Last March, 327 satellites were placed in orbit out of a total of 10 orbital launches.
In fact, nowadays, the launching of satellites has become so routine that the event only deserves mention when something goes wrong and even so, the failure has to be visually “spectacular” to deserve some attention.
However, our daily lives would not be the same without these launches, as our technological society is totally and increasingly dependent on what we place in Earth's orbit.
On its own, in March, the North American company Space Exploration Technologies Corp., usually known as SpaceX, placed 240 satellites into orbit for its global high-speed Internet service delivery network.
A SpaceX designed the Starlink to connect Internet users with low latency, offer high-bandwidth distribution services, providing continuous coverage around the world, using a network of thousands of satellites in low earth orbits, especially in places where connectivity is weak or non-existent. , such as in rural areas.
Os Starlink they will also provide coverage in locations where existing services are unstable or costly.
These releases from SpaceX took place on March 4, 11, 14 and 24, using Falcon-9 rockets launched from Cape Canaveral or Kennedy Space Center.
Gaining momentum for its manned space program, which is expected to see a major breakthrough this April, China also launched several orbital launches in March, putting five satellites into orbit.
The first Chinese launch last month took place on the 11th. This was an important launch for Chinese aspirations as it was the second launch of the new rocket. Chang Zheng-7A (“Chang Zheng” means “Long March), but the first to be successful, as its inaugural launch (in March 2020) failed.
In this second release, the Chang Zheng-7A put the satellite into orbit Shiyan-9 from the Wenchang Space Launch Center.
The true nature of this satellite is not known, but some comments circulating in Chinese space forums indicate that this satellite could be a prototype of a high resolution remote sensing vehicle operating in high (in this case geosynchronous) orbits or an application vehicle military equipped with optical membrane lenses, using diffractive optics.
Thus, it is possible that the designation Shiyan-9 be a decoy for the true designation of the satellite. The new satellite will have been developed by the Chinese Academy of Space Technology.
A new orbital launch from China took place on March 13, with a rocket Chang Zheng-4C to be launched from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center to put the mission into orbit Yaogan Weixing-31 Group-04, consisting of three satellites.
Xinhua news agency said the satellites will be used for “electromagnetic environmental research and other technological tests”, but the Shanghai Academy of Space Technology says the three satellites will be used to carry out “scientific experiments, marine and terrestrial research, and other tasks”.
In the past, the then Soviet Union used the designation “Cosmos” to hide the true nature of hundreds and hundreds of satellites it placed in orbit, giving them a scientific nature.
However, Western specialists soon found it strange that such investment in Science on the part of a nation and concluded that most of these satellites would have a military application.
Nowadays, something similar happens with the Chinese satellites of the series Yaogan Weixing. According to Chinese authorities, these satellites are used to carry out scientific experiments, to carry out remote detection of land resources and estimate harvests, and to assist in the tasks of prevention and reduction of natural disasters. Apart from these objectives, nothing else is mentioned about these vehicles.
The mission launched by China on March 13 has placed three military-type satellites into orbit Jianbing-8, which are satellites that fly in the formation of three vehicles (triplets) in orbit, with the objective of detecting and capturing radio signals from ships in the oceans, detecting, identifying and locating radars and telecommunications emissions, including those originating from on warships.
The information is later transmitted to the Chinese navy. This architecture is similar to the one used by the North American NOSS system.
Jiuquan would also stage China's third orbital launch in March, with a rocket Chang Zheng-4C to orbit the satellite Gaofen-12 (02) on the 30th, which, according to official information, will be used for urban and agricultural planning, road mapping, crop estimates, and disaster mitigation and prevention.
The new satellite, built by the Shanghai Academy of Space Technology, will work in conjunction with other satellites in the series Gaofen to form an Earth observation system with high resolution and high positioning accuracy, which will help promote international industrial technological cooperation through data sharing and support the initiative Belt and Road.
Russia carried out two orbital launches in March, placing 74 satellites of different sizes, types and applications into orbit.
Russian launches took place on March 22, with a rocket Soyuz-2.1a/Fregat to be launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome and to place the South Korean remote sensing satellite into orbit CAS500-1 along with 37 other small satellites (mostly CubSats of different types), and on the 25th of March, with a rocket Soyuz-2.1b/Fregat to be launched from the Vostochniy Cosmodrome and to place 36 satellites into orbit OneWeb.
the constellation OneWeb is a constellation that is to be made up of 648 satellites to provide Internet access across the globe to individual consumers and airlines, in addition to services to maritime operators, services, backhaul, Wi-Fi communities, emergency response services, etc.
Once established in orbit, the network OneWeb will offer 3G, TLE, 5G and Wi-Fi coverage, providing high-speed access worldwide (by air, land and sea).
Finally, the North American company RocketLab carried out another mission from New Zealand, placing 8 small satellites into orbit. Named "They Go Up So Fast“, this was the 19th mission of the Rocket lab and used a rocket Electron.
The launch took place from Onenui (Máhia peninsula) on March 22. This mission used an upper stage Photon. Denominated "Pathstone", this constituted the second mission Photon, also designed to operate in orbit as a risk reduction demonstration mission, also to accumulate flight experience in anticipation of the Lunar mission of the RocketLab for NASA in late 2021.
Author: Born in May 1971 and with a degree in Applied Physics, Rui Barbosa was interested in the space theme from an early age. On May 3, 2001, the Bulletin Em Orbita begins, dedicated to Astronautics and the Conquest of Space, which commemorates its 20th anniversary. Currently, Rui Barbosa shares his passion for the Conquest of Space with mountain activities.
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