aerospace america february 2012

2012·8 MB·English

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February 2012
DEPARTMENTS
EDITORIAL 3 Page 4
The power option.
INTERNATIONAL BEAT 4
High-speed rail will impact airliner markets.
ASIA UPDATE 8
China’s long-range view.
WASHINGTON WATCH 12
‘New’ defense strategy takes center stage.
Page 20
CONVERSATIONS 16
With John Gedmark.
ELECTRONICS UPDATE 20
Page 12
Man vs. machine: The future of electronic attack.
ENGINEERING NOTEBOOK 24
Science spacecraft learn self-control.
GREEN ENGINEERING 26
The greening of satellite propulsion.
Page 24
OUT OF THE PAST 44
CAREER OPPORTUNITIES 46
FEATURES
ORBITING TWINS TACKLE MOON’S MYSTERIES 32
By precisely measuring the Moon’s gravity, NASA’s twin GRAIL space-
craft will also unlock secrets about Earth and other planets.
by Craig Covault
DESIGN FOR DEMISE: CURBING DEBRIS FROM FALLING SPACECRAFT 36
NASA takes a new approach to limiting the harm space hardware could
inflict during reentry.
by Leonard David
BULLETIN
Page 32
AIAA Meeting Schedule B2
AIAA Courses and Training Program B4
AIAA News B5
COVER
A Long March CZ-2F carrying the unmanned Shenzhou-8 blasts off from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center
on a mission to dock with China's first unmanned space module Tiangong-1. To read more about China’s
growing space efforts, turn to page 8.
Page 36
Aerospace America (ISSN 0740-722X) is published monthly, except August, by the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Inc. at 1801 Alexander Bell Drive, Reston, Va. 20191-4344
[703/264-7500].Subscription rate is 50% of dues for AIAA members (and is not deductible therefrom). Nonmember subscription price: U.S. and Canada, $163, foreign, $200. Single copies
$20 each. Postmaster: Send address changes and subscription orders to address above, attention AIAA Customer Service, 703/264-7500.Periodical postage paid at Herndon, VA, and
at additional mailing offices. Copyright © 2012 by the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Inc., all rights reserved. The name Aerospace America is registered by the AIAA in the U.S.
Patent and Trademark Office. 40,000 copies of this issue printed. This is Volume 50, No. 2.
editorial.FEB2012_AA Template 1/19/12 10:08 AM Page 1
®
is a publication of the American Institute
of Aeronautics and Astronautics
Elaine J. Camhi
Editor-in-Chief
Patricia Jefferson
Associate Editor The power option
Greg Wilson
Production Editor
Jerry Grey,Editor-at-Large
Christine Williams,Editor AIAA Bulletin Two Voyager spacecraft were launched in August and September of 1977.
They spent more than 11 years exploring the outer planets before heading
Correspondents off toward interstellar space in 1989. Each Voyager has three radioisotope
Robert F. Dorr,Washington thermoelectric generators (RTGs). Although their power output has declined
Philip Butterworth-Hayes,Europe
over time, the RTGs will allow operations to continue until at least 2020.
Michael Westlake,Hong Kong
Pioneer 10 and Pioneer 11 were launched in April 1973 to study the
Contributing Writers asteroid belt, the environment around Jupiter and Saturn, solar wind, cosmic
Richard Aboulafia, James W. Canan, rays, and eventually the far reaches of the solar system and heliosphere.
Marco Cáceres, Craig Covault, Leonard The twin probes each used four SNAP-19 RTGs. In September 1995, NASA
David, Philip Finnegan, Edward announced the end of the mission, but said the agency would continue to
Goldstein, Tom Jones, James Oberg,
listen for transmissions until late 1996.
David Rockwell, J.R. Wilson
Galileo was launched in October 1989 and reached Jupiter on December7,
Fitzgerald Art & Design 1995, to begin its two-year mission. On December 7, 1997, its mission was
Art Direction and Design extended, and was finally terminated six years later by crashing the spacecraft
into Jupiter on September 21, 2003. Galileo was powered by two RTGs.
