Long March 2D lofts Gaofen-9 (05)

by Rui C. Barbosa

China orbited a new remote sensing satellite on Saturday from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center. The new satellite on the Gaofen-9 remote sensing series, Gaofen-9 (05) was launched at 02:27:04 UTC using the Long March-2D – Chang Zheng-2D – (Y57) rocket from the LC43/94 complex.

The 343rd launch of the Long March launch vehicle family also orbited the Tiantuo-5 satellite and a multi-functional test satellite (Duo Gongneng Shiyan Weixing).

The Gaofen-9 is a series of optical remote-sensing satellite that operates together with other satellites from the Gaofen series to form an Earth observation system.

As usual, according to the official Chinese media, the satellite will be generally used for land surveys, city planning, land right confirmation, road network design, crop yield estimation, and disaster prevention and mitigation.

Gaofen (“High Resolution”) is a program of civilian Earth observation satellites developed and launched for the state-sponsored program China High-definition Earth Observation System (CHEOS).

The first Gaofen-9 was orbited on September 14, 2015, by a Long March-2D rocket from Jiuquan. All following launches on the series were launched from this launch site using the LM-2D on May 31 (Gaofen-9 (02)), June 17 (Gaofen-9 (03)), and August 6 (Gaofen-9 (04)).

Secondary payloads:

Together with the Gaofen-9 (05) China also orbited a Tiantuo-5 satellite and the Duo Gongneng Shiyan Weixing a multi-functional test satellite.

Developed by the National University of Defense Technology, the Tiantuo-5 will test and verify data collection technologies for ships, aircraft, buoys, and the Internet of things.
The first Tiantuo satellite was launched on May 10th, 2012, and was a 9.3 kg nanosatellite built by the National University of Defense Technology (NUDT). The satellite performed experiments on optical imaging, detection of on-orbit atomic oxygen intensity, and receiving signals from the marine Automatic Identification System (AIS).

Tiantuo-2 was launched on September 8, 2014, and was a 67 kg experimental earth observation microsatellite built by NUDT. The satellite was equipped with four video cameras for live transmission and active tracking of Earth targets by real-time commands or remote control via the internet.

Launched on September 19, 2015, and also designated Luliang-1, the Tiantuo-3 was a small satellite built by NUDT to perform technology demonstrations. The main payloads were a spaceborne Automatic Identification System (AIS) signal receiver, a spaceborne aviation target signal automatic dependent surveillance-broadcast (ADS-B) signal receiver, and fire monitoring payload.

The multifunctional test satellite was developed by the Academy of Military Sciences and will test and verify technologies such as communication, navigation, and remote sensing in orbit.

Launch vehicle and launch site

The Long March 2D (Chang Zheng-2D) launch vehicle is a two-stage rocket developed by the Shanghai Academy of Spaceflight Technology. It is mainly used to launch a variety of low earth orbit satellites.

The CZ-2D can launch 1,300 kg of cargo into a 645 km SSO.
It shares the same first and second stages as the Chang Zheng-4, although the second stage sports an improved equipment bay.

At launch, the Long March 2D develops 2961.6kN of engine thrust, with the first stage powering the YF-21C engine that consumes 183,200 kg of N2O4 / UDMH. The rocket has a lift-off mass of 232,250 kg.

The second stage has a launch mass of 39,550 kg, with its YF-24C cluster engine running off 35,550 kg of N2O4 / UDMH.

The Long March 2D can use two types of fairings depending on the cargo. Type A fairing has a 2.90 meters diameter and the Type B fairing with a diameter of 3.35 meters.

The Long March 2D conducted its maiden flight on August 9, 1992 from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center – orbiting the Fanhui Shei Weixing FSW-2-1 (22072 1992-051A) recoverable satellite.

The Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, in Ejin-Banner – a county in Alashan League of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region – was the first Chinese satellite launch center and is also known as the Shuang Cheng Tze launch center.

The site includes a Technical Centre, two Launch Complexes, Mission Command and Control Centre, Launch Control Centre, propellant fuelling systems, tracking and communication systems, gas supply systems, weather forecast systems, and logistic support systems.
Jiuquan was originally used to launch scientific and recoverable satellites into medium or low earth orbits at high inclinations. All Chinese crewed missions are launched from this site.

The LC-43 launch complex, also known as the South Launch Site (SLS) is equipped with two launch pads: 91 and 94. Launch Pad 91 is used for the manned program for the launch of the Long March-2F launch vehicle (Shenzhou and Tiangong).

Launch Pad 94 is used for uncrewed orbital launches by the Long March-2C, Long March-2D, and Long March-4C launch vehicles.

Other launch zones at the launch site are used for launching the Kuaizhou, the Long March-11, and commercial launch vehicles using solid rocket motors.

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