China's latest achievements in space
2021, China's space has ushered in another year of rapid progress, in the field of manned spaceflight, Mars exploration and lunar exploration and other areas have made significant achievements. Today, we'll take a look at the top 10 achievements of China's space program over the past year.
1, there is a "palace" in the sky: China officially entered the space station era
April 29, 2021, China's space station days and the core module was successfully launched into space. Subsequently, it has with Tianzhou II and III cargo spacecraft, Shenzhou XII and XIII manned spacecraft docking, *** counting 6 astronauts have been stationed, marking China's space officially entered the space station era. According to the scheduled plan, the Tiangong space station will also welcome two more experimental modules and several Tianzhou/Shenzhou docking missions in 2022, thus completing all construction.
Thinking back to Sept. 21, 1992, when China's manned spaceflight project officially began, 29 years of relentless exploration have led to the development of the Long March, Shenzhou, Tianzhou and Tiangong space stations. A series of romantic names such as "Long March", "Shenzhou", "Tianzhou" and "Tiangong" have gradually become reality. Now, China is finally going to have its own "heavenly palace", "God" astronauts free heaven and earth to and fro, so that the ancient myth of Chinese civilization flying from dream into reality!
2. There are "fairies" in the sky: the application of the space station has reached a new height
The construction of the space station is a milestone event that occurred after the development of human space technology to a certain extent, and it is the pinnacle of the industrial civilization of mankind. It can promote the development of spaceflight, and even many related manufacturing industries, and is a must for the technological development of any space-faring country.
The Tiangong space station, not only the engineering significance is remarkable, for the enhancement of China's overall level of science and technology is of great significance. Compared with the previous manned space mission mainly for the realization of technological breakthroughs one by one, the Tiangong space station is to the technology investment "harvest" stage, more emphasis on scientific exploration and practical application of the value of creating China's probe into the universe of the "space laboratory". Therefore, the first year of operation of the Tiangong also witnessed the rapid progress of China's manned spaceflight and scientific applications.
For example, the astronauts of the Tiangong space station have realized four difficult out-of-cabin walks, each lasting 6-8 hours, much longer than the 20-minute out-of-cabin walk breakthrough achieved by Shenzhou VII in 2008. Wang Yaping has also taken the first step for a Chinese woman to enter space. Currently, Zhai Zhigang, Wang Yaping and Ye Guangfu are staying in space, and they are expected to work for about six months, which will surely break the record of the longest stay of Chinese astronauts in space.
In addition, the space station has realized a number of technological breakthroughs such as rapid rendezvous and docking and radial docking, greatly enhancing the relevant technical performance. In terms of specific applications, the type and number of scientific experiments on the space station will also far exceed the sum of all previous missions. In terms of space science popularization, the interactive "space classroom" has also planted the seed of space in the minds of hundreds of millions of students.
3, Zhu Rong "down to earth": China's God of Fire on Mars
May 15, 2021, after 296 days of space travel, Tianwen 1 Mars rover carrying Zhu Rong Mars rover and its landing combination, successfully landed in the northern hemisphere of Mars, the southern part of the Utopian plains, to achieve the first-ever Chinese aerospace mission in the history of China. Realized an unprecedented major breakthrough in China's aerospace history: Tianwen-1 became China's first man-made Mars satellite; Zhu Rong became China's first Mars rover (Mars rover). Zhu Rong, derived from the name of the "fire god" in ancient Chinese mythology, has successfully set foot on Mars!
Currently Zhu Rong has exceeded its scheduled three-month working time and is still working normally on Mars. It has already traveled more than 1,400 meters, and each step is a new record in the history of Chinese space exploration on Mars. Zhu Rong is also constantly sending all kinds of scientific research data revealing the mysteries of Mars to the Earth, and has also become a model of international scientific research cooperation, carrying out on-orbit communication relay tests with ESA's Mars Express mission, realizing the "space handshake" between China and Europe on Mars.