Brian D. Dailey,President The Cassini space probe was launched in October 1997, and after a long
Robert S. Dickman,Publisher
interplanetary voyage it entered an orbit around Saturn on July 1, 2004. The
Craig Byl,Manufacturing and Distribution
primary mission for Cassini ended on July 30, 2008, but on April 18, 2008,
STEERING COMMITTEE NASA announced a two-year extension of the funding for ground operations
Col. Neal Barlow, USAF Academy; of this mission. This was again extended in February 2010 until 2017. The
Michael B. Bragg,University of Illinois; Cassini orbiter is powered by three RTGs.
Carol Cash, Carol Cash & Associates;Basil And the Mars Science Laboratory Curiosity Rover, launched on November 26,
Hassan, Sandia;Mark Lewis, University of
2010, is carrying multiple scientific instruments powered by an RTG. It seems
Maryland; Robert E. Lindberg,National In-
that for satellite programs that you hope will outlast their life expectancies,
stitute of Aerospace;Mark S. Maurice,
AFOSR;Vigor Yang,Georgia Institute of and continue to deliver good science, RTGs are the way to go. But RTGs are
Technology;Susan X. Ying, Boeing made from Pu-238, a radioactive isotope of plutonium. Production of this
isotope has ceased in the U.S., and at present it is unclear how much, if any,
EDITORIAL BOARD Pu-238 is held by the Dept. of Energy. For a while the U.S. has purchased stock
Ned Allen,Jean-Michel Contant,
from Russia, but whether that nation will continue to generate the isotope,or
Eugene Covert,L.S. “Skip” Fletcher,
sell it to the U.S., is unclear.
Michael Francis, Cam Martin,
Don Richardson, Douglas Yazell As it stands, this would mean that Curiosity might be the last long-lifetime
or deep-space mission launched by the U.S. for years to come.
ADVERTISING Late last year, there appeared to be a breakthrough, when NASA officials
National Display and Classified: offered a bit of good news about plans to restart Pu-238 production, splitting
Robert Silverstein,240.498.9674
the costs evenly with the DOE. However, Congress allocated funds to NASA
[email protected]
but did not do the same for the DOE.
West Coast Display:Greg Cruse,
The American Astronomical Society points out that even if production were
949.361.1870 / [email protected]
restarted immediately, there would be a five-year gap in Pu-238 supplies. And
Ross B. Garelick Bell, Business Manager the committee that prepared the National Research Council’s latest Planetary
Science Decadal Survey expressed concern about the availability of the isotope.
Send materials to Craig Byl, AIAA, 1801
“Without a restart of plutonium-238 production, it will be impossible for the
Alexander Bell Drive, Suite 500, Reston, VA
United States, or any other country, to conduct certain important types of
20191-4344. Changes of address should be
planetary missions after this decade,” the report stated.
sent by e-mail at [email protected], or by fax
at 703.264.7606. It seems we should, as a nation, decide whether we are willing to abandon
Send correspondence to [email protected]. the exploration of the universe or if we want to rely on the whims of another
nation to continue to do so. Neither of those options holds much appeal,
February 2012, Vol. 50, No. 2
especially if it is within our means to do better.
Elaine Camhi
Editor-in-Chief
BEATlayout0212_Layout 1 1/17/12 12:59 PM Page 2
High-speed rail will impact
airliner markets
IN DECEMBER 2011 INDIA’S RAILWAY cording to a recent survey by Frost & oped or expanded between key trad-
Ministry selected a Japanese-led con- Sullivan. This is a long way behind the ing centers at the expense of airline
sortium to conduct a feasibility study $338 billion earmarked for HSR devel- travel. As HSR services are established
on establishing a high-speed rail opments in Europe, according to the on key routes—London-Paris, London-
(HSR) link across the south of the company. In North and South America Brussels, Barcelona-Madrid, Paris-
country. It is one of six new HSR lines the investment figure is likely to be Lyons—airlines have either pulled fre-
being planned, and the Indian govern- $137 billion. quencies, reduced aircraft sizes, or
ment is setting up a National High- departed from the routes altogether.
