Main performance and application of artificial satellite

China's satellites were developed by China Academy of Space Technology and Shanghai Academy of Space Technology. The types of satellites that have been successfully developed include scientific experimental satellites, technical experimental satellites, recoverable remote sensing satellites, geostationary orbit communication satellites, sun-synchronous orbit meteorological satellites and geostationary orbit meteorological satellites, and several new resource satellites are under development. In addition to satellites, China has also carried out pre-research on space high technology according to the outline of high-tech research and development (namely "863 Plan"), and achieved a lot of results. Table 2 lists the orbits and main performances of some satellites in China.

Among China's satellites, recoverable-2, Dongfanghong-3, Fengyun-2 and Shi Jian-4 are the new achievements made by China in the past 10 years.

The ground target camera on the recoverable -2 satellite is a node visible light panorama camera. This camera avoids the problem that the moving speed of the film should be synchronized with the moving speed of the image when the returning zero satellite prism scans the panorama camera, and can effectively improve the photographic resolution. Under the same orbital height and ground object contrast, the resolution of ground object photos taken by recoverable satellite 2 is higher than that of recoverable satellite 0 1 times, reaching the performance level of similar satellites in the world.

Dongfanghong-3 is the highest performance satellite in China. This satellite is equipped with 24 C-band communication transponders, which can simultaneously transmit 15000 two-way telephones and 6 color televisions. Its performance is equivalent to that of international communication satellites No.5 and 5A, reaching the advanced level of world communication satellites in the late 1980s.

Fengyun-2 satellite fills the gap of geostationary orbit meteorological satellite in China. The satellite carries a multispectral scanning radiometer, which has three spectral channels (1 visible light channel, 1 infrared channel and 1 water vapor channel). It collects and transmits a panoramic original cloud image covering nearly one third of the earth's surface area every half hour, and its performance reaches the advanced level of similar products abroad in the early 1990s.

Table 2 Orbits and main performance categories, codes, launch year and launch of some artificial satellites in China.

Quantitative orbit

Type design

Lifetime emission quality

(kg) Instructions for use

Scientific satellite SJ-4 1994 1 GTO made 400 scientific explorations in half a year.

Return type

Remote sensing satellite returns to zero FSW-01974 ~198710leo3 ~ 5 days 1800 The first camera is not in orbit.

Return type 1 FSW-11987 ~19935 Leo 8 days 2 100 The last one didn't come back.

Return to No.2 FSW-21992 ~19963 Leo15 for 2600 ~ 3000 Earth photography.

The first communication satellite dfh-21984 ~19863gso3900 has not been broadcast yet.

Send to GTO

The last communication broadcast of Dongfanghong No.2 ADFH-2A1988 ~19914GSO4.5 ~1000 failed.

Be sent to GTO

Dongfanghong No.3 DFH-31994 ~19972 GSO8 2200 communication broadcast failed.

Fixed point use

Meteorological observation of meteorological satellite FY-11988 ~19902LSSO 2750

FY-219971GSO31360 Meteorological Observation

Note: Geostationary orbit-geostationary satellite orbit

Shijian-4 satellite is a small scientific satellite with high performance. The successful launch of the satellite enabled China to obtain the data of space environment parameters and high-energy particle effects between 200 km and 36,000 km above sea level for the first time.

The successful launch of these satellites shows that China has shortened the gap with the world advanced level to about 10 years in several important satellite fields.

3. Launch site and TT&C network

China has built three satellite launch centers. They are Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, which is mainly used to launch forward orbit satellites, Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center, which launches sun-synchronous orbit, and xichang satellite launch center, which launches geostationary orbit satellites.

China has established a TT&C space network headed by TT&C center of Xi satellite. The measurement and control websites are mainly distributed in inland areas, and there are 10,000-ton ocean-going space survey ships.

The above facts show that China's space technology system can not only successfully complete the development and launch of various artificial satellites, but also have the ability to develop and launch more complex space vehicles.

The Role of Satellite Applications in China

While developing its own satellites, China devotes itself to developing satellite applications by using its own satellites and some foreign satellites serving the public, making satellites gradually become an important part of China's social productive forces.

China has established satellite application systems such as satellite measurement, satellite communication, satellite meteorology, satellite resources, satellite microgravity test and satellite scientific research. These types of satellite applications have reached a certain scale and achieved fruitful results.

1. Satellite Census

After processing and analyzing the tens of thousands of meters of ground object photos taken by China recoverable remote sensing satellite and the ground object information obtained by other satellites, many information that cannot or is difficult to obtain by other means is obtained, which provides an important basis for national land planning and macroeconomic decision-making.

Using the photos of recoverable remote sensing satellites, the relevant departments of the state have organized resource and environment surveys in seven areas, including Beijing-Tianjin-Tangshan, Tarim Basin and Yellow River Delta, and relevant units have carried out a number of special applications in other fields. The practice shows that the returning remote sensing satellite photos have the characteristics of wide field of vision, rich information, good intuition and high definition, and can provide macroscopic and practical first-hand census data, which has high practical value.

2. Satellite communication

China will combine the use of its own communication satellites with the lease and purchase of foreign communication satellites, so that the satellite communication in China can better meet the domestic demand for satellite communication.

China successfully launched three Dongfanghong-2 small-capacity communication satellites in 1988 ~ 1990, which once made the transponder used in satellite communication in China localized to two thirds.

Dongfanghong-3 satellite successfully launched by China in 1997 was put into use in August 1998 after more than one year of on-orbit debugging and trial operation. This satellite has become an important force in China's satellite communication.

The progress of satellite communication in China has obviously improved the backwardness of radio and television transmission in China, and promoted the modernization of communication and the development of economy, culture, education and national defense in China. The population coverage rate of TV and radio in China has exceeded 85% and 79% respectively.

3. Satellite meteorology

China has gradually developed satellite meteorology by using its own meteorological satellites and foreign meteorological satellites, and has now established a domestic and international compatible meteorological satellite data receiving and processing system consisting of Beijing Meteorological Satellite Data Processing Center and three meteorological satellite data stations in Beijing, Urumqi and Guangzhou. The system provides a large number of real-time cloud pictures for the weather forecast in China.

4. Satellite resources

China has built a remote sensing satellite ground station, which can receive satellite data of various resources (photoelectric and radar). Using the data released by the station, ministries and commissions, provinces and cities have done a lot of fruitful work in resource investigation, environmental monitoring, land consolidation and planning, land use and general survey, crop yield estimation, geological exploration and major disaster assessment. 198 In the summer of 1998, when the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River and Nenjiang and Songhua River basins were flooded, the remote sensing satellite ground station monitored the most severely affected areas all-weather according to the microwave remote sensing data obtained by foreign radar satellites, which provided an important basis for disaster prevention and relief. The resource satellite jointly developed by China and Brazil will be launched in 1999, which will become a new data source of satellite resources in China.

5. Satellite microgravity test

China is one of the four countries and organizations that have mastered the technology of satellite return and one of the three countries that have the means to conduct microgravity experiments in space.

Since 1987, China has carried out many microgravity experiments by using the launched recoverable remote sensing satellite, and achieved many meaningful results in material processing and bio-physiology in microgravity environment. The cumulative total mass of launch test items and installation equipment is equivalent to launching a small recoverable satellite.

6. Satellite scientific research

China has made use of the space environment data obtained by scientific satellites such as the Practice Series, the detection instruments installed on communication satellites and meteorological satellites, and the space science data published abroad to carry out space science research, and has achieved a large number of high-level research results.