency or Hughes ?
 
Last I heard, Hughes was officially sure that its satellite was not to
blame, and the Chinese were still investigating but didn't really
think their rocket was to blame, with communications between the two
being slowed down by US technology-transfer paranoia. 
 
Given that bits and pieces made it into orbit, it clearly wasn't a
malfunction in the big-tanks-and-loud-noises section.  Given that bits
of both fairing and satellite were found on the ground, it pretty
definitely involved both of them.  The question is, which started it?
A fairing failure can easily damage a satellite; certain kinds of
destructive satellite failure can easily damage a fairing.  This is
the sort of question that may never be answered if there didn't happen
to be a telemetry reading in the right place at the right time to
offer a clue.  (Orbital Sciences might have had a very hard time
explaining the Alexis situation if they hadn't had a video camera in
the payload bay to notice the solar-array failure.) 
-- 
"Every time I inspect the mechanism     | Henry Spencer @ U of Toronto Zoology
closely, more pieces fall off."         |  henry@zoo.toronto.edu  utzoo!henry

Article: 75996
From: prb@access.digex.net (Pat)
Newsgroups: sci.space
Subject: Re: Chinese satellite re-entry?
Date: 25 Oct 1993 16:20:45 -0400
Organization: Express Access Online Communications, Greenbelt, MD USA
 
I saw something that the chinese had lost control of a
W-19? science sat.  It was supposed to be in a 10 day mission
but contact and control were lost on day 8.
 
It was in a 39? degree orbit  123 miles up.  it's i believe
about 4 tons weight.  I recall that it was in a low orbit  only some
120 miles up,  so it should come down quick.
 
The sat had a return capsule which is expected to still
perform it's function.
-- 
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
The greatest mistake you can make in life is to be continually
fearing that you will make one -- Elbert Hubbard.

Article: 76018
Newsgroups: sci.space
From: 97835439@wsuvm1.csc.wsu.edu
Subject: Re: Chinese satellite re-entry?
Sender: news@serval.net.wsu.edu (USENET News System)
Organization: Washington State University
Date: Mon, 25 Oct 93 21:12:59 PDT
 
In article <CFGGnE.32q@ccu.umanitoba.ca>
youngs@ccu.umanitoba.ca (Scott D. Young) writes:
 
>   I just received an unconfirmed report that a Chinese satellite weighing
>   some 4 tons is going to come down somewhere in central Canada. A local
>   radio station got a call from an "amateur astronomer" and he said that
>   the government was going to cover it up.
>
>   Can anyone give me any details one way or the other? Does anyone know
>   what chinese satellites are due to pack it in soon? Thanks.
>
>   Scott Young
>   youngs@ccu.umanitoba.ca

I think I just saw it heading over Pullman WA at about 2100PST  It was
a Large blue flare....kinda cool. 
 
 --------------------------------------------------------------------------
 | Joe Martinez            |   Internet 97835439@WSUVM1.CSC.WSU.EDU       |
 |                         |   Bitnet 97835439@WSUVM1                     |
 | Stuck in the middle of  | ---------------------------------------------|
 | wheat-fields at WSU     |  "Make mistakes, confuse the enemy."         |
 --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Article: 45394
Newsgroups: sci.astro
From: moroney@world.std.com (Michael Moroney)
Subject: Re: Chinese Satellite re-entry??
Organization: The World Public Access UNIX, Brookline, MA
Date: Mon, 25 Oct 1993 22:33:54 GMT
 
youngs@ccu.umanitoba.ca (Scott D. Young) writes:
 
>   I just got an unconfirmed report that a Chinese satellite may be coming
>   down over Canada soon. Can anyone send me info on this, on what
>   the Chinese have up there, and when it should ber coming down? Thanks.
 
I don't think anyone knows where it'll come down yet (TV news just
said it could come down anywhere between Moscow and Argentina).  There
is a reentry vehicle that weighs about 2 tons (expected to survive
reentry) and allegedly there is also a diamond necklace that belonged
to Mao Tse-Tung that may also survive. (now why would they send _that_
up there?) 
 
