Space Technology

1. Man-made Satellites

China's first man-made satellite, the "Dongfanghong-I," was successfully developed and launched on April 24, 1970, making China the fifth country in the world with such a capability. By October 2000, China had developed and launched 47 satellites of various types, with a flight success rate of over 90 percent.

Altogether, four satellite series have been initially developed in China, namely, recoverable remote-sensing satellites, "DFH (Dongfanghong)" telecommunications satellites, "FY (Fengyun)" meteorological satellites, and "SJ (Shijian)" scientific research and technological experiment satellites.

The "ZY (Ziyuan)" earth resource satellite series will soon debut. China is the 3rd country in the world to have mastered the technology of satellite recovery, with the success rate reaching the advanced international level, and the 5th country capable of developing and launching geo-stationary telecommunications satellites independently.

The major technological indexes of China's meteorological and earth resource satellites have reached the international level of the early 1990s. The six telecommunications, earth resources, and meteorological satellites developed and launched by China in the past few years are operating stably, and have generated remarkable social and economic returns.

2. Launching Vehicles

China has independently developed the "Long-March" rocket group, containing 12 types of launching vehicles capable of launching satellites to near-earth, geo-stationary, and sun-synchronous orbits. The largest launching capacity of the "Long-March" rockets has reached 9,200 kg for near-earth orbit, and 5,100 kg for geo-stationary transfer orbit, able to basically meet the demands of customers of all kinds.

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