Long Two Ding One Arrow 41 Star Launch Successfully Completed! Team setting a new record for one arrow and multiple satellites in China | satellites | China
At 13:30 Beijing time on June 15, 2023, China successfully launched 41 satellites, including Jilin-1 High Resolution 06A, using the Long March-2D carrier rocket from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center. The satellites entered the designated orbit and the launch mission was a complete success. This batch of satellites is mainly used to provide commercial remote sensing services and related technology validation.
The Long March-2D carrier rocket used for this mission is a room temperature liquid two-stage carrier rocket developed by the Eighth Academy of China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation. "One Arrow, 41 Stars" has broken the record for the highest number of satellites launched in a single launch in China. To safely and smoothly launch so many satellites into orbit at once, the first issue to be solved is the layout of the satellites inside the fairing. It is necessary to "sit comfortably" as well as "sit comfortably". The development team fully sorted out the satellite structure and task requirements, fully explored its potential, optimized the layout design, and successfully found safe and comfortable positions for 41 satellites.
The satellite's "seat" consists of a multi star adapter and a conical support module below. In order to facilitate joint operation of the satellite and arrow, the 4-meter-high multi star adapter is divided into two central load-bearing tubes, upper and lower. Among them, 38 satellites are arranged in rows around the central load-bearing cylinder, ensuring a safe distance between stars. In this way, the multi star adapter is fully seated, but if new seats are added and the height of the load-bearing cylinder is blindly increased, passengers will face unbearable vibrations and bumps during the flight phase. So, the model team effectively utilized the space inside the fairing, allowing the "passengers" below the adapter to move their feet and create three "dedicated seats" on the support module, successfully allowing 41 satellites to "board".
The more satellites there are, the greater the risk of collision during orbital flight after separation. As the 41 satellites have the same destination, the research and development team of the Eighth Academy cleverly designed a "drop off plan" to avoid crowded collisions when getting off the vehicle. The 38 satellites on each layer of the cylindrical multi satellite adapter are divided into 6 groups; The three "passengers" on the lower support module serve as the seventh group, and the satellites are separated in sequence by group. In addition, this rocket is also equipped with 10 thrust reversers, which are activated to widen the distance between each group of satellites, ensuring the safety of separation between them.
