The Fanhui Shi Weixing () series of satellites was China's first reconnaissance satellite program. The satellites were used for military reconnaissance and civilian imagery tasks and completed 23 missions between November 1974 and April 2016. There were four generations of the Fanhui Shi Weixing (FSW) satellites: FSW-0 from 1974 to 1987; FSW-1 from 1987 to 1993; FSW-2 from 1992 to 1996; and FSW-3 from 2003 to 2005. Two derivative models, the
Shijian-8 (SJ-8) and
Shijian-10 (SJ-10), were developed and launched as 'seed satellites' conducting
bioastronautic experiments for the
Chinese Ministry of Agriculture
The Ministry of Agriculture (MOA) was an executive state agency within the government of the People's Republic of China. Its responsibilities were assumed by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs on March 19, 2018. Areas of responsibility ...
. All FSW-series satellites were launched into orbit using
Long March rockets from the
Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center
Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center (JSLC; also known as Shuangchengzi Missile Test Center; Launch Complex B2; formally Northwest Comprehensive Missile Testing Facility (); Base 20; 63600 Unit) is a Chinese space vehicle launch facility ( sp ...
(
JSLC).
The successful recovery of the an FSW-0 recoverable satellite in 1974 established China as the third nation to launch and recover a satellite following the United States and Soviet Union.
This success served as the basis for the
second Chinese crewed space program, the third crewed program (
Project 863) during the late 1980s, and the current
Shenzhou program
The China Manned Space Program (CMS; ), also known as Project 921 () is a space program developed by the People's Republic of China and run by the China Manned Space Agency (CMSA), designed to develop and enhance human spaceflight capabilities f ...
(active since 1992).
A novel feature of the spacecraft's
re-entry module was the use of
impregnated oak, a natural material, as the
ablative material for its
heat shield.
The Fanhui Shi Weixing (FSW) imagery reconnaissance satellite program was succeeded by the ongoing
Yaogan Weixing satellite program which began in 2006 and consists of
imagery
Imagery is visual symbolism, or figurative language that evokes a mental image or other kinds of sense impressions, especially in a literary work, but also in other activities such as psychotherapy.
Forms
There are five major types of sensory im ...
,
synthetic aperture radar
Synthetic-aperture radar (SAR) is a form of radar that is used to create two-dimensional images or three-dimensional reconstructions of objects, such as landscapes. SAR uses the motion of the radar antenna over a target region to provide fine ...
(
SAR), and
ocean surveillance payloads.
History
Fanhui Shi Weixing-0
The beginnings of the FSW-0 (military designation "Jianbing-1") recoverable satellite began in 1965 when
Qian Xuesen
Qian Xuesen, or Hsue-Shen Tsien (; 11 December 1911 – 31 October 2009), was a Chinese mathematician, cyberneticist, aerospace engineer, and physicist who made significant contributions to the field of aerodynamics and established engineer ...
conceived and proposed the idea and, after significant and tragic setbacks, finally completed in 1974.
Having returned to
Mainland China
"Mainland China" is a geopolitical term defined as the territory governed by the People's Republic of China (including islands like Hainan or Chongming), excluding dependent territories of the PRC, and other territories within Greater China. ...
from the United States after pressure from
FBI
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic intelligence and security service of the United States and its principal federal law enforcement agency. Operating under the jurisdiction of the United States Department of Justice, t ...
and
Ku Klux Klan during the
Second Red Scare
McCarthyism is the practice of making false or unfounded accusations of subversion and treason, especially when related to anarchism, communism and socialism, and especially when done in a public and attention-grabbing manner.
The term origina ...