4, Xixihe lift-off, China entered the era of solar exploration
October 14, 2021, China successfully launched the first solar exploration science and technology test satellite "Xixihe". Its important mission is to study the Sun, the only valuable star that mankind can rely on, to gain a deeper understanding of the origin and evolution of its magnetic field, the acceleration and propagation of high-energy particles, and other important physical processes, so that China can formally enter the era of solar exploration.
Xihe is the name of the mother of the sun god in ancient Chinese mythology, and using this so special name to describe a satellite exploring the origin of the sun can be described as romantic. In addition, another solar mythological protagonist is also in the pipeline, "Quafu," which will be a 24-hour solar observatory facing the sun, revealing its every move.
Xihe explored the sun, and Kuafu chased the sun, a new myth written in the course of China's aerospace research on the sun.
5. Long March rocket launches break record
In 2021, China's rockets*** counted 55 launches, which not only ranked first in the world, but also helped human spaceflight break the record for the highest rocket launches in history. Among them, the number of launches of the Long March series of rockets exceeded 400, with 48 arrows and 103 spacecraft implemented throughout the year, setting a new annual record for launch missions.
Long March series of carrier rockets, from the 1st to the 100th, took 37 years; to the 200th, another 7 years; to the 300th, more than 4 years; and to the 400th, just over 2 years. During the intensive launch mission in 2021, the shortest interval between two launches was just over four hours, and it even achieved a streak of four intensive missions in seven days. With the rapid increase in the number, the quality and quantity of payloads launched are also climbing, which are the most direct proof of China's rapid space progress.
The Long March rockets take their name from the poem "Seven Dashes - The Long March," which was written in October 1935, when the Long March was not completely over. The poem describes the Red Army's spirit of bravery and courage during the Long March, with the most famous line beginning, "The Red Army is not afraid of a long march. In the future, the Long March will still continue to march!
6, long seven a return, long march rocket historic expansion
In the initial launch of the setback, long march seven a (A) rocket finally in March 11, 2021 the king of the return, and in the December 23rd to make new achievements! The Long March 7A (A) rocket is expanded on the basis of the Long March 7, absorbing the advantages of the gold medal rocket, Long March 3B, and realizing a three-stage half configuration. The entire Long March 7A rocket uses completely non-toxic and safe propellant and focuses on high-orbit missions. Its capacity, especially the synchronous transfer orbit capacity, has increased to the 7-ton level at once, filling the gap of China's geosynchronous transfer orbit between 5.5 and 7 tons of carrying capacity.
Changsha 7A adopts the design concept of "generalization, serialization and combination", which makes it easy to realize mass production and high-density launch. It also tested for the first time the Ka-band 6M satellite data space-based measurement technology, directly to the sky chain relay satellite, significantly reducing the dependence on the space survey ship Fargo, and will gradually open a new era of telemetry on Long March rockets.
7. Space beacon, "sky chain" linking heaven and earth
The earth's rotation is a huge obstacle to telemetry for space missions, and when a spacecraft can't be observed by the ground and sea telemetry stations, it enters a communication blind zone. Our solution is to build a signal relay path between heaven and earth over the equator at a height of 35,786 kilometers, like a "beacon in space," so that information interaction can take place without hindrance.
△"Tiangong classroom" smoothly behind the escort of the sky chain series of satellites (image source: CCTV)
China's relay satellite communications system, named "sky chain". After a number of years of construction, the Tianchain-1 system finally came to an official end on July 6, 2021, and at the same time, the Tianchain-2 system was officially launched. At the same time, the Sky Link II system has been launched one after another, and a series of upgrades have been made on the basis of the previous system. Students can participate in the "space classroom" without any obstacles, astronauts can use super "space Wi-Fi" in space, and Long March rockets and spacecrafts can travel freely in space, all of which are attributed to the hard work of the sky chain behind the scenes.
8. Chang'e moon probe achieves more historic breakthroughs
Chang'e-3 allowed mankind to land on the moon again after 37 years, Chang'e-4 allowed mankind to land on the backside of the moon for the first time, and Chang'e-5 allowed mankind to get a sample of the moon again after 44 years. And currently, even more exciting breakthroughs continue to be made.
