China's Magpie Bridge No.2 Relay Star is scheduled to launch in 2024: 1.2 tons in weight and 8 years in design life.
CTOnews.com, Oct. 4, according to the overall plan of the lunar exploration project, China will launch the Magpie Bridge II relay satellite in 2024 to provide relay communication services for the follow-up Chang'e missions 6, 7 and 8.
According to some data given by the official Science and Technology Committee of the Science and Technology Committee of China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation on Weibo, the relay star Queqiao 2 weighs about 1.2t, has an antenna length of 4.2m, has a design life of eight years, and carries an extreme ultraviolet camera, an array of neutral atom imagers and an earth-moon VLBI test system.
According to the plan, China will send it into the earth-moon transfer orbit by the long March 8 carrier rocket at the Wenchang launch site in March next year.
According to reports, compared with the Chang'e 4 relay star "Magpie Bridge", the Magpie Bridge II relay star, which will be launched next year, will have a greater improvement in its overall level and capability, providing communication support for Chang'e-6 to carry out lunar sample collection missions on the far side of the moon.
In addition, the Chang'e-6 mission is scheduled to be launched in Wenchang before 2025, and will carry out on-site investigation and analysis of the landing area on the far side of the moon, and systematic and long-term laboratory research on the samples. The Chang'e-7 mission is scheduled to launch before and after 2026, plans to carry out environmental and resource exploration at the South Pole of the moon, and lays the foundation for the construction of an international lunar research station.
According to Tang Yuhua, deputy chief designer of the Chang'e-7 mission of the National Space Administration's lunar exploration and space engineering center, in an interview with CCTV, Chang'e-6 is a sampling return mission, and its working time on the lunar surface is relatively short. Queqiao-2 can provide Chang'e-6 with a visual (measurement and control) arc, in which it can complete its key actions.
After the completion of the Chang'e-6 mission, the Magpie Bridge 2 will choose the opportunity to adjust its orbit to serve Chang'e-7, Chang'e-8 and subsequent lunar exploration missions. In addition, Magpie Bridge 2 will relay the Magpie Bridge to provide relay communication services for Chang'e-4 and Yutu-2, which are exploring on the far side of the moon.
Referring to CTOnews.com 's previous report, Li Guoping, chief engineer of NASA, presented the fourth phase of China's lunar exploration project, deep space exploration / sampling return launch table, during the plenary session of the 74th International Astronautical Congress (IAC). Next, China will gradually realize the following space exploration missions:
Magpie Bridge No.2 Relay Star launched in March 2024
Chang'e-6 was launched in 2024
Asteroid samples returned to Tianwen-2 launched in 2025
Chang'e 7 was launched in 2026.
Chang'e-8 was launched in 2028
Mars sampling Tianwen 3 was launched in 2028.
Jupiter probe Tianyan 4 was launched in 2030
China launches manned lunar landing in 2030