-Mike

It went into the Pacific yesterday.

Burns

Article: 4886
From: clarinews@clarinet.com (UPI-Radio)
Newsgroups: clari.tw.science
Subject: Weekend Science Summary
Date: Fri, 29 Oct 93 22:17:44 PDT
 
	(Chinese Satellite)

	It WASN'T exactly Chicken Little's prediction coming true...
but on Thursday, a failed Chinese satellite fell out of the sky and
into the Pacific Ocean. 

	The U-S Space Command in Colorado Springs says the two-ton
chunk of metal debris hit the ocean about one-thousand miles west of
Peru. It was traveling at an estimated speed of 17-thousand-500 miles
an hour.  Says one U-S official- ``Hopefully there WASN'T a ship
underneath it. ''

	The satellite was launched October 8th on what the Chinese
described as a science and research mission. However, trouble
developed and it failed to return to Earth as planned October 16th.
Initially, Chinese officials said the craft would remain in orbit
another six months. They were wrong. 

Article: 76594
From: prb@access.digex.net (Pat)
Newsgroups: sci.space
Subject: Re: Chinese Sat
Date: 29 Oct 1993 17:32:55 -0400
Organization: Express Access Online Communications USA: 800-969-9090
 
US SPace Command reported it was in the pacific yesterday, with
the exception of one 600 lb component which is still orbiting.
 
Apparently the chinese govt is still denying it's their bird,  that
they lost ocntrol , that it's in the drink  or that Mao's picture
was on board.
-- 
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
The greatest mistake you can make in life is to be continually
fearing that you will make one -- Elbert Hubbard.

Article: 76561
Newsgroups: sci.space
From: slamkin@ollie.jsc.nasa.gov (Stephen Lamkin)
Subject: Re: chinese satellite re-entry
Sender: usenet@aio.jsc.nasa.gov (USENET News Client)
Organization: NASA Johnson Space Center
Date: Fri, 29 Oct 1993 17:29:37 GMT
 
In article <93301.105146IP25086@portland.caps.maine.edu>,
<IP25086@portland.caps.maine.edu> wrote:
 
> Here's the latest:   (10:50 pm New York Time)  October 28,1993
> 
> The Chinese satellite is expected to land somewhere on earth (60 degrees
> north and south of the equator) sometime this afternoon. Current reports
> state that the two-ton portion of the satellite, which has been protected
> from atmospheric frictional heating, will enter the atmosphere over the
> Pacific Ocean. Yet, whether or not it will plummet straight down or be
> blown around in the stratosphere is still anyone's guess.
 
Heard on the radio last night that the largest peice of the Chinese
satellite had splashed down about 1,000 miles west of Peru late on the
afternoon of Oct 28th. Another piece landed in the South Atlantic
after passing over South America. Commentator's last line: "For those
who want to go looking for souvenirs, it's 15,500 down in the Pacific." 
-- 
Steve Lamkin

RE: Note 327.58

>	The U-S Space Command in Colorado Springs says the two-ton
>chunk of metal debris hit the ocean about one-thousand miles west of
>Peru. It was traveling at an estimated speed of 17-thousand-500 miles
>an hour.

Perhaps at the time of initial re-entry, but surely not at the time of impact.
Impact speed was probably in the many-hundreds-of-miles-per-hour range.
						-- Tom

Article: 3611
From: clarinews@clarinet.com (UPI/Comtex)
Newsgroups: clari.news.gov.international,clari.tw.space
Subject: China to rocket experiments into space on U.S. shuttles
Date: Sat, 4 Dec 93 1:17:04 PST
 
BEIJING (Dec. 4) UPI - China will rocket scientific equipment into
space on U.S. shuttles under a landmark agreement signed with the U.S.
National Aeronautics and Space Administration, an official newspaper
reported Saturday. 
 
The announcement means rocky Sino-U.S. relations have taken a back
seat to science as the two countries attempt to turn away from
political confrontation and towards technical cooperation. 
 
Former President George Bush placed military sanctions, including
restrictions on space cooperation, on China after the bloody
government crackdown on Tiananmen Square in 1989. 
 
