04-December-2006, 01:40 PM
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Order of Kilopi
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Join Date: Mar 2006
Posts: 3,270
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Aviation Week: Advanced Chinese Space Technology Initiative Off To Disastrous Start
Full article available here:
The catastrophic breakdown of China's new Sinosat 2 direct broadcast satellite is the worst spacecraft failure in the history of the Chinese space program and a major setback to China's development of a new generation of larger, more powerful civilian and military satellites.
The failure of this largest, most complex spacecraft ever developed by the Chinese--launched by China's most powerful rocket--portends a shakeup in the management of Chinese space system testing and quality control.
The spacecraft's solar arrays spanning more than 100 ft. and its large antennas all failed to deploy as Sinosat 2 was maneuvered toward its geosynchronous orbit station west of Sumatra.
Built by the China Academy of Space Technology (CAST), a huge Chinese military and aerospace contractor, Sinosat 2 was to be operated by the Beijing-based Sino Satellite Communications Ltd. (Sinosat).
THE LOSS WILL SET back Chinese plans to deploy a domestically built spacecraft to deliver direct-to-home television services to millions of Chinese from Tibet in the west to the highly populated east coast.
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