China is quietly conducting these days an experiment on the purposeful convergence of satellites in orbit. Apparently, Chinese specialists are successfully preparing to inspect spacecraft remotely. Including foreign ones.
On Saturday, August 13, the Chinese spacecraft Shijian-12, after a series of targeted maneuvers, approached the Chinese satellite Shijian-6-03A.
Three pairs of satellites have been launched under the Shijian-6 program so far - in 2004, 2006 and 2008. Each pair includes a larger non-maneuvering spacecraft and a smaller maneuvering spacecraft. The presumptive purpose of the system is electronic intelligence. Shijian-6-03A is a non-maneuvering satellite of the third pair, launched on October 25, 2008 by the Changzheng-4B rocket from the Taiyuan cosmodrome.
Chinese interception
In January 2007, China successfully tested a satellite intercept system. A kinetic interceptor launched by a ballistic missile successfully disabled an old Chinese meteorological apparatus in orbit at an altitude of 864 km.
Shijian-12 was launched on June 15, 2010 by the Changzheng-2D carrier from the Jiuquan cosmodrome and was launched into orbit with an inclination of 97.69 ° and an altitude of 581 x 608 km. According to an official statement from the Xinhua News Agency, it is intended "for the study of conditions in outer space, intersatellite measurements and experiments in the field of communications and other scientific and technical research." Unofficially, it was suggested that Shijian-12 is a satellite for observing the space situation, that is, for other spacecraft.
"Shijian-12" was launched almost exactly into the orbital plane of the pair of satellites "Shijian-6-03", but flew 7 km below them. During June 21-23, Shijian-12 raised its orbit by about 4 km and changed the inclination to 97.66 °, reducing the deviation from the target's orbit in all respects. For almost 50 days, he slowly overtook the Shijian-6-03A; at the same time, due to different precession rates, the discrepancy in the orientation of the orbital planes was reduced to zero.
The decisive phase of the experiment came on August 12, when Shijian-12 temporarily raised its orbit by 10 km and was 7 km above the target. According to calculations, on August 13 at approximately 10.45 UTC (14.45 Moscow time), he equalized his altitude and speed with the movement "Shijian-6-03A" and took a position about 160 km ahead of him.
On August 14, "Shijian-12" again temporarily raised its orbit and on August 15 sank to the target altitude, but this time only 27 km ahead of it. The experiment is probably in development, and its final stage can be expected in the next two to three days.
The purpose of the experiments performed may be to refine the rendezvous algorithms in orbit in the interests of the manned program. An unmanned docking of the Shenzhou-8 spacecraft with the Tiangong-1 orbital laboratory is scheduled for 2011. But another goal is also possible - the inspection of its own and foreign spacecraft. This version looks more likely, since there is no official information about the experiment, and China has no need to hide it if it is associated with a manned program.
