This time, 41 "passengers" went into space! China's space program set a new record of launching 41 satellites in one rocket

At 13:30 on June 15, China successfully launched 41 satellites, including the Jilin-1 Gaofen 06A satellite, using the Long March 2D carrier rocket at the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center. The satellites successfully entered the predetermined orbit, setting a new record for the largest number of satellites launched at one time in China.

Xinhua News Agency (Photo by Zheng Bin)

Launching multiple satellites with one rocket, how high are the requirements for satellites?

To safely and smoothly send so many satellites into orbit at one time requires the satellites to be designed with higher standards in terms of structure and quality, making them smaller, lighter and less expensive. In short, they must not only be able to "fit in", but also be "comfortable".

To this end, the Chang-2D development team fully sorted out the satellite's structure and mission requirements, fully explored its potential, optimized the layout design, and adopted a layout of 38 satellites mounted on the wall + 3 satellites on the side walls: the satellite's "seat" consists of a multi-satellite adapter and a conical support cabin below. In order to facilitate the joint operation of the satellite and the rocket, the 4-meter-high multi-satellite adapter is divided into two upper and lower central bearing cylinders. Among them, 38 satellites are arranged in rows around the central bearing cylinder, and a safe distance between the satellites is guaranteed; in this way, the multi-satellite adapter is "full of seats", but if the height of the bearing cylinder is increased blindly in order to add "seats", the "passengers" will face unbearable "vibration and turbulence" during the flight phase.

Xinhua News Agency (Photo by Zheng Bin)

In order to allow the 41 "passengers" to enjoy a comfortable flight experience, the model team effectively utilized the space inside the fairing, allowing the "passengers" under the adapter to move their "feet" and open up three "special seats" on the support cabin, successfully allowing 41 satellites to "get on board" smoothly. Although the "seats" are relatively new, a closer look reveals that they are all high-quality components that have been used by "passengers" before, effectively ensuring the safety and reliability of this mission.

How do 41 “passengers” get off the bus safely after arriving at the station?

In order to avoid congestion and collision when "getting off the vehicle", the research and development team cleverly designed a "passenger drop-off plan" to allow the satellites to separate in an orderly manner.

Li Feng, the chief commander of satellite operations at Chang Guang Satellite Technology Co., Ltd., said that the measurement and control plan is mainly determined by the satellite's entry into orbit and the position between satellites. On this basis, the overall design team divided the 38 satellites on the cylindrical multi-satellite adapter into a group of 6 groups, with the 3 "passengers" on each layer as the 7th group. The satellites were separated in groups one by one.

In addition, this rocket is also equipped with 10 reverse thrust rockets. By turning on the reverse thrust rockets, the distance between each group of satellites is increased, ensuring the safety of separation between them.

So far

China's largest commercial remote sensing satellite constellation expands to

The huge scale of more than 100 satellites in orbit

Congratulations to China's space program!

Comprehensive sources: Xinhua News Agency, People's Daily, Science and Technology Daily, etc.