In 2021, China Space made public for the first time the 1,731 grams of lunar soil samples obtained by Chang'e 5 and distributed them to domestic and international research workers for study. Because Chang'e-5's launch and control were nearly perfect, and it still had a large propellant balance in its orbiter section, it began to complete a variety of difficult "bonus" problems.
After returning a sample of lunar soil to the vicinity of the Earth, it crossed the ecliptic plane of the Earth's orbit around the Sun at 13:29 on March 15, 2021, and successfully arrived at the Solar-Terrestrial Lagrangian point at a distance of 1.5 million kilometers from the Earth, the first time that China's spaceflight has accomplished such a mission! At present, it is still traveling in deep space.
Not only that, Chang'e-4 and Jade Rabbit 2 are still working overtime behind the Moon, continuing to reveal the mysteries of this never-visible lunar surface for mankind (the vast majority of the surface behind the Moon can never be seen from Earth due to tidal locking).
9, the first appearance of heavy equipment, manned moon landing in the future
China's existing manned spaceflight mainly relies on the Long March rockets (2F, 5, 5B, 7), the Shenzhou spacecraft, the Tianzhou spacecraft and the Tiangong space station, but they are far from enough for the future of the manned moon landing and stepping into the deep space farther away. China has already set its sights on a future manned lunar landing, and a series of preparations have been made, such as the successful test flight of the new manned spacecraft test vessel, and the intensive development of new manned rockets and heavy-lift launch vehicles. The new model rocket, which has become the focus of manned moon landing.
Workers want to do a good job, must first sharpen their tools, the core of the rocket is the engine. 2021, the heavy launch vehicle 220-ton complementary combustion cycle hydrogen-oxygen engine to complete the first engineering prototype, in the Aerospace Science and Technology Group, Sixth Academy 11 (Beijing), a stunning debut, marking the successful completion of the deep stage of the development of the engine. Perhaps by comparison better illustrate its significance: Long March V is China's strongest active rocket, its core liquid hydrogen-liquid oxygen engine YF-77 in a vacuum thrust of about 70 tons, "only" the new engine about one-third. Although the new engine thrust for three times, but the difficulty of research and development and technical complexity can be much more than three times.
10, multi-faceted bloom, China will go farther into deep space
2021, the number of human rocket launches has broken through the highest point during the Cold War, which also indicates a new space age officially arrived. The opportunity of this era may far exceed the significance of the age of navigation, the age of land power and the age of aviation for the current world powers, as the Chinese nation, which has suffered greatly and is now in the midst of a great renaissance, cannot afford to miss this opportunity.
Currently, China's space program is making steady progress. It is expected that in 2022, Chinese space will continue to maintain a high frequency of rocket launches. China and Russia have also issued a high-profile joint statement on cooperation in building an international lunar research station, meaning that the two sides will join hands to set foot on the moon. Chang'e VI, VII and VIII, the fourth phase of the Chang'e lunar exploration mission, have also been formally programmed. The National Space Administration has also officially announced that China will implement the near-Earth asteroid sampling return and the main belt comet encircling exploration mission around 2025, realizing the near-Earth asteroid orbiting detection, attachment and sampling return; around 2030, the implementation of the Mars sampling return mission; in addition, it will also be implemented in Jupiter system encircling detection and planetary traversal exploration mission.
It can be said that this is an era of the stars and the sea, the Chinese astronauts are this group of tide of the wind and waves. They have not only brought a series of Chinese myths from dream to reality, but also created new space myths in this part of the universe.
China's space program for 2022
China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC) plans to arrange more than 40 space launches in 2022, according to its official social media account, and will complete six major missions in human spaceflight, fully complete China's space station, and complete the maiden flight of the Long March 6A carrier rocket.
It is reported that on January 4, China Aerospace Science and Technology Group (CASC) held the 2022 model work conference in Beijing. China Aerospace Science and Technology Group, secretary of the party group, chairman Wu Yansheng said at the meeting, in 2021, the year's model tasks were successfully completed, realizing the "14th Five-Year Plan" development of the opening of the door: the construction of China's space station has achieved a major milestone victory, the "Tianwang No. 1" The number of astronautical launches and flight tests once again set a new record, and the completion rate of the program and the amount of funding to the highest in history.