, "father of the Chinese
missile
In military terminology, a missile is a guided airborne ranged weapon capable of self-propelled flight usually by a jet engine or rocket motor. Missiles are thus also called guided missiles or guided rockets (when a previously unguided rocke ...
program"
Qian Xuesen
Qian Xuesen, or Hsue-Shen Tsien (; 11 December 1911 – 31 October 2009), was a Chinese mathematician, cyberneticist, aerospace engineer, and physicist who made significant contributions to the field of aerodynamics and established engineer ...
began a remarkably successful career in rocket science, boosted by the reputation he garnered for his past achievements, and eventually rose through the
Party's ranks to become a
Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party member. Purportedly out of his dream for manned spaceflight but also recognizing the military value,
Qian Xuesen
Qian Xuesen, or Hsue-Shen Tsien (; 11 December 1911 – 31 October 2009), was a Chinese mathematician, cyberneticist, aerospace engineer, and physicist who made significant contributions to the field of aerodynamics and established engineer ...
urged the Chinese Central Planning Committee to invest in the development of recoverable satellite technologies, similar to those the United States and
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...
had been successfully operating since the early 1960s.
Interested more in the military value recoverable satellites would provide, the committee accepted and tasked space physicist and engineer
Zhao Jiuzhang
Zhao Jiuzhang (; 15 October 1907 – 26 October 1968), also known as Jeou Jang Jaw, was a Chinese meteorologist and physicist. He was a pioneer of Chinese space technology and is considered as a founding father of China's satellite program.
Lif ...
(who is today known as the "father of the
Chinese satellite program" for his work as the chief designer of China's first satellite,
Dong Fang Hong 1) to head the project.
Earnest work on the project began in 1965 after
Jiuzhang's team submitted a preliminary analysis of requirements having toured military and civilian organizations to assess potential applications of a recoverable satellite program.
Wang Xiji, an American-educated rocket scientist and designer of the
Long March 1 rocket which would launch the
Dong Fang Hong 1 satellite in 1970, was named chief designer of the recoverable satellite program.
In May 1966,
Mao Zedong
Mao Zedong pronounced ; also romanised traditionally as Mao Tse-tung. (26 December 1893 – 9 September 1976), also known as Chairman Mao, was a Chinese communist revolutionary who was the founder of the People's Republic of China (PRC) ...
, with the help of the
Cultural Revolution Group
The (Central) Cultural Revolution Group (CRG or CCRG; ) was formed in May 1966 as a replacement organisation to the Central Committee Secretariat and the "Five Man Group", and was initially directly responsible to the Standing Committee of the Po ...
, launched the
Cultural Revolution
The Cultural Revolution, formally known as the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, was a sociopolitical movement in the People's Republic of China (PRC) launched by Mao Zedong in 1966, and lasting until his death in 1976. Its stated goa ...
with the stated goal of preserving
Chinese communism by purging remnants of
capitalist
Capitalism is an economic system based on the private ownership of the means of production and their operation for profit. Central characteristics of capitalism include capital accumulation, competitive markets, price system, priva ...
and
traditional elements from
Chinese society
Chinese culture () is one of the world's oldest cultures, originating thousands of years ago. The culture prevails across a large geographical region in East Asia and is extremely diverse and varying, with customs and traditions varying grea ...
and to re-impose
Mao Zedong Thought (known outside China as Maoism) as the dominant ideology in China. Among other groups, the purges of Mao's
Red Guards
Red Guards () were a mass student-led paramilitary social movement mobilized and guided by Chairman Mao Zedong in 1966 through 1967, during the first phase of the Cultural Revolution, which he had instituted.Teiwes According to a Red Guard lead ...
focused heavily on academics and intellectuals regarded as the "
Stinking Old Ninth" which included the seizure of the
Chinese Academy of Sciences
The Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS); ), known by Academia Sinica in English until the 1980s, is the national academy of the People's Republic of China for natural sciences. It has historical origins in the Academia Sinica during the Republi ...
and the persecution of 131 of the 171 senior members and the killings of 229 members.
Zhao Jiuzhang
Zhao Jiuzhang (; 15 October 1907 – 26 October 1968), also known as Jeou Jang Jaw, was a Chinese meteorologist and physicist. He was a pioneer of Chinese space technology and is considered as a founding father of China's satellite program.