Speed Rail Authority to manage the Global, growing market By 2020 a new high-speed line will be
nationwide program. Systra, a French Globally, HSR is a huge, growing mar- built between Paris and Barcelona,
company, has already completed a ket that is likely to develop further cutting journey times on the 514-mi.
feasibility study of the 650-km Pune- with new competitors, from China for route from 8 hr to 4.5 hr. This will be
Mumbai-Ahmedabad line, and other example, and new faster trains. Last just the start of a new interconnected
consultants have been chosen for the December, Spain’s CAF began the first France-Spain HSR jointly operated net-
991-km Delhi-Patna line and the 135- trials of its 220-mph Odaris high-speed work, managed along the same lines
km Kolkata-Howrah-Haldia lines. train on the Madrid-Seville track. as the U.K.-France Eurostar HSR sys-
HSR networks are being devel- The distance between Madrid tem. By 2020 most of Europe’s major
oped rapidly across Asia. China plans (with a population of 5.7 million peo- trading centers will be interconnected
to lay down 10,000 mi. of high-speed ple) and Seville (population 750,000) via an HSR network.
track by 2020. “Taiwan is extending its is 335 mi. Before the HSR link was es- It is not just in Europe that aviation
network, there’s talk in Thailand of tablished between the two cities at the is losing out to rail. At the end of
developing a national system, and start of the 1990s, the mix of air/rail March 2011 all airline services be-
South Korea’s KTX is successful and passengers was 67%/33% air to rail. tween Nanjing and Wuhan in China
being extended,” according to Ken After the HSR link, that changed to were canceled following the establish-
Harris, editor of Jane’s World Rail- 16%/84% in favor of rail and will rise ment of an HSR link between the two
ways. “Despite the current difficulties, to 13%/87% in favor of rail by 2020, cities, offering a cheaper and compet-
China will forge ahead with its pro- according to Frost & Sullivan forecasts. itively fast link on the 284-mi. journey.
gram, because the demand and the The story is the same throughout The introduction in 2007 of the 209-
money are there.” Europe: HSR links are being devel- mi. Taiwan High Speed Rail link be-
Other industry experts are equally
bullish about the Asian HSR market.
Of the 17,000 mi. of planned HSR
track implementations worldwide,
nearly 10,000 are allocated for Asia,
according to New York-based industry
forecaster SBI.
In the Middle East, new HSR pro-
grams are also being developed. Plan-
ing is under way for an HSR to link
the states of the United Arab Emirates
in a 1,200-km network as early as
2018, and a wider network to link all
six Gulf Cooperation Council member
states is under consideration as well.
Saudi Arabia is planning a line to carry
200-mph trains between the holy cities
of Mecca and Medina.
Asian countries are likely to spend
around $172 billion between 2010 and
South Korea’s high-speed rail system has been deemed a success and is being expanded, which may
2020 on high-speed rail projects, ac-
further depress the demand for new aircraft for the domestic market.
4 AEROSPACE AMERICA/FEBRUARY 2012
BEATlayout0212_Layout 1 1/17/12 12:59 PM Page 3
tween Taipei and Kaohsiung But aircraft manufacturers and
has reportedly cut domestic operators are worried that if
airline services by 50% in the governments appear to be
past three years. heavily subsidizing HSR sys-
Some believe that competi- tems for environmental or
tion between rail and air has other reasons, air will start to
only just begun. lose out to rail, and fewer air-
“The impact of the HSR in- craft will be needed.
dustry and rail in general on air Mike Ambrose, director
networks has not been as great general of the European Re-
as it could have been because gional Airlines Association,
of the commercial manage- said in September 2011 at the
ment of the rail system, which association’s annual general
is still broadly government meeting, “For too long, politi-
Odaris high-speed trains have begun their trials on the Madrid-Seville track.