Xu Qiang, general manager and deputy secretary of the CPC Central Committee of China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC), made a report on the work of the model at the meeting, summarizing the work of the model's scientific research and production in 2021 and deploying the scientific research and production tasks in 2022.
The report pointed out that the China Aerospace Science and Technology Group in 2022 plans to arrange more than 40 astronautical launch tasks, will complete the manned spaceflight six major tasks, including two cargo spacecraft, two Shenzhou spacecraft and experimental module Ⅰ, experimental module Ⅱ launches, as well as in-orbit rendezvous and docking, out of the capsule activities and the spacecraft return mission, fully completed the space station; to complete the first flight mission of the Long March 6A carrier rocket.
The report shows that the annual model research and production tasks present four major characteristics: First, the major engineering tasks are very difficult, the number of launches and flight tests continue to maintain a high level; Second, the model technical research difficulties, technical risk identification and control requirements; Third, the model batch delivery pressure, research and production transformation and upgrading of the task is heavy; Fourth, the systematic development of equipment, system of work need to be integrated and promoted.
Wu Yansheng further put forward requirements on the model work throughout the year, to enhance China's ability to enter space, the use of space, to explore the universe, to maintain the good situation of successive successful astronautical launches and major flight tests, to promote the deepening of the reform, and to put the cost of cost management and control in a more important position.
What are the highlights of China's space industry to look forward to in the next five years
Launch vehicles have formed a diversified launch capability on land and at sea, and 207 launches have been carried out in the past five years;
China's space station construction is in full swing, with six astronauts stationed there one after another, opening up the era of manned long-term stay;
Chang'e-4 made its first landing on the back of the moon for a roving survey, and Chang'e-5 brought back 1,731 astronauts, and Chang'e-5 brought back 1,731 astronauts. Chang'e 5 brought back 1,731 grams of lunar soil;
Tianwen 1 to realize China's space from the Earth-Moon system to the interplanetary exploration of the leap, leaving China's imprint on Mars for the first time;
BeiDou global satellite navigation system was completed and opened, and the formation of high-resolution earth observation system system capacity?
In the past five years, the implementation of major projects has played a huge role in promoting and driving space science in China.
For example, in terms of historical evolution, "through the study of the shallow structure of the moon, the evolutionary history of the moon, especially in terms of geology, has achieved new knowledge." Liu Jizhong, director of the National Space Administration's Center for Lunar Exploration and Space Engineering, introduced that through the analysis and study of Chang'e 5 lunar samples, the timeline of the moon's geologic activity has been extrapolated from the original belief of 3 billion years to 2 billion years, which means that the moon is about 1 billion years younger, "These perceptions of the moon, including the evolution of the moon's geomorphology, have played a very crucial role "
Liu Jizhong said, in terms of matter and energy, through the preliminary study, found a new type of deep lunar material, but also found so far more accurate cosmic ray energy spectrum fine structure; from the space environment, through several years of scientific research, the lunar particle radiation dose has a new perception, got a new value.
"We also discovered the lunar micromagnetosphere, established a new model, a new mechanism for the interaction between the solar wind and the moon, and through the observation of the Earth from space, also achieved a new knowledge of the entire evolution of the activities of the Earth's plasma layer." Liu Jizhong said.
A solid foundation and a promising future. So what are the highlights to look forward to in China's space program during the 14th Five-Year Plan period?
According to Wu Yanhua, during the "14th Five-Year Plan" period, China will start a number of new major projects in space, including the fourth phase of the Moon Project, planetary exploration project, but also to demonstrate the implementation of a number of major projects, such as heavy launch vehicles, and then approved to be implemented one after another.
"We want to promote the integrated and synergistic development of space technology and space applications, especially to collaborate in building space infrastructure, including three types of satellites for communication, navigation and remote sensing, to form a perfect space infrastructure, promote satellite applications, and widely serve economic and social development, as well as serve the whole world." Wu Yanhua said the next step will be to coordinate the planning of space science exploration and launch a number of satellites for scientific demonstration. Meanwhile, we will use the platforms of space station, lunar exploration and planetary exploration to carry out in-depth scientific research and strive for original scientific discoveries to contribute to mankind.