But despite some remaining limited sanctions and tensions over human
rights, trade deficits and arms sales, the two countries have signed 
an agreement that will put Chinese laboratory equipment aboard the
shuttles as early as 1995, a top space official was quoted by the
state-run China Daily as saying. 
 
''We have reserved space on board U.S. space shuttles to carry our
equipment,'' said director of the Center for Space Science and
Applied Research Jiang Jingshan, according to the newspaper. 
 
Jiang said his agency's equipment would perform applied astrophysics
experiments and collect data for studying the Universe's environment. 
 
He also announced that China will join the six-nation European Space
Agency ''Cluster'' project to place four satellites in orbit, a joint
venture between the United States, France, Germany, Britain, and Austria. 

Article: 3661
From: clarinews@clarinet.com (UPI)
Newsgroups: clari.news.gov.international,clari.tw.space
Subject: China claims it has located lost satellite
Date: Mon, 27 Dec 93 0:51:56 PST
 
	BEIJING (UPI) -- Chinese space officials claim that a Chinese
satellite believed to have crashed into the Pacific Ocean off South
America in October is still in orbit, official media reported Monday.

	Only the satellite's instrument panel fell to Earth in October and
the main section of the retrievable satellite should continue in orbit
for another 15 months, according to Chinese Academy of Science officials.

	The photographic reconnaissance satellite, launched Oct. 8
from west China's Gobi desert on a ``science and technology mission,''
lost contact with the Chinese National Space Administration on Oct. 16. 

	They said the craft had failed to respond to re-entry commands
and was spinning out of control, and over the next two weeks Chinese
and U. S. scientists argued over whether the satellite would crash to
Earth or remain in orbit. 

	It now appears that they were both right, and the new dispute
centers on which piece of the satellite is larger. 

	The U.S. Space Command claims that the main chunk of the
satellite hit the Pacific Ocean about 1,000 miles (1,600 km) west of
Peru on Oct. 28. 

	Chinese officials agree with the time and location, but say
the main retrievable compartment has remained in orbit.  They also
maintain their denials that the satellite was carrying nuclear fuel or
other dangerous materials. 

	``The academy's five satellite ground stations have been
closely tracking and checking the satellite since it was rediscovered
on Oct. 20,'' a representative of the Chinese Academy of Sciences said. 

	In late October Chinese scientists working at two satellite
ground stations spotted the satellite and collected ``significant
observational data,'' official media said at the time. 

	``The data has proven that the light variation, surface
colour, weight, and shape are the same as the lost satellite,'' the
scientists said. 

	The newspaper added that researchers at two other mainland
satellite ground stations had in November calculated the satellite's
orbit and pin-pointed its location. 

Article: 49376
From: wats@scicom.AlphaCDC.COM (Bruce Watson)
Newsgroups: sci.astro,sci.space
Subject: Re: Chinese sat to hit Ireland (+/-60deg really)!?
Date: 30 Dec 93 17:51:20 GMT
Organization: Alpha Science Computer Network, Denver, Co.
 
In article <9312290050.AA06260@cs.utexas.edu> obyrne@cp.dias.ie (Chris
O'Byrne) writes: 

>Got a call today from a local radio station asking me to comment on a
>piece in a national newspaper ("The Star" appropriately enough) today, 
>Tue. 28 Dec 93, (see below). A Chinese sat re-entered about Oct. 29 
>earlier this year was all I was able to tell them. Have the Chinese lost 
>another or did the piece in the paper somehow fall out of a timewarp!? 

Jianbing 93      1.0  0.0  0.0  8.4
1 22859U 93063  A 93357.10527224  .00087588  00000-0  22267-3 0  3898
2 22859  56.5580 232.0998 1705846 223.3634 122.0048 12.34314569  7680
 
This was all I could find. Jianbing 93 and three other objects were
launched Oct 8, 1993. I don't know if any of the three 1993-063B, 
-063C, -063D are still in orbit.
 