controlled,” says Ian Lowden, cians have favored rail over air
principal with the U.K. aviation con- ing to a recent paper from the Trans- as a solution to many of the problems
sultants LowdexxAviation Consulting. portation Research Board of the Na- facing intra-European transport, in-
“Airlines, in general, have developed tional Academies in Washington, D.C., cluding congestion, environmental im-
far more flexible and advanced man- airlines and train companies fight a pact, and investment programs. That
agement systems. The rail industry fierce, competitive, but mutually prof- high-speed rail is seen by key Euro-
lacks a global distribution system as ef- itable battle for business along this pean decision-makers as a preferred
fective as the airlines’ Amadeus sys- narrow corridor, which for some sec- alternative to air transport is more a
tem—but that could come. As air tors sees airlines gain the upper hand result of doctrine than rational and
travel’s competitive advantages have (Tokyo-Fukuoka), while in others transparent analyses.”
been eroded through fuel price in- (Tokyo-Osaka), rail is the clear win- In 2011 the association produced a
creases and taxes, the airline industry ner. Distance is a factor, but other study that showed annual government
needs to up its game to face a poten- competitive issues, such as the fre- subsidies for rail in the 27 countries of
tially more aggressive and competitive quencies offered, are also important. the EU are 125 times higher than state
rail system.” But Japan is unique. The demo- aid granted to air transport.
So what impact will these develop- graphics favor HSR, and the solution This factor, coupled with the
ments have on the market for civil air- provided by airlines in the form of growth in megacities in Asia and the
craft worldwide, especially as HSR high-density Boeing 747s for short- movement of populations from the
links become available in the dynamic haul operations are found nowhere less densely populated regions (where
air traffic growth regions of China, In- else in the world. airlines are often the only practical
dia, and the Middle East? form of fast transport links), may put
Fear of subsidies pressure on the long-term market driv-
Complex calculations HSR can clearly offer cheaper, more ers for single-aisle aircraft.
The underlying mathematics to the frequent, and more comfortable alter-
supply and demand of aircraft on high- natives to air services in certain mar- Countervailing factors
density routes where air passenger kets—HSR has 86% of the Osaka- Some estimates are suggesting the im-
numbers become eroded by the ad- Tokyo travel market; the cities are 325 pact could be more short term. Ac-
vent of new fast train services is highly mi. apart—on a relatively ‘level’ com- cording to a study by the Centre for
complex. This is especially true when petitive playing field such as Japan’s. Asia Pacific Aviation on the implica-
factors such as subsidies, road alterna-
tives, size of linked conurbations, busi-
ness/leisure traffic mix, airport capac- HSR SERVICES IN EUROPE
ity, and ease of access to an airport Population, High-speed lines Rail passenger use,
from the downtown are factored in. 2010 Area in operation, 2011 2009
Country (millions) (km2) (miles) (million passenger km)
For example, two-thirds of Japan’s
population, or almost 100 million peo- France 64.7 547,660 1,185 88,610
Germany 81.8 348,630 803 81,206
ple, live in a narrow, densely popu-
Italy 60.3 294,140 577 49,524 (2008)
lated corridor along the south shore of Spain 46.0 499,110 1,285 23,056
Honshu Island between Tokyo and U.K. 62.0 241,930 71 52,765
Fukuoka—an ideal demographic for
proponents of HSR services. Accord- Sources: Eurostat; World Bank; Union Internationale des Chemins de fer; U.K. House of Commons Library.
AEROSPACE AMERICA/FEBRUARY 2012 5
BEATlayout0212_Layout 1 1/17/12 12:59 PM Page 4
In Japan, the airlines’ response 40 lives, prompted the rail’s market share and profitability.
to the HSR is to use overstuffed government to post- “In addition, low(cid:0)cost carriers can
747s for short hauls. pone many of the ma- provide services between regions in-
jor HSR developments stead of cities (so avoiding the need to
it had planned. China’s acquire expensive slots at centrally lo-
railway has also been cated airports). This is effectively what
under increasing finan- happened after the high(cid:0)speed rail
cial pressure. At the service between Paris and London
same time, the country opened. The potential strategic re-
plans to build 70 air- sponses from low-cost carriers rein-
ports between now force the view that high(cid:0)speed rail
and 2020, suggesting may be justified where densely popu-
that it is building its lated origin(cid:0)destination pairs exist, but
aviation services in is not a general model for interurban
parallel with, rather and interregional transport.”