The focus of the "Xixihe" solar exploration results can be expected
"Xixihe" satellite is China's first scientific and technological experimental satellites for solar exploration. In Chang'e V successfully realized the lunar sample return, Tianwen one successfully realized the Mars "around, down, patrol" detection, "Xixi and" so that our country in a year's time, to achieve the solar system on the earth, planets and the sun detection of full coverage!
After more than three months of in-orbit testing and experimentation, the "Xixihe" satellite has completed more than 40 technical verification of the satellite platform, more than 290 times on the sun for detection imaging, the satellite's platform and the relevant loads work stably and normally, the function and performance to meet the overall requirements of the development.
At present, the "Xixihe" satellite has achieved a series of technical and scientific experiments. According to the director of the National Space Administration Earth Observation and Data Center, Zhao Jian introduced, first, the new high-precision satellite platform on-orbit verification of ultra-high pointing accuracy and ultra-high stability technology, compared with the traditional equivalent inertia satellite platform, the satellite's pointing accuracy and stability of the accuracy has increased by two orders of magnitude. Secondly, in terms of solar scientific exploration, this is the first time in the international arena to obtain the H-alpha spectral lines of the sun in orbit, the spectral image of the H-alpha band of the full solar surface.
What is the solar H-α spectral line? "This is the spectral line produced by the electron energy level jump after the interaction of photons with hydrogen atoms, and it is one of the spectral lines that responds most strongly to the solar eruption, which can directly reflect the characteristics of the eruption." Zhao Jian explained that previous human observations of the sun, H-alpha spectral line can only be detected on Earth, but because of atmospheric perturbations, this data is discontinuous and unstable.
"Now through the satellite in orbit for detection, you can remove these unstable factors, high-resolution observation and imaging of the sun, you can more accurately obtain the solar eruption of the atmospheric temperature, speed and other physical quantities of the change, and then establish the solar eruption from the photosphere to the corona of the complete physical model of the accumulation of energy, the release of energy, the transmission of the solar eruption on the study of the sun's eruption's dynamical process and physical mechanism to provide key data, and is expected to obtain scientific output with international influence." Zhao Jian said.
On China's future plan to explore the sun, Zhao Jian said scientists are currently carrying out relevant demonstration studies, which will further understand the sun's structure, determine the characteristics of the sun's activities, and master its mechanism and activity laws to better forecast space weather for the benefit of mankind.
Highlights Chang'e VIII launched before 2030
The country has approved the four phases of the moon exploration project, including Chang'e VI, Chang'e VII and Chang'e VIII tasks, which will be implemented in the next 10 years.
"Chang'e-4, which we have launched, landed on the back of the moon and the mission has been successfully implemented." Liu Jizhong said there are three more missions to follow. Chang'e 6 is going to the high-value areas of the moon to return samples, followed by new moon soil and new samples to return to Earth. Chang'e-7 will mainly carry out scientific exploration of the moon's polar regions, especially the distribution of water on the moon. Chang'e VIII will carry out scientific exploration of the polar region as well as validate key technologies for the scientific research station to follow.
"Throughout the fourth phase of lunar exploration, we basically want to achieve the goal of building a basic type of scientific research station, and at the same time laying the foundation for the subsequent construction of an international lunar research station in cooperation with international organizations. These tasks we and our international counterparts are also in close communication and coordination, and will work together to carry out relevant exploration." Liu Jizhong introduced that, for example, the Chang'e-7 mission has signed an agreement with Russia's "luna-26" to **** together for exploration. "According to the current overall development progress, around 2025, we will complete the work related to Chang'e-6 and Chang'e-7, and at the same time carry out the development of Chang'e-8; before 2030, to complete the launch of Chang'e-8. before 2030, the fourth phase of lunar exploration can achieve the expected results."