The 'A' object (elements given above) is designated 1993-063A by
COSPAR (the international committee) and 22859 by NORAD (U.S. Air Force).
As of day 357 (Dec 23) it was revolving about the earth 12.34314569
times each day. By Kepler's rule the orbit is an ellipse whose
semi-major axis is 7908.9 km. From its eccentricity of .1705846
we know that the orbit has an apogee (greatest earth surface distance)
of 2880 km and a perigee (least) of 182 km. The orbit in inclined
to the earth's equator by 56.5580 degrees.
 
While the 182 km perigee puts it very low the apogee takes it back
out to very hard vacuum. If the orbit were circular at 182 km it would
last just days. The drag factor of .00087588 is relatively low. If
it were encountering high atmospheric friction it would be 2 orders
of magnitude higher.
 
Elliptical orbits usually decay by becoming more circular (eccentricity
approaching zero). So I would be watching the eccentricity in the months 
ahead. It doesn't look like this object is coming down anytime soon.
-- 
 __________________________________________________________________________   
|Bruce P. Watson |    Remember when 'Rocket Scientist' meant 'genius'      | 
|wats@scicom     |      instead of 'underemployed' or 'unemployed'?        |

Article: 3684
From: clarinews@clarinet.com (UPI)
Newsgroups: clari.news.gov.international,clari.news.disaster,clari.tw.space
Subject: China to launch first U.S. satellite since sanctions last year
Date: Tue, 18 Jan 94 22:17:28 PST
 
	BEIJING (UPI) -- China, signing a contract to launch its first U.S.
satellite since U.S. sanctions were imposed last year, has called on
Washington to lift the ban completely.

	The launch announcement comes as U.S. officials said they would not
allow further satellite sales until Beijing formally commits to stop
selling weapons technology to Middle East countries.

	The state-run China Great Wall Industrial Corp. signed the contract
Tuesday with a Hong Kong company to blast a Hughes International
Corporation HS601 satellite, the Apstar-2, into space aboard its Long
March 2E rocket, official media reported Wednesday.

	At the signing ceremony, CGWIC President Zhang Tong called on
Washington to ``remove sanctions on the CGWIC and give licences to other
related satellites,'' the China Daily reported.

	Neither he nor the Hong Kong launchers, Asia Pacific Satellite
Communications Co., would disclose the pricetag for the launch, but
Zhang declared that ending the ban ``would not only benefit satellite
owners, but also protect the interests of U.S. satellite producers.''

	The satellite launch, set for later this year, is seen as a triumph
of U.S. business interests over government arms control experts who say
China should be penalized for flaunting international arms proliferation
agreements.

	The U.S. Commerce Department gave formal approval to the exceptions
last week, under pressure from businesses who argued that Chinese
engineers would have no access to the satellite technology.

	Washington had barred transfer of satellite technology as part of
sanctions against China for alleged sales of M-11 missile technology to
Pakistan, sales that violate the Missile Technology Control Regime.
While not a member, China had said it would follow MTCR guidelines.

	But China denied the sales, and during a Seattle summit meeting in
November between the two country's presidents, the U.S. Commerce
Department agreed in principle to grant exceptions to the ban, approving
one sale by Hughes and two others by Martin Marietta Co.

	Washington, however, says these sales will be the last until China
formally commits to the MTCR. U.S. Undersecretary of State for Security
Affairs Lynn Davis will meet for arms control talks next Wednesday with
Chinese officials to drive the point home.

	After its scheduled launching between October and December, the
Hughes satellite will broadcast U.S. cable networks ESPN, Cable News
Network, Home Box Office and Disney throughout Asia, officials said.

Article: 3802
From: clarinews@clarinet.com (Reuters)
Newsgroups: clari.world.asia,clari.tw.space,clari.news.tv,clari.tw.telecom
Subject: China to Launch Two Satellites for U.S. Market
Date: Tue, 22 Feb 94 8:00:49 PST
 
	 BEIJING (Reuter) - China's state-owned launch firm signed a
deal Tuesday to launch two satellites for the U.S. company Echostar
Satellite, which will use them to provide TV and data communications
to the United States. 