tions of HSR growth in aviation in than instead of, its fast train system. The effect of HSR competition on
China: “Some estimates put the loss in Second, airlines have successfully northern European routes between
revenue for China’s aviation industry reacted to HSR competition by in- London, Paris, Amsterdam, Brussels,
from reduced traffic and price pres- creasing frequencies and introducing and Frankfurt has been to open up
sure at up to CNY10 billion ($1.5 bil- new regional services where HSR rail slots at heavily congested airports, a
lion) in 2012, or 3-4% of the total. Li Ji- simply cannot compete. phenomenon most airlines have wel-
axiang, director of the Civil Aviation “Low(cid:0)cost carriers might respond comed as they have been able to re-
Administration of China, stated some to the emergence of a high(cid:0)speed rail place short-haul services with more
50% of flights less than 500 km in alternative by increasing the frequency profitable long-haul routes. In this sce-
length could become unprofitable as a of service,” according to a 2009 study, nario, integrated air-rail HSR networks
result of competition from high-speed Competitive Interaction between Air- allow fast trains to become ‘feeder
trains, and around 20% of flights of ports, Airlines and High-Speed Rail,by services’ to an airport hub, encourag-
between 800 and 1,000 km could also the Organisation for Economic Coop- ing network carriers to develop their
run at a loss for the same reason. But eration and Development and the In- global services using larger aircraft.
sectors above 1,500 km are not likely ternational Transport Forum. “A simi- But there is a downside to this.
to be threatened, he added....Guotai lar improvement on the rail side Some European politicians now see
Junan Securities recently predicted would be very expensive given the HSR as an alternative to airline ser-
that high-speed rail could capture be- cost of trains, and this would reduce vices, rather than a parallel, if con-
tween 1.3% and 5.3% of domestic air-
line passengers [per annum] by 2014.
“First Capital separately forecast
that airline revenues would decline by
between 3% and 7.9% due to shrink-
ing demand,” the study continues.
“China Minzu Securities, while down-
playing the impact of high-speed rail-
ways on airlines, stated up to 9% of
passengers could shift from air to rail
transport by 2016.”
However, the impact of new HSR
services on the demand for single-
aisle aircraft may be less than many in
the aviation industry fear.
The plans are ambitious, but eco-
nomic and other issues have slowed
down HSR plans in many countries.
The recent European economic issues
have delayed HSR plans in Poland by
up to 20 years, according to recent re-
ports. The crash in July 2011 of two
high-speed trains in Wenzhou, Zhe-
The July 2011 crash of two high-speed trains prompted the Chinese government to postpone many of
jiang Province, China, with the loss of
the major HSR developments it had planned.
6 AEROSPACE AMERICA/FEBRUARY 2012
BEATlayout0212_Layout 1 1/17/12 12:59 PM Page 5
nected, transport system. In the U.K., be less than originally estimated. The
for example, the government has de- demand for new aircraft for domestic
clared it will not build any more run- routes in South Korea, Taiwan, and
ways in the southeast but will pro- France has already been depressed,
mote new HSR lines, potentially and further reductions as a result of
depressing the number of aircraft re- new fast rail competition should be
quired by U.K. airlines. expected from the cities of the Pearl
River Delta in China and from reduced
QQQ demand on routes between France Join us
Although the potential for HSR devel- and Spain.
opments to eat into the market for sin- Philip Butterworth-Hayes
gle-aisle aircraft is real, the evidence Brighton, U.K.
so far is that its impact will probably [email protected]
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AA-ASIA Layout0212_Layout 1 1/17/12 12:46 PM Page 2
China’s long-range view
THE NOISE SURROUNDING manned docking tests start-
China’s use of an Aus- ing in 2012 and completion
tralian space tracking sta- of a relatively small 60-ton
tion in November threat- station by 2020.
