LM-4B Orbited 3 Satellites Successfully

At 11：26 Beijing time on September 12,2019,liftoff of a LM-4B launch vehicle took place at the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center,deploying into orbit 3 satellites,including a 5-meter optical satellite ZY-1 02D satellite,an Ice-Pathfinder(also known as BNU-1) of Beijing Normal University and a Taurus 1 nanosat of Shanghai ASES Spaceflight Technology Co.Ltd.into sun-synchronous orbits.

The main passenger of this mission,ZY-1 02D,is the first hyperspectral satellite of the natural resource satellite observation system,which is led by Natural Resource Department,and it is capable of collecting multispectral wide width and hyperspectral data.The ZY-1 02D satellite was developed by the China Academy of Space Technology (CAST),which is a moderate-resolution operational remote sensing satellite in China’s space-based infrastructure planning.With a launch mass of 1840 kg,it operates in a sun-synchronous orbit with a regression period of 55 days and a designed lifetime of 5 years.The satellite uses a three-axis stabilized Earth pointing attitude control mode and carries a visible near-infrared camera and a hyperspectral camera onboard.

ZY-1 02D is a follow-up satellite to ZY-1 02C with main tasks focusing on moderate-resolution,wide swath observation and quantitative remote sensing.It will provide rich spectral information of ground objects.Band subdivisions aiming at the short wave infrared band have been made by the payloads onboard the satellite.Outstanding spectral remote sensing characteristics will enable detailed spectral information investigation for natural resources monitoring and surveys.It has broad application prospects in resource and energy exploration,land science and technology innovation,and environmental pollution monitoring.

The piggybacked Taurus 1 was designed and manufactured by the Shanghai ASES Spaceflight Technology Co.Ltd.It is a satellite for in-orbit verification of the de-orbit sail payload.The system entered orbit with Taurus 1 and initiated after the end of the life of the satellite.It deployed its 2.25 m2thin-film sail to greatly accelerate orbit decay for the LEO satellite using atmospheric drag thus assist space debris removal.

Ice-Pathfinder is the first in-orbit delivery small satellite program conducted by China Great Wall Industry Corporation (CGWIC) as the prime contractor.It was designed and manufactured by Aerospace Dongfanghong Development Ltd.Shenzhen,China,and its customer is the College of Global Change and Earth System Science of Beijing Normal University.As a polar observation scientific experimental satellite,Ice-Pathfinder is dedicating to the observation of key channel areas in the polar region.

The LM-4B launch vehicle was developed by the Shanghai Academy of Spaceflight Technology (SAST).It is a conventional liquid three-stage launch vehicle which is capable of launching multiple types of satellites into different orbits.Its payload capacity is up to 2.5 t to 700 km sun-synchronous orbit.

This mission marks the 310th flight of the Long March series launch vehicle and the 33rd flight of the LM-4B launch vehicle.CGWIC will perform rideshare launches for 10 more satellites of both international and domestic customers within 2019.CGWIC is a subsidiary of China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC).It is the sole commercial agency authorized by the Chinese government to provide commercial launch services,including piggyback launches,provide satellite in-orbit delivery services and develop international space cooperation as well as technology cooperation.It is the system integrator for China aerospace products and services.CGWIC can completely supply the satellite in-orbit delivery and the construction of satellite ground systems for domestic and international customers,with one-stop services to meet the diversified demands of customers.(ZHAO Cong/China Space News,YANG Qiang/CGWIC)