	 Echostar 1 will go up in 1995 and Echostar 2 in mid-1996,
according to contracts signed with China Great Wall Industry Corp.
Martin Marietta will make the satellites. 

	 The satellites will be placed in geostationary orbits over
the United States at 119 degrees west longitude, Echostar chairman
Charlie Ergen said. 

	 Ergen said that aside from its competitive price, Great Wall
was one of the few launch firms that would ensure a minimum life of 17
years for his satellites. 

	 Terms of the deal were not announced. China promotes its Long
March launchers as a bargain-basement alternative to launchers in the
United States and Europe. 

	 The deal will require Martin Marietta to obtain waivers from
the U.S. government of continuing economic sanctions against China dating 
to Beijing's crushing of 1989 Tiananmen Square democracy movement. 

	 The sanctions were extended last year amid allegations that
China exported M-11 missile technology to Pakistan in violation of its
non-proliferation pledges. Beijing denies the charges. 

	 Washington has been easing the sanctions and recently issued
waivers allowing China to launch three U.S.-made satellites. 

	 Ergen said Martin Marietta was confident of obtaining the
necessary waivers. 

	 The satellites are to be launched from the main space center
in Xichang, Sichuan province, atop China's two-stage Long March 2E
rocket, a modified intercontinental ballistic missile. 

	 Each Martin Marietta Astro Space Series 7000 satellite has 16
transponders that, with digital compression, will be able to provide
the continental United States with more than 100 channels of video,
audio and data transmissions. 

	 Echostar envisions distributing sports, high-definition and
cable television programs, pay-per-view movies, databases and
educational services, accessable anywhere in the United States with
dish antennas as small as 18 inches. 

	 Great Wall's parent, China Aerospace Corporation, said last
Friday that it and Optus Communications of Australia were close to
signing an agreement to launch the Optus B3 satellite with Great
Wall's new Long March 3A booster. 

	 The 3A was used successfully for the first time this month to
launch a Chinese research satellite and a dummy satellite. 

	 The Optus B1 satellite disappeared in December 1992 after
what China maintained was a normal launch.  Optus B2 was launched a
year later and is operating normally. 

Article: 2234
From: clarinews@clarinet.com (Reuters)
Newsgroups: clari.world.asia,clari.tw.aerospace,clari.biz.misc
Subject: China Signs Satellite Accord with Hughes
Date: Mon, 28 Feb 94 10:10:11 PST
 
	 BEIJING (Reuter) - China Great Wall Industry Corp. signed a
contract Monday with Hughes Communications International Inc. to launch 
the Optus B3 communications satellite, the Xinhua news agency said. 

	 It quoted Liu Zhixiong, deputy president of Great Wall, as
saying Optus B3 will be sent into space aboard a Long March 2e launch
vehicle at the Xichang launch center in Sichuan, in southwest China,
in the second half of this year. 

	 Negotiations for the contract took more than a year, he said.

	 The two sides also signed a long-term cooperation agreement
to launch an additional 10 Hughes-built communications satellites over
the coming 12 years, the agency said. 

	 It said Hughes has some 60 percent of the worldwide
commercial communications satellite market, with its products
Asiasat-1 and an Australian-owned communications satellite already
successfully launched by Great Wall. 

	 The two sides have contracted to launch the Hughes-built
Apstar-1 and Apstar-2, it added, but it gave no more details. 

Article: 2235
From: clarinews@clarinet.com (AP)
Newsgroups: clari.world.asia,clari.tw.aerospace,clari.tw.telecom
Subject: China To Launch US Satellite
Date: Mon, 28 Feb 94 2:00:09 PST
 
	BEIJING (AP) -- China signed a contract Monday with U.S.-based
Hughes Communications International Inc. to launch a communications
satellite later this year. 

	Also signed Monday was a long-term agreement to launch 10 more
Hughes-built communications satellites over the next 12 years, the
official Xinhua News Agency reported. 

	China's launch company, the China Great Wall Industry Corp.,
is to send the Optus B3 satellite into space using a Long March 2E
rocket in the second half of this year, the report said. 