Lif ...
was killed (though some sources say he committed
suicide under the pressures of persecution),
Qian Xeusen was reduced to the role of a common worker, and
Wang Xiji was accused of sabotaging an FSW test
parachute for which he fought to prove his innocence. Later in 1971, when
Mao's successor
Lin Biao
)
, serviceyears = 1925–1971
, branch = People's Liberation Army
, rank = Marshal of the People's Republic of China Lieutenant general of the National Revolutionary Army, Republic of China
, commands ...
died in a
plane crash following an abortive coup d'état, Mao initiated
an immense witch-hunt to oust potential supporters of
Lin Biao
)
, serviceyears = 1925–1971
, branch = People's Liberation Army
, rank = Marshal of the People's Republic of China Lieutenant general of the National Revolutionary Army, Republic of China
, commands ...
. As a result, many departments of the
Academy
An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary or tertiary higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membership). The name traces back to Plato's school of philosop ...
were closed to include the
Shuguang project, China's proposed first crewed spacecraft, which had shared much of its technology with the recoverable satellite program costing the team valuable development money and time.
Only after several months of persistent attack by
Mao's Red Guards did
Premier of the
PRC
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...
Zhou Enlai
Zhou Enlai (; 5 March 1898 – 8 January 1976) was a Chinese statesman and military officer who served as the first premier of the People's Republic of China from 1 October 1949 until his death on 8 January 1976. Zhou served under Chairman Ma ...
intervene to put fifteen key scientists in critical missile programs under state protection while others did their best to survive the violence.
Despite the challenges and four years past its goal, the
China Association for Science and Technology (CAST) completed the FSW-0 satellite which weighed 1,800 kilograms and carried photographic film and two cameras intended to support both military and civilian needs.
FSW-0 carried a prism-scanning panoramic camera and a stellar camera both designed by the
Changchun Institute of Optics and tested on two
T7A rockets in July 1967.
In 1972, several technician teams were dispatched to
Laiyang
Laiyang city () is a county-level city within Yantai bordering Qingdao, located in the middle of the Shandong Peninsula, in Shandong province, China. The majority (70%) of its population are farmers and it is famous for producing the Laiyang pear ...
in
Shandong,
Xinhua
Xinhua News Agency (English pronunciation: )J. C. Wells: Longman Pronunciation Dictionary, 3rd ed., for both British and American English, or New China News Agency, is the official state news agency of the People's Republic of China. Xinhua ...
in
Hunan
Hunan (, ; ) is a landlocked province of the People's Republic of China, part of the South Central China region. Located in the middle reaches of the Yangtze watershed, it borders the province-level divisions of Hubei to the north, Jiangxi ...
,
Lhasa
Lhasa (; Lhasa dialect: ; bo, text=ལྷ་ས, translation=Place of Gods) is the urban center of the prefecture-level Lhasa City and the administrative capital of Tibet Autonomous Region in Southwest China. The inner urban area of Lhas ...
in
Tibet
Tibet (; ''Böd''; ) is a region in East Asia, covering much of the Tibetan Plateau and spanning about . It is the traditional homeland of the Tibetan people. Also resident on the plateau are some other ethnic groups such as Monpa, Taman ...
, and
Kashgar in
Xinjiang
Xinjiang, SASM/GNC: ''Xinjang''; zh, c=, p=Xīnjiāng; formerly romanized as Sinkiang (, ), officially the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region (XUAR), is an autonomous region of the People's Republic of China (PRC), located in the northwest ...
to establish the nation's first satellite control, tracking, and telemetry stations. Having established four fixed stations and two mobile, technicians tested the control network with
Soviet
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nation ...
-made
Il-14 aircraft flying at high-altitudes.
On 8 September 1974, FSW-0 No. 1 was transported to the
Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center (JSLC) for launch on a
Long March 2 rocket (derived from the
Dongfeng 5 ballistic missile). The first attempt to launch an FSW-0 satellite into orbit on 5 November 1974 failed with the rocket exploding approximately twenty seconds after launch and debris crashing 300 meters from the
launch pad
A launch pad is an above-ground facility from which a rocket-powered missile or space vehicle is vertically launched. The term ''launch pad'' can be used to describe just the central launch platform ( mobile launcher platform), or the entir ...
. Analysis of the recovered debris led Chinese scientists to blame
copper wire
Copper has been used in electrical wiring since the invention of the electromagnet and the telegraph in the 1820s. The invention of the telephone in 1876 created further demand for copper wire as an electrical conductor.
