The dragon in space

The dragon in space:

In the week that Chinese spacecraft accomplished the milestone of an automated docking in orbit, DAVID KANE provides an overview of China’ s ambitious and far-reaching civil spaceflight programmes.

This is a full article published in Aerospace International: November 2011

The Long March family of rockets has provided China with a reliable launch system.

China has been launching rockets into space for some 50 years, with its first domestic liquid fuelled rocket being launched in 1960. However, the development of its space programme began very slowly. While the US and Russia competed to put a man on the Moon, China struggled to get their spacecraft off the ground. Between 1966 and 1976 only five launches took place. This slow launch rate was due to the financial and political turmoil that accompanied the Cultural Revolution. When China emerged from that period it was clear that their domestic space technology lagged far behind that of other space faring nations.

Despite this slow start, China’s space industry was soon to explode. By the 1990s China emerged as a major provider of commercial launch services. During the first decade of the 21st century China became the third country to put a man in space. By 2010 China averaged one rocket launch every two months. In sheer numbers its space infrastructure is still fairly limited; in 2010 China only had 55 operational satellites. However, it is China’s increase in space activity that has caused nations and companies around the world to stop and take note.

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