	It did not say what the contract was worth. China has never
revealed the cost of its launch services, but its main selling point
has been that it charges far less than its Western competitors. 

	China first entered the commercial launch business in 1990,
but has encountered problems.  There is still no conclusive explanation
for why a rocket carrying an Australian communications satellite
exploded shortly after its December 1992 launch.  It took the Chinese
two attempts to successfully launch another Australian satellite.  In
the first attempt, smoke began billowing out from the rocket as it sat
on the launch pad. 

Article: 3818
From: clarinews@clarinet.com (Reuter/Alan Elsner)
Newsgroups: clari.world.asia,clari.news.gov.usa,clari.tw.space
Subject: Christopher: China could launch satellites
Date: Mon, 7 Mar 94 3:21:13 PST
 
	 CANBERRA, March 7 (Reuter) - U.S. Secretary of State Warren
Christopher said Monday the United States was reconsidering sanctions
imposed against China last year that blocked Beijing from launching
five U.S.-made commercial satellites. 

	 Speaking to reporters Monday shortly after arriving in
Australia for two days of talks, Christopher said the lucrative deal
was being reassessed after the manufacturer of three of the satellites, 
Hughes Aircraft Co, altered the design to remove sensitive encryption 
technology. 

	 The satellite deal could be worth more than $100 million to
Hughes and several thousand Americans jobs are also tied to it. But
its political significance, coming only days before Christopher is due
to visit China, is likely to overshadow its commercial importance. 

	 ``There have been changes made by Hughes in connection with
that satellite. I understand they have dropped the encryption aspects
of it and so it will now be processed through our inter-agency
committee,'' Christopher said. 

	 ``If it meets the standards of our law, it will go forward.
We will move briskly and promptly to consider it in its new
configuration. It will be handled that way according to our law and I
would hope, without predicting, there can be a positive outcome,'' he said. 

	 Christopher is due to arrive in China next Friday and has
said he will tell the Beijing government it must improve its human
rights practices if it wants to retain its Most Favoured Nation
trading status. 

	 President Clinton must decide in early June whether to renew
China's MFN for another year but has said he would not do so unless
there was a significant overall improvement in China's human rights
record. At stake are one third of all of China's exports which
currently enjoy low U.S. duties. 

	 But the Chinese authorities seem unimpressed by repeated U.S.
warnings and have shown their disdain for Christopher's upcoming human
rights lecture by arresting several prominent dissidents in recent days. 

	 The satellite sanctions were imposed last August after the
United States accused China of violating the Missile Technology
Control Regime by sharing sensitive missile technology with Pakistan. 

	 The ban was relaxed against two satellites in January on the
grounds that neither contained sensitive technology. One of the five
launches still being blocked is for an Australian communications satellite. 

	 Christopher denied that lifting the ban now could be seen as
a gesture toward China. He said it was merely a question of complying
with U.S. law. 

	 ``I think it simply sends a signal of even-handed treatment.
It was not a particular favour we were doing for China. It was simply
something that was consistent with our law and served our commercial
purposes,'' he said. 

	 Hughes originally said the encryption device was embedded so
deep in the satellite it would be impossible to remove. It was unclear
what technical changes had been made to the missile. 

	 U.S. officials said Hughes reapplied for an export license
March 2 and the request was still being evaluated by the relevant U.S.
agencies. 

Article: 3887
From: clarinews@clarinet.com (Reuters)
Newsgroups: clari.world.asia,clari.tw.space
Subject: China Develops Low-Cost Satellite Control System
Date: Sat, 26 Mar 94 2:40:06 PST
 
	 BEIJING (Reuter) - China said Saturday it had developed a
world-standard satellite-tracking Earth station at one-third the cost
of imported models. 

	 The station was erected in a suburb northwest of Beijing for
tracking and control of Fengyun Number Two, a state-owned meteorological 
satellite to be launched this year, the official Xinhua news agency reported. 

	 ``All the equipment in the station has been tested is now
ready for the launch of the static satellite,'' it said. 

	 The development is another boost for China's fledgling space
program, which builds its own satellites and offers cut-rate satellite
launches atop its own Long March rockets. 