Copper is the electri ...
damage in the rocket during the
second stage
A multistage rocket or step rocket is a launch vehicle that uses two or more rocket ''stages'', each of which contains its own engines and propellant. A ''tandem'' or ''serial'' stage is mounted on top of another stage; a ''parallel'' stage ...
.
Maiden launch
The first successful FSW-0 launched on 26 November 1975 from
Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center
Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center (JSLC; also known as Shuangchengzi Missile Test Center; Launch Complex B2; formally Northwest Comprehensive Missile Testing Facility (); Base 20; 63600 Unit) is a Chinese space vehicle launch facility ( sp ...
in
Inner Mongolia
Inner Mongolia, officially the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, is an autonomous region of the People's Republic of China. Its border includes most of the length of China's border with the country of Mongolia. Inner Mongolia also accounts for a ...
Pad 138, Launch Complex 2. Immediately after launch, it became apparent the satellite would be irrecoverable due to a loss of pressure in the gas orientation system.
Qian Xeusen estimated the chances of recovery to be near zero while Yang Jiachi (developer of the FSW-0's
attitude control system
Spacecraft attitude control is the process of controlling the orientation of a spacecraft (vehicle/satellite) with respect to an inertial frame of reference or another entity such as the celestial sphere, certain fields, and nearby objects, et ...
) believed the seeming loss of pressure was only the result of the gasses cooling (
Charles' Law
Charles's law (also known as the law of volumes) is an experimental gas law that describes how gases tend to expand when heated. A modern statement of Charles's law is:
When the pressure on a sample of a dry gas is held constant, the Kelvin te ...
) as the spacecraft cooled exiting the atmosphere. Despite Yang's adamance that the mission should continue, the decision was made and
Xian Ground Station commanded the satellite to reenter the atmosphere after only three days flight time.
With observers waiting in the mountains of
Sichuan
Sichuan (; zh, c=, labels=no, ; zh, p=Sìchuān; alternatively romanized as Szechuan or Szechwan; formerly also referred to as "West China" or "Western China" by Protestant missions) is a province in Southwest China occupying most of the ...
, four coal miners seated in a mess hall in
Guizhou Province
Guizhou (; formerly Kweichow) is a landlocked province in the southwest region of the People's Republic of China. Its capital and largest city is Guiyang, in the center of the province. Guizhou borders the autonomous region of Guangxi to ...
about 400 kilometers away watched a red-hot object crash into a nearby grove of trees around noon. Venturing out to see the crashed object, one reportedly threw a rock and was relieved to hear a metallic sound confirming the object was of terrestrial origin. The miners reported the object to local authorities and the recovery team eventually arrived to find the spacecraft intact and the imagery undamaged.
The
reentry vehicle was damaged by reentry and the parachute partially burned, however the film was declared undamaged and the mission was deemed as success making China the third nation to capture space-based imagery after the United States' CORONA satellite in 1960 and the Soviet Union's Zenit satellite in 1962.
The extracted imagery was in extremely low
resolution and suffered significant
distortion
In signal processing, distortion is the alteration of the original shape (or other characteristic) of a signal. In communications and electronics it means the alteration of the waveform of an information-bearing signal, such as an audio signa ...
from in-orbit movements, however the FSW-0 was launched eight more times on an imagery mission with the final mission purposed to conduct microgravity experiments.
The
microgravity experiments of the last mission tested the
smelting
Smelting is a process of applying heat to ore, to extract a base metal. It is a form of extractive metallurgy. It is used to extract many metals from their ores, including silver, iron, copper, and other base metals. Smelting uses heat and a ...
and
recrystallization of
alloy
An alloy is a mixture of chemical elements of which at least one is a metal. Unlike chemical compounds with metallic bases, an alloy will retain all the properties of a metal in the resulting material, such as electrical conductivity, ductilit ...
s and
semiconductor materials
A semiconductor is a material which has an electrical conductivity value falling between that of a conductor, such as copper, and an insulator, such as glass. Its resistivity falls as its temperature rises; metals behave in the opposite way. ...
including
gallium arsenide and would continue as part of the larger FSW satellite program.
