Jielong 1 (Chinese: 捷龙一号运载火箭, meaning "agile dragon", also known as Smart Dragon 1, SD-1), is a solid fueled orbital launch vehicle developed by China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology's subsidiary China Rocket to launch up to 150 kg to a 700 km altitude Sun-synchronous orbit. The rocket is 19.5 meters tall, 1.2 meters in diameter and weighs 23.1 metric tons. It is a solid fuel, 4 stage orbital rocket.[1] The development of the rocket took 18 months (initiated in February 2018); the rocket uses propulsion technology from Chinese missile programs. The program aims to produce a launch vehicle with launch price per mass of $US 30,000/kg, or $6 million for the launch.[2]
The launch vehicle features an inverted-position fourth stage motor and payload space during the initial portion of the launch sequence; the stack rotates to front after third stage separation.[3]
The maiden flight of Jielong 1 on 17 August 2019, 04:11 UTC was successful. It delivered three small satellites into polar orbit. The satellites were the Xingshidai 5 Earth observation satellite, Tianqi 2 experimental satellite and a third small Earth observing satellite Qiancheng 01[1] from Qiansheng Exploration Technology Co. Ltd. The launch took place from Jiuquan, with the rocket taking off from a road-mobile transporter.[2]
List of launches
Flight number | Flight | Date (UTC) | Launch site | Payload | Orbit | Outcome |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Y1 | August 17, 2019 04:11[2] |
JSLC | Qiancheng 01 Xingshidai 5 Tianqi 2 |
SSO | Success[2] |
2 | Y2 | Q4 2023 | JSLC | SSO | Planned |
References
- ^ a b "Jielong-1 (Smart Dragon-1, SD 1)". Gunter's Space Page.
- ^ a b c d "China's Jielong 1 smallsat launcher successful on first flight". 17 August 2019.
- ^ Li, Ivan (17 August 2019). "China successfully conducts first launch of Smart Dragon-1 small satellite launch vehicle". NASASpaceflight.com. Retrieved 29 December 2019.
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