	 The station is capable of high-speed processing and
distribution nationwide of weather data gathered by the Chinese-built
satellite, giving China far greater ability to forecast medium and
long-term meteorological trends. 

	 The Earth station was developed by the Chinese Research
Institute of Space Technology at one-third the cost of a comparable
imported station, Xinhua said. 

	 Its value was not disclosed.

From: clarinews@clarinet.com (Reuters)
Subject: Massive Explosion Reported at Chinese Space Facility
Copyright: 1994 by Reuters, R
Date: Sun, 24 Apr 94 12:00:02 PDT

	 NEW YORK (Reuter) - A massive explosion at China's Xichiang
launch facility killed at least two people, injured more than 20
and destroyed a $75 million advanced weather satellite, Newsweek
magazine reported Sunday.
	 It quoted Western diplomats as saying the April 9 blast,
which was probably caused by a leak in the on-board fuel system
of the Fengyun 2 satellite, also leveled a key test lab at the
launch facility 1,250 miles southwest of Beijing.
	 The brief report in the May 2 issue of the magazine gave no
further details. But it described the accident as ``a major
setback'' for China's space program and said it was likely to
delay six launches scheduled for later this year.

--------------------------------------------------------------

From: clarinews@clarinet.com (Reuter/David Schlesinger)
Subject: Explosion at China Space Centre Deals New Blow
Copyright: 1994 by Reuters, R
Date: Mon, 25 Apr 94 4:10:03 PDT

	 BEIJING (Reuter) - A massive explosion at China's space
launching center this month destroyed a $75 million satellite
and dealt a new blow to the country's launch program, industry
analysts said Monday.
	 A spokesman for China Aerospace Industry Corp, successor to
the former Ministry of Space, said the April 2 blast killed at
least one person, injured more than 20 and destroyed a
laboratory along with the advanced weather satellite.
	 Although the satellite was a Chinese one, the incident was a
setback to China's bid to be a low-cost launcher of satellites
in the world market, Western industry analysts said.
	 The spokesman said China's launch schedule for the rest of
the year would be affected, but he did not give details.
	 China, which is extremely sensitive about failures in its
space program, hinted at the incident last week when it
officially announced it had ``readjusted'' its plan for the
launch of the first ``Fengyun 2'' stationary meteorological
satellite because of an ``accidental event.''
	 The satellite was originally meant to be launched by a Long
March 3 carrier rocket from the Xichang Satellite Launching
Center in southwestern Sichuan province.
	 The spokesman said investigations into the cause of the
blast were continuing and the results would be made public but
gave no further details.
	 Newsweek magazine, which reported the explosion in its
latest issue, described it as ``a major setback'' for China's
space program.
	 It quoted western diplomats as saying the blast was probably
caused by a leak in the on-board fuel system of the satellite.
	 The official Workers' Daily newspaper said last month that
China planned to launch five domestic and foreign satellites
this year.
	 Beijing's launch industry first won international attention
with the April 1990 launch of the ASIASAT satellite owned by
Hong Kong-based Asia Satellite Telecommunications Co.
	 China's rockets are cheap compared to those offered by the
United States and European countries, but a number of setbacks
have cast doubt on the cut-price launch vehicles.
	 In February, China used its latest-model Long March 3A
rocket succesfully for the first time, launching a research
satellite into orbit.
	 The launch before that failed, however, when a recoverable
research satellite fell out of radio contact and was lost in
space.
	 There have been other failures as well, including one
embarrassing launch that was aborted live on television in 1992,
but industry analysts said Chinese rockets were basically
reliable and certainly economical.
	 Industry sources said China charges foreign customers about
$45 million for a Long March launch.
	 U.S. companies charge as much as $100 million, while
Europe's Arianespace charges about $85 million, they said.
	 Beijing has ambitious plans for its space program, including
launching a manned spacecraft by the year 2000 and cooperating
with Russia in a mission to look for life on Mars.