Designation of focus on the construction of international lunar scientific research stations
"Overall, like the Earth's South Pole station, the Arctic station, the future tendency is to complete the ground scientific research facilities at the south pole of the moon, in the lunar orbit, the moon surface construction of scientific research experiment facilities, to carry out multidisciplinary, multi-objective scientific research work." Wu Yanhua said.
So, what is the international lunar research station? How to carry out subsequent work?
China will build the International Lunar Research Station with Russia***. "With our Chang'e 6, Chang'e 7 and the corresponding missions planned by Russia, we will take about five years to complete the survey work before building the station. We'll take another 10 years or so to complete the construction of the facility. Building a lunar research station is like building a small town; it has to have an energy system, a communication and navigation system, a remote transportation system, a round-trip system between heaven and earth, and a ground support system. If the goal of a manned permanent station in the long term is taken into account, there will also be a life-support system." Wu Yanhua said the plan is to do scientific research on the moon in stages after 2035, according to the scientific research missions of various countries and organizations.
"The Chinese and Russian space agencies will also have to formally release to the world a declaration on the construction of an international lunar research station, releasing to the international community the principles of construction and the purpose of participation." Wu Yanhua revealed that in general, at all stages of the mission or project, including the various mission levels of the construction, whether it is at the system level, sub-system level or equipment level, or scientific data ****enjoyment research level, including the heaven and earth support level, "we do not set any limits, and build it piece by piece."
Input-output ratio of 1:10, space return "economic account" so calculate
Spend so much money to engage in space worth? This is a question that is often asked.
Not to mention the sentiment and responsibility, just counting the economic account, the return of space exploration is also extremely considerable. "The development of spaceflight does require high investment. But the benefits generated by spaceflight and its applications are even greater. According to preliminary statistics, an input-output ratio of more than 1:10 can be achieved." According to Zhao Jian, director of the Earth Observation and Data Center of the National Space Administration, at present, aerospace applications have been widely used in various economic and social fields, such as land resource surveys, environmental protection, agricultural development, forestry and grassland monitoring, disaster prevention and mitigation, meteorological forecasting, ocean development, transportation, education and medical care, urban and rural construction, etc. The new technological applications derived from these applications have also been introduced into thousands of households, and the common people can also experience the benefits of aerospace science and technology. The people can also experience the good life created by aerospace science and technology.
Zhao Jian, for example, communication and broadcasting satellites can provide people with global mobile communications, live radio and television broadcasts, and high-speed broadband Internet access, which greatly facilitates people's digital life in the information age; satellite navigation and positioning has become an indispensable assistant in people's daily lives, greatly facilitating people's transportation and travel, and changing people's way of life; meteorological satellites can provide accurate weather forecasts for the whole world and specific regions, which can also help to improve people's living conditions and improve their lives. Accurate weather forecasts for specific areas, providing warm and thoughtful weather protection for people's food, clothing, housing and transportation.
For example, people's need to deal with official business, leisure and study on airplanes and high-speed railways is becoming more and more urgent, but intermittent signals bring a lot of inconvenience.
At the sixth "China Aerospace Day" exhibition of aerospace industry achievements, Yang Jian, director of the Advanced Communication Technology Research Laboratory of the 25th Institute of the Second Academy of Aerospace Science and Industry (Aerospace Science and Industry), introduced an innovative product called "two-dimensional phased-array user station". After this product is installed on the high-speed rail, as an important part of the space-based broadband Internet system, it can establish a data transmission link between users and satellites, and problems such as WeChat not being sent out and phone calls not being answered can be solved, realizing extremely fast Internet access. "Don't look at this phased array user station is inconspicuous, looks only the size of a laptop, no mechanical parts. But it's a great tool for optimizing communication signals, easy to carry, and suitable for aviation, marine, automotive and many other scenarios."
In terms of disaster prevention and mitigation, satellites happen to come in handy because they are not subject to extreme weather interference!
