03 August 2020
A 35-day field calibration test for the two ocean observation satellites HY-2B and China-France Oceanography Satellite (CFOSat) were completed in north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. The test included the calibrations of microwave scatterometers, which are key payloads on both satellites.
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03 August 2020
People will get a closer look at Mars early next year when Tianwen 1 probe arrives at the Red Planet and the landing will be initiated. Some photos and videos will be captured by the Mars Landing Surveillance Camera, developed by scientists at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University. When the lander of Tianwen 1 descends to the Martian surface, its 390 g-camera will start to take photos despite the extremely low temperature. The engineers who developed the camera faced the challenge of building a multifunctional device that is as light as possible, said Yung Kai-leung, leader of the 20 member-team and chair professor of precision engineering at the PolyU.
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04 August 2020
Designers of China's Beidou Navigation Satellite System will keep upgrading software on Beidou satellites to improve their capabilities and maintain technological advantages, according to a key figure in this programme. Lin Baojun, a Chief Designer of Beidou's 3rd-generation satellite, said at a news conference in Beijing on 03 August that once a satellite is launched, it is virtually impossible for its hardware to be modified, so designers and engineers need to optimize its operating system and inject new functions into the spacecraft on a regular basis.
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RELATED
Beidou satellite system provides services for business and public
31 July 2020
China declared the official commissioning of the BeiDou Navigation Satellite System (BDS) on 31 July, marking the formal opening of the newly completed BDS-3 system for global users. The BDS system is one of China's major achievements since the reform and opening-up, said Chi Jun, Chief Director of the BDS-3 satellite research team at the China Academy of Space Technology (CAST). "BDS, an important piece of space infrastructure, serves the productivity and lives of people by providing accurate time-and-space information services," Chi said.
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02 August 2020
China's Mars probe Tianwen 1 successfully carried out its first orbital correction in the morning of 2 August, according to the China National Space Administration (CNSA). The probe conducted the orbital correction at 07:00 (Beijing Time) after its 3,000 N engine worked for 20 seconds, and continued to head for Mars. All the systems of the probe were in good condition. Before the orbital correction, the Mars probe had traveled more than 230 hours in space, and was about 3 million km away from the Earth.
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news report with photo gallery
28 July 2020
China is trying to reduce its dependency on imported helium it uses to make hi-tech products and in high-tech processes. Nearly all helium used in China - whether to pump fuel for its huge Long March-5 rocket, to protect metal during welding, to produce laser light, or to create the super-clean environment needed to make computer chips - comes from elsewhere, mostly the United States or US-owned facilities in other countries. A new factory in Yanchi county (Ningxia), which started operating last week, produces helium at a commercial scale. However, compared to the massive amount China uses every year, the output - so far - is low.
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