The history of space assets. Life Sciences Article

Space Assets
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Space Assets
Information is power and every other country understand what it means to have that extra bit of information that the rest do not have. For decades, countries have been trying to outmaneuver one another on this front. While the media may not give this topic much attention, there is an ongoing war on information, which countries are involved in behind the shadows of all the diplomatic missions, conferences and fairs. At the height of the information tag of war are the space assets. These have been part of the tussles where countries complete on which one is the most powerful out in space. The ability of satellites to gather information and send back to the mother countries is a powerful platform that governments rely on to make some of the most crucial decisions, ranging from environmental management to tactical warfare. As such, the space assets have for decades changed the way that countries access information on a global scale. China has been at the forefront with the likes of Russia and the United States to try and get the best and most space assets out to space. For most of the part, the satellites are crucial for communication. This is relative to basic elements such as data, radio and television. These are some of the most common services, however there are other functions and they depend on what the country is trying to achieve with their technology. For example other than the fact that, there are satellites that are designed for communication purposes, there are those that are designed with observation in mind, others are for early warning systems and there are navigation satellites. China has been on the fore front of developing some of the most sophisticated satellites and putting them into orbit (David, 2006). This is despite the fact that, it is considered as one of the upcoming economies. It has made some several strides in the past, and as the economy of the country grows, it is bound to show even stronger growth in this area. This is relative to the fact, space assets remain to be some of the most sensitive developments and they also have some significant impact on the power relations between the different countries. This paper evaluates some of the most important satellites that the country has developed or is operating whether as part of the country’s program of as part of another county’s program.
1 Shinjian XI-01
There are a number of space assets that China has deployed to space and one of them is the Shinjian XI-01. This is an asset that was launched in the year 2009 and one that has been associated with the mission duration an estimated 3 years. The satellite had been built by the Aerospace Dongfanghong Satellite Company (Global Times, 2018). However it was largely operated by the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation.
‘China successfully launched a scientific research satellite named "Shijian XI-01" into space from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwestern Gansu Province at 10:45 am on November 12, as reported by China Central Television (CCTV).The satellite "Shijian XI-01" is carried by a China-developed Long March 2C rocket.  China's Shijian, or "Practice", series of satellites are designed for scientific research and technological experiments. This is the 119th satellite flight in this series.’ (Global Times, 2018)
This is a satellite that was sent to space to assist China, with scientific research and as part of the space exploration experiments. The information gained from such assets goes a long way in making sure that the country is able to make future decisions with certainty. Especially where technological developments are concerned (Global Times, 2018). This satellite was also part of the early warning system space assets and as such plays a crucial role in the country’s preparedness.
2 Belintersat-1
China has also been involved in the deployment of communication satellite to space. Among the main ones is the Belintersat-1 that was launched in the year 2016. The launch of the satellite was conducted from the Xichang’s Satellite launch Center’s LC3 pad. The satellite was based on the DFH-4 bus that is also Chinese, however this had a communication payload that was supplied Thales Alenia Space. It was also equipped with 20 C-Band transponders of 36 MHz, there were also 18 Ku-band transponders of the frequency 36 MHz as well and 4 enhanced Ku-band transponders rated at 54MHz (Barbosa, 2016). This was a satellite that was set to be operational at 51.5 degrees East longitude within the geostationary orbit. At the same time, it is important to note that the satellite was expected to be operations for the next fifteen years. It is also important to note that the satellite was launched on behalf of Belarus. This is a country that is in Eastern Europe and was formerly part of the Soviet Union nation (Barbosa, 2016). This is considered to be the largest project in the field of telecommunication. It is considered a highly innovative, social, political and economic importance as it provides a full range of satellite services in Europe, Asia and Africa and covers much of the Eastern Europe hemisphere.
‘For the commercial and government institutions in the territory of the Republic of Belarus, the Belintersat project will be providing a number of widely demanded services that will include: satellite Internet; mobile satellite communication; solutions for mobile operators; corporate networks provisioning; and live TV broadcasting.’ (Barbosa, 2016)
This brings a whole plethora old services to the people of Eastern Europe and more importantly parts of Africa. Making a precise tool for communication within the region.
3 The APSTAR 1A
The APSTAR 1A is a communication satellite that is used by china to relay voice, television and data signals across Indonesia, Hong Kong, Japan, Vietnam, Singapore and China. The satellite was one of the versions of the HS-376 spin-stabilized satellite. These are satellites that carry with them 24 transponders which are active and a spare set of six more (Krebs, 2018). They operate within the 6/4 Ghz with the C-band transponders and are also extended at a frequency of 3.6 GHz, it is estimated that the satellite radiate power an average of 35 dBW. Each of the four channels has 72 MHz while the remaining 20 have 37MHz each. All of the spacecraft that are in the HS-376 satellite line are built in such a way that they have cylindrical solar panels as well as antenna array which when the satellite is about to launch will fold.
Fig 1 of 5 (Krebs, 2018)
‘The solar panels are covered with K-4 3/4 solar cells, which produce 1130 Watts at beginning of life. During eclipse, two super nickel-cadmium batteries provide power for uninterrupted service. With station keeping fuel the satellites weighed about 726 kg at beginning of life on-orbit. They transmit and receive beams are created by a 2-meter round antenna with two reflecting surfaces. One is sensitive to vertical polarization and the other to horizontal. Separate microwave feed networks are used for the different polarizations. APSTAR I has an operational life of 9 years. The APSTAR IA contract calls for 10 years of service. APT contracted for both satellites to be launched aboard the Chinese CZ-3. Hughes provided APT with support services for the missions. The company also trained APT's satellite controllers and built a satellite control facility in the Tai Po region of Hong Kong. The center is similar to 22 other facilities built by Hughes for customers around the world. APStar 1A was renamed ZX-5D in September 2010 and APStar 1 was renamed ZX-5E in October 2012.’ (Krebs, 2018)
As mentioned above, this is a satellite that was designed to last in the orbit for an estimated 10 years of service. This would later on be replaced by the APSTAR 6, however, the APSTAR 1A is still operational except for some of the transponders that have been switched off, after the lost power from malfunctions cause solar array.
4 APSTAR 6
One other satellite that is associated with the republic of China is APSTAR 6. This is also a communication satellite that was built by Alcatel Space which is a subsidiary of Alcatel. The satellite joined the fleet of space assets owned or operated by China in the year 2005 ("APStar 6", 2018). This was launched from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center. The main idea of the satellite being launched into space was so that it could provide broadband media along with television services ("APStar 6", 2018). For this reason, it had been fitted with 38 C-band transponders and 12 Ku band transponders. It is largely based on the Spacebus-4000C2 model, where the 38 C-band have 64w while the 12 Ku-band transponders have 145W each. In May of this year, however several of the transponders were switched off due to the fact that they were affected by a solar array which caused a drop in power.
5 APSTAR-6C
Fig 2 of 5 (Jones, 2018)
In the sequence of replacements, the APSTAR-6C is also a communication satellite that is associated with China. This is a satellite that was launched in the efforts of replacing the much older APSTAR 6 (Jones, 2018). The satellite in this case was launched into space in May the 3rd of 2018. This is a commercial communication satellite for export. It is an entire asset that was sold to mainstream international satellite operator as indicated by the China Academy of Space Technology, which is the company responsible for the production of the satellite. As mentioned above, it is a replacement for the APSTAR 6 and will provide broadcasting as well communication services within the Asia-Pacific region (Jones, 2018).
6 APSTAR 7
There other satellite that is important to the Chinese fleet of space assets APSTAR 7. This is also a communication satellite that is operated by APT Satellite within the set of satellites under the company and the Ap...