Page 5 - Spec Tech Vol 1 Issue 11
P. 5
China's space station releases small test
satellite into orbit
Image Credit: China Manned Space Engineering Office
China has released a small test satellite into communication and other spaceflight
orbit from its recently completed Tiangong activities, China Daily reported, citing China's
space station. human spaceflight agency, CMSA.
The satellite was released from a deployer on The cubesat has been cataloged by the
the Tianzhou 5 cargo ship, which is currently U.S. Space Force's 18th Space Defense
docked at Tiangong. Tianzhou 5 launched on Squadron, which focuses on space domain
Nov. 12 with the primary mission of delivering awareness. The satellite is in a roughly
supplies to the space station to support the circular orbit with an average altitude of 239
three Shenzhou 15 mission astronauts but also miles (385 kilometers) above Earth.
carried a number of cubesats.
While this satellite was released from
The 26.5-pound (12 kilograms) satellite Tianzhou 5, Mengtian — the third and final
designated XW-4 (CAS-10) was released at space station module making up the Tiangong
9:30 p.m. EST on Dec. 17 (0130 GMT on Dec. space station — has a dedicated payload
18). The small spacecraft, also known as the airlock that will allow cubesats to be deployed
Macao Student Science Satellite 1, carries both into orbit with the help of the station's robotic
optical camera and radio payloads. These will arms.
be available for amateur radio operators on the More satellites are expected to be released
ground to use for two-way communications and from Tiangong in the future, with the
to send instructions for taking images.
possibility of opportunities for international
The satellite will be used by students in Macao, science experiments to fly to, and even from,
an autonomous region on the south coast of the space station.
China, for learning about Earth imaging, radio
Space Explorer 2022 5
