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February 12th, 2022
The second Long March-8 launch vehicle, Long March-8 Y2, is being prepared to be launched from the Wenchang Spacecraft Launch Site, Hainan Province, China.
Credit: China Media Group(CMG)/China Central Television (CCTV)/Inside Outer Space screengrab
China is pressing forward to send over 50 spacecraft into space in 2022.
The country plans to launch the Long March-8 Y2 rocket, a two-stage medium-lift rocket between late February and early March this year.
Long March-8 will depart the Wenchang Spacecraft Launch Site in south China’s Hainan Province – the first launch of China’s new configuration of the Long March-8 rocket without boosters.
According to the developer, the rocket will be carrying 22 commercial satellites in the coming mission, the largest number of satellites to be launched in one flight by China.
Credit: China Media Group(CMG)/China Central Television (CCTV)/Inside Outer Space screengrab
“Now the Long March-8 Y2 is undergoing sub-system testing. Judged from the progress of our sub-system testing and data interpretation, the current testing results are normal, and the entire rocket is in a controllable condition,” said Wu Yitian, deputy chief designer of the Long March-8 rocket in a China Central Television (CCTV) interview.
Space station completion
China plans to make a record six launches in 2022 to finish building its space station, according to a blue paper released by the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC), the main contractor of China’s space program, on Wednesday.
Credit: CCTV/Inside Outer Space screengrab
The launch vehicles scheduled to dock with the space station are standing by, including the Long March 2F Y15, designed to carry three crew members to the station in November this year.
“The Y15 rocket is undergoing testing for final assembly in the workshop, and it will be transported to the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Base for the launch mission after all the jobs are done,” said Jing Muchun, chief designer of the Long March 2F, the carrier rocket system of Tiangong-1, which was China’s first prototype space station.
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