More diverse functions and stronger adaptability, China's space rendezvous and docking technology is becoming more mature
CCTV News: According to the China Manned Space Engineering Office, at 16:46 today, the Tianzhou-5 cargo spacecraft, which had completed all scheduled tasks, successfully withdrew from the space station assembly and entered independent flight. It will be controlled and re-entered into the atmosphere as planned on September 12th. Most of the components of the cargo spacecraft will be burned and destroyed during re-entry into the atmosphere, and a small amount of debris will fall into the designated safe waters of the South Pacific.
Tianzhou-5 Rapid rendezvous and docking set a world record
Tianzhou-5 is the first cargo spacecraft in China to complete a 2-hour autonomous rapid rendezvous and docking with the Chinese space station. This technological breakthrough not only sets a world record, but also has important significance for improving the emergency supply capacity of space station missions.
At 10:03 am on November 12, 2022, the Long March 7 Y6 carrier rocket carrying the Tianzhou-5 cargo spacecraft took off from the Wenchang Space Launch Site. From pressing the launch button at 10:03 am to rendezvous and dock with the space station, the Tianzhou-5 cargo spacecraft only took about 2 hours, marking the first time astronauts have received a cargo spacecraft visit from the space station. Compared with the previous 6.5 hour rapid rendezvous and docking of the Tianzhou cargo spacecraft, the Tianzhou-5 spacecraft has mainly made adjustments to its plan in two aspects: firstly, it has optimized the control and guidance strategy of rendezvous and docking, compressing the long-distance guidance process from multiple rounds to less than one round, and compressing multiple orbit changes into two comprehensive maneuvers. This part of the time has been reduced from about 4 hours to about 1 hour. Secondly, in the close range autonomous control phase, multiple parking points were reduced to confirm the status of the spacecraft, similar to the reduction of the number of parking stations for high-speed trains, which accelerated the approach speed. The duration of this phase was shortened from over 2 hours to about 40 minutes. This technological breakthrough is of great significance for improving the level of China's space rendezvous and docking, and enhancing the emergency supply capacity of space station missions.
![More diverse functions and stronger adaptability, China's space rendezvous and docking technology is becoming more mature](https://a5qu.com/upload/images/4cc986a1e84041f797909df26765cc38.jpg)
This breakthrough can greatly enhance China's space emergency rescue capabilities and shorten transportation time. If this technology is applied to the Shenzhou manned spacecraft, it will greatly reduce the flight time for astronauts to the space station. This also signifies that China's autonomous orbit determination technology has higher accuracy, comprehensive guidance technology level is higher, flight control processes are more optimized, rendezvous and docking modes are more diverse, functions are richer, and adaptability is stronger, which is a reflection of China's more mature space rendezvous and docking technology.