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Long March 4B was successfully launched with Yaogan-43 02 group of satellites
At 9:22 AM on September 3, 2024, the Long March 4B launch vehicle was launched from Xichang Satellite Launch Center, successfully deploying the Yaogan-43 02 group of satellites into their destination orbits, signaling a complete success of the launch mission.
1 Challenges building resilience, pressure revealing true abilities
The Long March 4B launch vehicle, which carried out this launch mission, was developed by Shanghai Academy of Spaceflight Technology. It has the capability to launch various types of satellites with different orbital requirements, and can deploy either one satellite or multiple satellites into the orbit, with a payload capacity of no less than 2.5 tons for deploying satellites into a 700-kilometer sun-synchronous orbit.
On this day 34 years ago, that is September 3, 1990, the Long March 4A launch vehicle was launched from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center, successfully deploying the second Fengyun-1 meteorological satellite into the destination orbit. Today, the Long March 4B launch vehicle was successfully launched at the Xichang Satellite Launch Center, precisely placing Yaogan-43 02 group of satellites into their destination orbits. Across different times and settings, the Long March 4 series of launch vehicles have taken on various forms, yet remained steadfast in the same honorable mission, continuing to uphold and carry forward the spirit of space exploration with each successful launch.
A satellite fairing with a 4.2-meter diameter was used in the launch vehicle. As a proven product, the fairing with such a design has been validated in numerous launch missions with multiple models. It provides an expanded enveloping space and improved space efficiency, while also demonstrating high degree of maturity and reliability. In this mission, an innovative configuration where multiple satellites are side-mounted is adopted. The electromechanical interfaces adopt the standardized and modular design, allowing for the launch of different numbers of satellites as needed, which has further increased the adaptability and flexibility of the mission.
Despite the challenges like the new status of the launch vehicle and the brief work cycle at the launch site, all test team members stayed composed and focused, managing these issues with ease. To address the challenges posed by high humidity on the protection of the whole launch vehicle from rainwater during the rainy season, the test team reviewed their past experience, improved standards, and applied them rigorously. To address the problem of the extended fairing integration process, the test team repeatedly practiced, optimized the procedure, and strived for excellence. In response to the complex process of multi-satellite docking, the test team refined the operations, highlighted key aspects, and strived for success while maintaining stability. Finally, they achieved a complete success of the launch mission.
This launch mission is the 107th launch of the Long March 4 series of launch vehicles, the 216th launch of the Long March series of launch vehicles developed by Shanghai Academy of Spaceflight Technology, and the 533rd launch of the Long March series of launch vehicles.
2 Vigorous coordination and premise implementation of targeted measures to achieve unified design and optimized process
The Yaogan-43 satellite for this launch was developed by Shanghai Academy of Spaceflight Technology, which is primarily used for conducting new technical experiments. With a focus on the satellite’s characteristics of low cost, short development cycle, and rapid parallel development, the model team proposed the IPT development model. They established a dedicated project office, appointed a General Commander and a Chief Designer, and established a team. They adopted a matrix-based division of responsibilities. Specifically, tasks were divided vertically by model and horizontally by specialty. They also built a streamlined and efficient organizational system, ensuring that team members fulfilled their roles accurately and achieved efficient unified design.
In response to the characteristics of trans-department collaboration and platform-wide unified management and control for the satellite, the model team assigned leaders according to their specialty to efficiently carry out the design. They conducted the inter-system collaborative design with a focus on in-orbit applications, overall and specialized collaborative design with a focus on functional performance, and the collaborative design of planning and manufacturing with a focus on the manufacturing baseline, leading to a transition from serial design to parallel collaborative design. To strengthen the development team, the model team has introduced several new employees to ensure product quality. Through a mentor-apprentice approach, the new employees are gradually engaged in the development tasks related to their specific roles and specialties. This method not only helps complete the model tasks but also accelerates the growth of new talent.