Fanhui Shi Weixing-1
The FSW-1 series of reconnaissance satellites represents the application of lessons learned from the
FSW-0 series, particularly in stabilizing the imagery obtained in-orbit. Launched one month following the last launch of the
FSW-0 series, changes made with the new series included an increased in-orbit time (three days to five days) and precision while imaging was improved from 1° to 0.7°. The
mass
Mass is an intrinsic property of a body. It was traditionally believed to be related to the quantity of matter in a physical body, until the discovery of the atom and particle physics. It was found that different atoms and different eleme ...
of the newer satellite increased from 1,800
kilograms to 2,100 kilograms and the FSW-1 series was launched into a more
circular orbit with a slightly increased
orbital perigee and reduced
orbital apogee. These improvements reportedly improved the accuracy and stability of the collected imagery to improve the quality of
map
A map is a symbolic depiction emphasizing relationships between elements of some space, such as objects, regions, or themes.
Many maps are static, fixed to paper or some other durable medium, while others are dynamic or interactive. Although ...
s produced.
Unlike its contemporaries, American and
Soviet
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nation ...
(later
Russia
Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...
n) photographic
reconnaissance satellites, and like its predecessor the
FSW-0, FSW-1 series satellites had no
in-orbit maneuvering capabilities to enable prolonged observations over areas of interest.
FSW-1 satellites, though believed to be fulfilling a secondary military purpose, were primarily
cartographic
Cartography (; from grc, χάρτης , "papyrus, sheet of paper, map"; and , "write") is the study and practice of making and using maps. Combining science, aesthetics and technique, cartography builds on the premise that reality (or an im ...
in purpose featuring a higher-resolution (10–15 meter
resolution) camera system and a lower-resolution
charge-coupled device (CCD) camera (50 meter resolution) that transmitted images to the ground in
near-real-time
Real-time computing (RTC) is the computer science term for hardware and software systems subject to a "real-time constraint", for example from event to system response. Real-time programs must guarantee response within specified time constrai ...
to avoid squandering the limited on-board film used by the higher-resolution camera. The lower-resolution camera was reportedly used to image when unfavorable environmental conditions such as
cloud cover prevented the collection of high-quality imagery.
FSW-1 4 carried in an open trunk below the imaging capsule the
Swedish
Swedish or ' may refer to:
Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically:
* Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland
** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...
Freja magnetospheric research payload. The nineteen million
USD
The United States dollar (symbol: $; code: USD; also abbreviated US$ or U.S. Dollar, to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies; referred to as the dollar, U.S. dollar, American dollar, or colloquially buck) is the official ...
214 kilogram
Freja payload was designed by the
Swedish Space Corporation on behalf of the
Swedish National Space Board and carried eight experiments in the subjects of
electric fields for
Sweden's Royal Institute of Technology,
magnetic fields for
Johns Hopkins University
Johns Hopkins University (Johns Hopkins, Hopkins, or JHU) is a private research university in Baltimore, Maryland. Founded in 1876, Johns Hopkins is the oldest research university in the United States and in the western hemisphere. It consi ...
in the United States,
cold plasma
A nonthermal plasma, cold plasma or non-equilibrium plasma is a plasma which is not in thermodynamic equilibrium, because the electron temperature is much hotter than the temperature of heavy species (ions and neutrals). As only electrons are ther ...
for the
National Research Council of Canada
The National Research Council Canada (NRC; french: Conseil national de recherches Canada) is the primary national agency of the Government of Canada dedicated to science and technology research & development. It is the largest federal research ...
,
hot plasma and
waves
Waves most often refers to:
*Waves, oscillations accompanied by a transfer of energy that travel through space or mass.
*Wind waves, surface waves that occur on the free surface of bodies of water.
