China launches a mysterious satellite. China launched a new communications satellite into geostationary orbit on Thursday, although its exact role has not yet been revealed. Space news reports. The satellite lifted off aboard a Long March 3B rocket, and China’s state-owned aerospace contractor identified the payload as High Orbit Internet Satellite-03 (Weixing Hulianwan Gaogui-03). This is the third satellite in this series, after its launch in February and August. The lack of publicly available information raises speculation about its potential uses, which could include military applications.
Lack … It was China’s 47th space launch this year, far fewer than the 100 missions Chinese officials originally projected for 2024. That launch rate is on pace to approach China’s numbers for the past three years. About 30 of the 100 expected launches were supposed to be with rockets from Chinese commercial start-ups. China’s commercial launch industry faced a setback in June, when a rocket broke free from its restraints during the first stage of a static fire test, sending the fully fueled booster on an uncontrolled flight near populated areas before crashing into the ground.
Vulcan’s second flight was successful but not perfect. United Launch Alliance’s Vulcan rocket, under contract to fly dozens of flights for the U.S. Army and Amazon’s Kuiper broadband network, lifted off from Florida on its second test flight on Oct. 4, suffered a malfunction in one of its boosters, and still achieved a successful mission goal. Ars reports. This test flight, known as Cert-2, was the second certification mission for the new Vulcan rocket, a milestone that paves the way for the Space Force to clear ULA’s new rocket to begin launching national security satellites in the coming months.
Abnormal column… What happened 37 seconds after launch was astonishing and impressive. The exhaust nozzle from one of the Vulcan’s belt-mounted solid rocket boosters malfunctioned and fell from the vehicle, sending up a shower of sparks and debris. The launch pad tilted visibly along its axis due to asymmetric thrust from the twin boosters, but the Vulcan’s guidance system corrected its course, and the BE-4 rocket’s engines directed their exhaust to keep the rocket on course. The engines burned somewhat longer than planned to make up for the lack of power generated by the damaged booster, and the rocket still reached its target orbit. However, ULA and Northrop Grumman, the rocket’s manufacturer, must determine what happened to the nozzle before Vulcan can fly again. (Submitted by Ken Penn)
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