Article: 4028
From: clarinews@clarinet.com (AP)
Newsgroups: clari.world.asia.china,clari.tw.space
Subject: China To Launch 30 Satellites
Date: Tue, 10 May 94 8:00:09 PDT
 
	BEIJING (AP) - China will launch 30 foreign-owned satellites
over the next seven years, officials said Tuesday, a surprisingly
high figure that suggests China's commercial space program has
finally taken off.

	The figure of 30 foreign satellites was much higher than
previously disclosed estimates.

	One known customer is the U.S.-based communications giant
Motorola Co., which last year announced plans to send 66 satellites
into space on various carriers to create a global mobile telephone
network. Motorola has not said exactly how many of the satellites
China will launch.

	Another customer will be Hughes Communications International
Inc., which signed a contract in February with China's commercial
launch company, Great Wall Industry, to put 11 Hughes-built
satellites into space over the next 12 years.

	China has been sending its own satellites into space since 1970,
but didn't begin launches for foreign customers until 1990, with
mixed results. An Australian satellite exploded shortly after a
1992 launch, and a domestic satellite was destroyed in an explosion
last month in a workshop at the launch site.

	However, Hui Yongzheng, vice minister of the State Science and
Technology Commission, told a news conference that China's
commercial launch program has gone into high gear.

	He said that China invests about $46 million (400 million yuan)
yearly in its civilian space program.

Article: 4030
From: clarinews@clarinet.com (Reuter/Andrew Quinn)
Newsgroups: clari.world.asia.china,clari.tw.space
Subject: China to launch 30 foreign satellites by 2000
Date: Wed, 11 May 94 0:40:16 PDT
 
	 BEIJING, May 11 (Reuter) - China, seeking a bigger share of
the lucrative space launch industry, plans to send a total of 30
satellites aloft for foreign clients by the year 2000, a senior
science official said.

	 Hui Yongzheng, vice minister of the State Science and
Technology Commission, said the recently-developed Long March 3A
carrier rocket would help to boost Chinese cut-rate launch services.

	 ``The rocket not only can meet domestic demands but can also
provide a wide range of services for the international market,''
Hui said in remarks covered by the official media on Wednesday.

	 Hui did not reveal any details of the proposed 30 commercial
launchings, which he called a ``new stage'' in China's space programme.

	 Beijing first entered the international space race in 1990
with the launch of the ASIASAT satellite owned by Hong
Kong-based Asia Satellite Telecommunications.

	 While other launches have taken place since, China's efforts
for a larger share of the market have been hampered by a series
of embarrassing accidents. Last month a huge explosion ripped
through a laboratory at the country's space centre in central
Sichuan province.

	 The April 2 blast killed one person, injured 20 and
destroyed a $75 million Chinese weather satellite due for launch
on a Long March 3A.

	 Despite the mishap, officials appear confident they will be
able to proceed more or less on schedule with plans to launch
five domestic and foreign satellites this year.

	 China is marketing its Long March carriers as a reasonable
alternative to much more expensive launch packages offered by
U.S. and European consortia.

	 Industry analysts estimate that China's price for a
satellite launch comes to about $45 million, compared with up to
$100 million in the United States.

	 Hui said China attaches special importance to space
cooperation with developing countries. ``China has signed
governmental space pacts and key project contracts with Brazil,
India, Pakistan, Argentina, Iran and the Republic of (South)
Korea,'' Hui was quoted by Xinhua news agency as saying.

	 China has trained space experts for countries ranging from
Mongolia to Ghana and is involved in a joint project with Brazil
to produce a resources satellite.

	 Hui said China's overall budget for civilian space projects
was about 400 million yuan ($46 million) per year.

	 ``Now China's space industry, with 100,000 staff involved, is
available for research, design, experimentation and fabrication of various 
satellites, carrier rockets and other high-tech products,'' he said.

	 ``China will actively import foreign capital, technology and
management experience in a bid to speed up the formation of the
country's export-oriented space industry.

	 ``The export of civilian space technology and products will
be encouraged.''

	 Officials have earlier discussed broadening the programme to
include manned space missions and a joint Sino-Russian venture
to search for life on Mars.  But Hui said such projects were
still in the planning stages.