Waves may also refer to:
Music
*Waves (band) ...
for the
Swedish Institute of Space Physics,
aurora
An aurora (plural: auroras or aurorae), also commonly known as the polar lights, is a natural light display in Earth's sky, predominantly seen in high-latitude regions (around the Arctic and Antarctic). Auroras display dynamic patterns of bri ...
l imagery for the
University of Calgary
The University of Calgary (U of C or UCalgary) is a public research university located in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. The University of Calgary started in 1944 as the Calgary branch of the University of Alberta, founded in 1908, prior to being ins ...
in Canada, and
electron beams
Cathode rays or electron beam (e-beam) are streams of electrons observed in discharge tubes. If an evacuated glass tube is equipped with two electrodes and a voltage is applied, glass behind the positive electrode is observed to glow, due to el ...
and
particle correlators for the
Max-Planck Institute in Germany. FSW-1 5 carried, in addition to its earth-imaging payload and microgravity research equipment, a
diamond
Diamond is a solid form of the element carbon with its atoms arranged in a crystal structure called diamond cubic. Another solid form of carbon known as graphite is the chemically stable form of carbon at room temperature and pressure, ...
-studded
medal
A medal or medallion is a small portable artistic object, a thin disc, normally of metal, carrying a design, usually on both sides. They typically have a commemorative purpose of some kind, and many are presented as awards. They may be int ...
lion commemorating the 100th anniversary of
Chairman Mao Zedong's birth.
Satellites of the FSW-1 series were developed by the
China Academy of Space Technology (CAST), used a
celestial camera for positional information, were stabilized by a
3-axis system, powered by a FG-23 retro motor,
battery powered, and communicated at 179.985
MHz
The hertz (symbol: Hz) is the unit of frequency in the International System of Units (SI), equivalent to one event (or cycle) per second. The hertz is an SI derived unit whose expression in terms of SI base units is s−1, meaning that one he ...
(
VHF).
After atmospheric reentry, the
reentry capsule deployed a single
drogue
A drogue (also known as a storm drogue) is a device trailed behind a boat on a long line attached to the stern. A drogue is used to slow the boat down in a storm and to prevent the hull from becoming side-on to the waves. A boat that has deploye ...
at high velocities 10–20 kilometers above the ground followed by a main
parachute deployed at a more arrested speed of 5 kilometers altitude to slow the capsule's descent to around 10 meters per second by the time the
reentry capsule struck the ground.
All five FSW-1 series satellites were launched using a
Long March-2C rocket from the
Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center (JSLC) and controlled via the
Xi'an Satellite Monitor and Control Center (XSCC) in
Shaanxi Province
Shaanxi (alternatively Shensi, see § Name) is a landlocked province of China. Officially part of Northwest China, it borders the province-level divisions of Shanxi (NE, E), Henan (E), Hubei (SE), Chongqing (S), Sichuan (SW), Gansu (W), Ni ...
.
With five successful launches and four successful recoveries, the FSW-1 program was largely a success however the failure of the final FSW-1 satellite in-part marred the legacy of the series by gaining worldwide attention for its uncontrolled
orbital decay.
Uncontrolled Decay
FSW-1 No. 5, the last satellite of the series launched on 8 October 1993, experienced a failure in the satellite's
attitude control system
Spacecraft attitude control is the process of controlling the orientation of a spacecraft (vehicle/satellite) with respect to an inertial frame of reference or another entity such as the celestial sphere, certain fields, and nearby objects, et ...
which rendered it unable to properly reenter the
atmosphere.
The failure of the attitude control system when the satellite was instructed to return on 16 October 1993 tilted the spacecraft 90° from its intended position causing the
reentry capsule to enter a
highly elliptical orbit
A highly elliptical orbit (HEO) is an elliptic orbit with high eccentricity, usually referring to one around Earth.
Examples of inclined HEO orbits include Molniya orbits, named after the Molniya Soviet communication satellites which used them ...
of 179 km × 3,031 km instead of returning to Earth.
The re-entry capsule entered the atmosphere on 12 March 1996 over the South
Atlantic
The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe an ...
, in a tumbling fashion which exposed much of the spacecraft unprotected by the
heat shield to extreme heat and friction during
reentry
Atmospheric entry is the movement of an object from outer space into and through the gases of an atmosphere of a planet, dwarf planet, or natural satellite. There are two main types of atmospheric entry: ''uncontrolled entry'', such as the ...
. Although the extent of the destruction is unknown,
U.S. Space Command reported that some fragments had survived the conditions of reentry that had fallen into the
Pacific Ocean
The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the contin ...
near the coast of
Peru
, image_flag = Flag of Peru.svg
, image_coat = Escudo nacional del Perú.svg
, other_symbol = Great Seal of the State
, other_symbol_type = National seal
, national_motto = "Firm and Happy f ...