ened to overshadow what The pace of the Novem-
the country achieved when ber docking experiments
it managed to run two un- makes the point. The dock-
manned spacecraft through ing target was a sample
two dockings in quick suc- module of the future station,
cession. What was really called Tiangong 1 (Heavenly
achieved was China haul- Palace 1), in this case in-
ing itself up to the level of tended to survive in space
space transport roughly for only two years while
equivalent to where the testing continues. An un-
U.S. was during the Gem- manned spacecraft called
ini program in 1966. Shenzhou 8 (Divine Craft 8)
That’s not to say it was was launched on September
A Shenzhou successfully docked twice with the Tiangong 1.
not a real achievement. 29 and rendezvoused with
The U.S. had been galva- Tiangong 1 on October 31.
nized by competition from the then- Scientists and engineers have man- After various checks were carried
Soviet Union with the ‘Sputnik mo- aged various levels of success in most out, the vehicles docked for the first
ment’ (the first satellite, in 1957) and of these areas, some of which in any time on November 2, then orbited to-
the first manned spaceflight, in 1961. case are obviously continuing fields of gether until separation and a second
It has taken China a little longer, but endeavor. docking on November 14. Shenzhou 8
from a far lower technical baseline—it For the longer term, the nation’s contained two mannequins in space-
has jumped from its first manned, or- targets are: suits, but at least one of the two future
bital spaceflight with a crew of one in •Improving its standing in the docking trials this year is expected to
2003 to three-crew vehicles, space world of space science. have human crew aboard.
walks, and now a docking system in •Building a manned space station. The capsule returned home as
just eight years. •Sending manned missions to the planned, on November 17. Having
Moon. proved that the Shenzhou capsule can
Setting, and meeting, goals •Establishing a manned lunar base. rendezvous and dock automatically
In 2003 the China National Space Ad- Progress in these goals is proceed- with the target craft, the docking ring
ministration issued a white paper stat- ing, with the first certainly achieved and associated technology have been
ing its intentions. For the short term, and the second now firmly in sight, shown to work properly. This is both
these were: though of course nothing is certain in a step ahead of U.S. equipment
•Developing an Earth observation high-tech projects except that there (which has not done this automati-
system. will be surprises and, very possibly, cally) and a step behind, because it
•Building an independent satellite tragedies. In the history of manned has yet to be done by humans.
telecommunications network. spaceflight so far, and making a possi- Next is to prove that cargo-carrying
•Setting up an independent satellite bly large assumption about negative rockets can also dock autonomously,
navigation and positioning system. information being widely available, as the means of resupplying a space
•Offering commercial satellite the Encyclopaedia Astronautica says station. Whether this will happen be-
launchservices. there have been five crews lost, in- fore Shenzhou 9 and 10 are launched
•Building a remote sensing system. volving about 2% of manned missions. to do a manned docking and enter the
•Studying space science topics such The saving grace for China is that Tiangong 1 module has not been an-
as microgravity, space materials, life its scientists have not been sprinting nounced, but it would seem logical.
sciences, and astronomy. ahead at breakneck speed to push Nor has it been said whether Shenzhou
•Planning for exploration of the people into space. The plan for the 9 will have a crew of two or three—
Moon. space station, for instance, envisages some suspect the cautious approach
8 AEROSPACE AMERICA/FEBRUARY 2012
AA-ASIA Layout0212_Layout 1 1/17/12 12:46 PM Page 3
will be used for the first manned dock- main for a long time, made it all
ing in case of problems, as two people the more surprising that media
need less oxygen and supplies than leapt on the fact of China using
three. The Tiangong 1 module is fairly an Australian tracking station
small, so logistics matter. during the Tiangong 1 docking
experiments as if it were indicat-
Space station and lunar base ing some nefarious guile.
