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Chinese Rocket Fails To Put Two Satellites Into Correct Orbits (spaceflightnow.com)

Posted by BeauHD on from the mission-not-accomplished dept.

schwit1 writes: Tracking data suggests that two Earth-observation satellites launched today by China's Long March 2D rocket were placed in the wrong orbits. Spaceflight Now reports: "The two SuperView 1, or Gaojing 1, satellites are flying in egg-shaped orbits ranging from 133 miles (214 kilometers) to 325 miles (524 kilometers) in altitude at an inclination of 97.6 degrees. The satellites would likely re-enter Earth's atmosphere within months in such a low orbit, and it was unclear late Wednesday whether the craft had enough propellant to raise their altitudes. The high-resolution Earth-observing platforms were supposed to go into a near-circular orbit around 300 miles (500 kilometers) above the planet to begin their eight-year missions collecting imagery for Siwei Star Co. Ltd., a subsidiary of China Aerospace Science and Technology Corp., a government-owned entity."

10 of 113 comments (clear)

  1. Bought from Alibaba listing by swb · · Score: 4, Funny

    Long March 2D Rocket, genuine manufacture, capable of placing satellites in orbit. Minimum order quantity 2, maximum order 25 requires 2 week lead time. International shipping from Guangzhou.

    1. Re: Bought from Alibaba listing by bkmoore · · Score: 4, Funny

      Is this for a new unit or re-conditioned ?

      Someday the Chinese John Glenn will say, “I guess the question I'm asked the most often is: 'When you were sitting in that capsule listening to the count-down, how did you feel?' Well, the answer to that one is easy. I felt exactly how you would feel if you were getting ready to launch and knew you were sitting on top of two million new and re-conditioned parts -- all built by the lowest bidder on a Chinese government contract out-sourced via Alibaba.”

  2. JOURNALISM by rossdee · · Score: 5, Informative

    "flying in egg-shaped orbits "

    Maybe you mean elliptical orbits.
    You can't get an egg shape (one end wider than the other) without coniuing to use thrust

    1. Re:JOURNALISM by Tablizer · · Score: 2

      Maybe [they] mean elliptical orbits.
      You can't get an egg shape (one end wider than the other) ...

      Chinese are obsessed with food and cooking. Food analogies are common there.

      Actually, not all eggs are wider on one end. Some are nearly elliptical. I'm actually fine with the egg comparison as an approximate description meant for a colloquial audience.

      --
      Table-ized A.I.
    2. Re:JOURNALISM by Solandri · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Average reader: "What's 'elliptical' mean?"

      As much as I hate to say it, this bit of dumbing down is probably warranted.

    3. Re:JOURNALISM by thegarbz · · Score: 2

      Journalism uses words people understand. People know what eggs look like but few know what elliptical means and even less know about coniuing thrust.

      Journalism is targeted at 15 year old reading level or lower. This is how journalists are taught to write for a general public.

  3. Re:Worst space race ever by invictusvoyd · · Score: 2

    nope . That would be like US importing Mexican scientists.

  4. You'd think they'd stump up for a few by Maritz · · Score: 2

    Copies of Kerbal Space Program. Hell, even pirate it.

    --
    I do not want your cheap brainburning drugs. They are useless for work. And I am a working man today.
  5. Re:Hooray? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Informative

    Don't forget India and Japan also have launch capabilities. And before you joke about it, India has a better track record than China. (Perfect, in case you were wondering.)

  6. elliptical by Immerial · · Score: 5, Funny

    They know what it means... it's that thing you are supposed to use for exercise but use as a clothing stand.