.
The loss of the FSW-1 5 was the only failed recovery of the larger FSW program.
Although in the end only a few fragments had likely reached the ocean's surface, the abortive reentry was widely reported on
American and
Europe
Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...
an television and in newspapers. Five days before the satellite's atmospheric reentry, the orbit was so unpredictable that studies could guess it's reentry time with no less than a 10-hour error and could not predict where the fragments would land nor if it would strike a populated area.
Western news followed the updates and predictions released by
Air Force
An air force – in the broadest sense – is the national military branch that primarily conducts aerial warfare. More specifically, it is the branch of a nation's armed services that is responsible for aerial warfare as distinct from an ...
Major Don Planalp of
U.S. Space Command in
Colorado
Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the wes ...
and was concerned largely with the novel and potential dangers of heavy metal fragments striking residential areas. News on the satellite frequently likened the satellite's decay to that of the
Soviet
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nation ...
Salyut-7 and become uniquely enamored with the onboard diamond-studded medallion celebrating the 100th birthday of the late
Mao Zedong
Mao Zedong pronounced ; also romanised traditionally as Mao Tse-tung. (26 December 1893 – 9 September 1976), also known as Chairman Mao, was a Chinese communist revolutionary who was the founder of the People's Republic of China (PRC) ...
. Press organizations were unable to receive a comment from the
Chinese Embassy in Washington on the satellite's fall as the Chinese government was still tight-lipped on the satellite's existence. Although experts stressed the low probability that the decaying satellite would strike of in a place of significance, some governments did issue be-prepared orders to law enforcement in the case of the potential disaster, most prominently the
United Kingdom's Home Office.
Specifications
The FSW-0 was the first generation of China's returnable satellites.
Its primary use was for the inspection of national land and natural resources.
First-generation FSW-0 satellites all carried prism-scan
panoramic camera
Panoramic photography is a technique of photography, using specialized equipment or software, that captures images with horizontally elongated fields of view. It is sometimes known as ''wide format photography''. The term has also been applied to ...
s.
The FSW-0 did not have a complet
orbit control system so its decay or
attenuation
In physics, attenuation (in some contexts, extinction) is the gradual loss of flux intensity through a medium. For instance, dark glasses attenuate sunlight, lead attenuates X-rays, and water and air attenuate both light and sound at variabl ...
of orbit was quick, and it had a relatively short orbital duration. Its landing or return location accuracy was also relatively low.
The next generation, the FSW-1, carried more powerful cameras than its predecessor and was mainly used for drawing maps. Its
spatial resolution
In physics and geosciences, the term spatial resolution refers to distance between independent measurements, or the physical dimension that represents a pixel of the image. While in some instruments, like cameras and telescopes, spatial resolut ...
was as high as 10m (able to discern objects 10 meters apart). The next two generations were called FSW-2 and FSW-3.
Satellites
Notes: FSW-3 No. 2 and No. 4 are sometimes referred to as FSW-4 1 and 2 due to design variations and the military designation's transition from Jianbing-2 to Jianbing-4, however most sources retain the original FSW-3 name. Because Jianbing-4 No. 1 and No. 2 are differently designed, some sources refer to them as Jianbing-4A (JB-4A) and Jianbing-4B (JB-4B) respectively.
References
Bibliography
** 《返回式卫星》 (''Returnable Satellite''); Author: Lin Baohua (林华宝); Press:
Tsinghua University
Tsinghua University (; abbr. THU) is a national public research university in Beijing, China. The university is funded by the Ministry of Education.
The university is a member of the C9 League, Double First Class University Plan, Projec ...
Press,
Jinan University Press; ()
** 《太空情报与国家安全》 (''Space Intelligence & National Security''); Author: Lin Ziyang (林子洋); Press: Youshi Press; ()
External links
FSW at Astronautix.com
{{Rest of the World Reconnaissance Satellites
Military equipment introduced in the 1970s
Reconnaissance satellites of China
Spacecraft launched by Long March rockets