It is reported that, in response to last year's severe flooding caused by sudden heavy rainfall in Zhengzhou, the National Defense Science and Industry Bureau of the major special projects center emergency start emergency response mechanism, call Gaofen three SAR satellites, as well as Gaofen six satellites to carry out emergency imaging. In two days, the center arranged satellite imaging 4 times and obtained 5 views of effective data in the disaster area, which were provided to the Ministry of Emergency Management, the Ministry of Water Resources and other emergency response units in the first time, thus efficiently playing the role of aerospace emergency information support.
"The high-definition cloud map of typhoon observation produced by Gaofen satellite can clearly observe the structure of the typhoon eye as well as the law of motion change, no omission of typhoons generated throughout the year on the globe, which greatly reduces the cost of disaster prevention and mitigation, and also plays a very important role in the prevention of forest fires and coping with floods and other aspects. " Zhao Jian introduced, some time ago Tonga volcanic eruption, the China National Space Administration emergency start the earth observation satellite system, mobilized more than ten satellites to carry out high-frequency observation, timely and relevant image data to international organizations, contributing to China's power.
The concept of "to be broad and to be subtle" is an important guideline for the development of space technology. While promoting the leapfrog development of space science and space technology, it is important to make good use of this "economic account". "The further development and utilization of space technology will help us *** with guarding this blue planet for the benefit of the people." Zhao Jian said in affirmative words.
The history of China's space industry is as follows:
On Oct. 8, 1956, Qian Xuesen was commissioned to set up China's first rocket and missile research institution, which was founded. 1956 is also considered the first year of China's missile and space dreams.
In 1970, China launched its first artificial Earth satellite, Dongfanghong 1, into space with its first carrier rocket, the Long March 1, making it the fifth country in the world to launch a domestic satellite with a homemade rocket.
In 1975, China launched a return-type artificial satellite, realizing for the first time that artificial satellites can be "put back and forth".
In 1981, China launched three scientific experimental satellites with a single carrier rocket, becoming the fourth country to independently master the "one-rocket-multi-star" launch technology.
In 1999, China's first unmanned experimental spacecraft, Shenzhou I, was successfully launched, followed by Shenzhou II, Shenzhou III and Shenzhou IV. "Shenzhou IV" was successfully launched one after another.
In 2003, astronaut Yang Liwei traveled through the atmosphere, adding a touch of Chinese red to the vast starry sky, marking China as the third country in the world to send humans into space.
In 2007, Chang'e's journey to the moon was no longer a fantasy, as Chang'e-1 lifted the veil of mystery from the lunar surface with its camera.
In 2008, Shenzhou-7 carried three astronauts, completing the first space mission by Chinese astronauts.
In 2010, Chang'e-2 obtained a more accurate three-dimensional image of the lunar surface, exploring the composition of lunar materials, the characteristics of lunar soil, and the environment of the Earth's moon and near-moon space, which broke new heights in China's aerospace industry.
In 2012, Shenzhou-9 and Tiangong-1 achieved a manned "space kiss".
In 2013, Chang'e-3 became China's first unmanned lunar probe to make a soft landing on the moon.
In 2016, with the approval of the central government and the approval of the State Council, April 24 was established as China Space Day from 2016 onwards.
In 2018, Chang'e-4 brought Jade Rabbit 2 to the back of the moon, starting a new journey of lunar exploration, unveiling the mystery of the back of the moon for the first time for human beings.
In 2019, the new-generation solid launch vehicle Long March 11 completed its first sea launch, filling the blank of China's launch vehicle sea launch, marking China's becoming the world's third country to master the sea launch technology.
In July 2020, China's first Mars exploration mission, Tianwen-1, was launched, marking the first step toward independent planetary exploration.
In November 2020, the Long March 5 successfully put Chang'e 5 into Earth-Moon transfer orbit, starting China's first trip to return samples from extraterrestrial objects.
At 9:22 p.m. on June 17, 2021, the Long March 2F Remote 12 Launch Vehicle lifted the Shenzhou 12 manned spacecraft into the sky, trailing a red tail flame. The "strongest double twelve" teamed up to send three astronauts, Nie Haisheng, Liu Boming and Tang Hongbo, into space.
Comprehensive list of China's latest aerospace achievements