When the space station is eventually The station at Dongara,
set up, it is to comprise three modules about 200 miles north of Perth
grouped around a ‘docking center,’ in western Australia, is owned
with at least four docking ports at right by the Swedish Space Corpora-
angles to each other. First is the core tion (SSC), which in turn is
module, about 18 m long—the ‘house’ owned by the Swedish govern- The docking target for the November effort was
of the station containing living space ment. SSC has worked with a sample module of the future Chinese space
and controls for power supplies and China’s space scientists and en- station, called Tiangong 1.
communications. On each side and gineers openly in relation to
connecting to the docking center is an agreeing to help set up a meteorolog- “separate and distinct capabilities be-
experiment module 14.4 m in length ical satellite ground station at Esrange tween its Dongara West and Dongara
and, like the core module, having a in northern Sweden in 2011 and a East ground stations.”
maximum width of 4.2 m. Each mod- project to build an antenna system The fact that Australia is a strong
ule weighs 20-22 tons, for a total sta- near Santiago, Chile, in 2010. U.S. ally had nothing to do with
tion weight of about 60 tons, com- SSC also established an extension China’s need for another ground sta-
pared with the international space of one of its Dongara sections for tion (or as many as it can get), which
station at 419 tons. China as ‘ITAR-free’ (clear of restric- is a product of simple physics. The
Opposite the core module will be tions under the International Traffic in Tiangong 1 target was in a low Earth
a supply rocket that will dock auto- Arms Regulations, the U.S. rules that orbit, limiting the ‘visibility’ of any sin-
matically, while behind the core mod- govern exports and imports of de- gle point on the ground to its sensors
ule a Shenzhou spacecraft will be fense-related items). None of this was to about 15-20 min. Its time for each
docked to transport crew to and from secret—all three of these items were orbit was about 90 min, so each time
the Earth. announced in an SSC newsletter in it came around to the same latitude
Work is proceeding in parallel on June last year. the Earth had moved eastward by
lunar missions—an unmanned lunar Through separate subsidiaries, SSC about 1,350 nautical miles. Communi-
mission may be launched this year as operates two distinct Dongara ground cations between the satellite and the
a follow-on to two lunar probes stations—Dongara West and Dongara ground are therefore limited to places
launched in 2007 and 2010. East. Dongara West is owned, oper- covered by a circle below the satellite
Not that China sticks so rigidly to ated, and maintained by SSC’s U.S.- of 4,800-3,600 nautical miles in diam-
the plan—first announced in 1992— based subsidiary, Universal Space Net- eter, a circle that is apparently moving
that it is incapable of changing accord- work (USN). It has been in operation southward at more than 14,000 mph.
ing to circumstances. Problems devel- since 2001, eight years before USN’s A spread of ground stations is there-
oping a rocket with enough thrust to purchase by SSC. USN operates under fore needed to maintain contact with
cater to the lunar missions have U.S. government approval and over- the spacecraft; but even then, cover-
brought about a delay and a readjust- sight and mainly serves U.S.-govern- age is incomplete.
ment of intended payloads. It is now ment and commercial customers. China has in the past used four
intended that an automated lunar Dongara East is a new facility that ground stations, in Pakistan, Namibia,
rover vehicle be sent in 2013, to be is owned and operated by SSC. It pro- Kenya, and Chile, as well as its do-
followed in 2017 by an automated vides spacecraft-related services to Eu- mestic tracking stations and a fleet of
landing and a return with surface sam- ropean, Asian, and other civil space ships equipped with large dish anten-
ples. A manned landing followed by agencies and commercial space com- nas. For Shenzhou missions, the three
the setting up of a lunar base are in- panies. It was used by SSC to support Yuanwang (Long View) ships have
tended for 2025-2030. the docking between Shenzhou 8 and previously been deployed to the Yel-
Tiangong 1. low Sea in the western Pacific, the
Keeping track Each of the facilities has its own South Atlantic, and the Indian Ocean
That China tends to stick to what it control center and separate antennas off the coast of western Australia. The
says it will do, and that much of this and ground equipment, and SSC and use of Dongara near Perth thus frees
information has been in the public do- USN maintain what SSC describes as one ship to be deployed elsewhere,
AEROSPACE AMERICA/FEBRUARY 2012 9