At 1:56 on May 10, the Long March 7 carrier rocket ignited and took off at China's Wenchang space launch site, and then successfully sent the Tianzhou 4 cargo spacecraft into space. The curtain of the construction phase of China's space station officially opened. The Tianzhou 4 cargo spacecraft adopts the autonomous rapid rendezvous and docking mode. After flying for about 6.5 hours, it will dock backward with the Tianhe core module and turn into the flight state of the three module (ship) combination.
Tianzhou 4 cargo spacecraft is the first spacecraft in the construction stage of China's space station. It is developed by the Fifth Academy of Aerospace Science and technology group. Its function is to transport materials, replenish fuel and downlink waste for the space station. It has the ability of grid connected power supply and emergency communication to ensure the stable operation of the space station assembly in orbit.
▲ combined transfer of fairing and cargo spacecraft (photographed by Hu lanyue)
In this mission, the total uplink material weight of Tianzhou 4 cargo spacecraft is about 6 tons, which will provide material support for the application fields of the space station, such as the half year stay of Shenzhou 14 crew in orbit, the assembly and construction of the space station, the development of material science, aerospace medical experiments and so on.
This year, China's manned space project will also carry out five space launch missions, send two manned spacecraft, two space station experimental modules and one cargo spacecraft into space, and complete the on orbit construction of China's space station.
The Long March 7 carrier rocket is a new generation of medium-sized carrier rocket in China. It is developed by the first Academy of Aerospace Science and technology group. It is a two-stage and half rocket with all liquid oxygen kerosene propellant. It can send a 14 ton payload into a low earth orbit that can rendezvous and dock with the Chinese space station.
In this launch, the Long March 7 carrier rocket has 17 technical improvements, and China's Beidou satellite navigation system has been upgraded to the first priority of satellite positioning. The flight reliability of the rocket has been improved to 0.9838, reaching the world advanced level.
The Long March 7 Launch Vehicle test team optimized the test and launch process, reduced the test and launch days to 27 days, realized the parallel filling of liquid oxygen and kerosene propellants for the first time, shortened the pre launch working time by one third, and effectively improved the working efficiency of the launch site.
This launch is the 420th launch of the long march series of launch vehicles.