DFFC

Launch, orbit & landing data: Designation  A08387 / 16042 Launch date - time  25 June 2016 - 12:00 UT Launch site  Wenchang, LC201 Launch vehicle  CZ-7/YZ1 Mass (kg)   Mission)  Reentry test Earth orbit on :    - Perigee / Apogee  288 x 382 km    - Inclination  40.8 °    - Period   min Landing date - time  26 June 2016 - (.32) Landing location   Flight Duration (d:hr:min)  1 d Nbr orbits

Spacecraft data: Prime manufacturer   Platform   Operator   Mass at launch  2600 kg Dry Mass   kg Basic shape   Dimension (m)   Equipment   Solar array   Stabilization   Propulsion   DC power

Maquette on transport to rocket

Maquette on rocket

Description:

• The DFFC (Duoyongtu Feichuan Fanhui Cang) is subscale model of a future Chinese manned space capsule.
• The capsule has a height of 2.3 m and a diameter of 2.6 m with a mass of 2600 kg. Reportedly outfitted with basic systems like a navigation system, heat shield, parachutes and a communications system capable of transmitting through the plasma occurring during the hypersonic re-entry sequence.
• It remained attached to the XZ-1A upperstage with the ZGZ Shiyan Zhuangzhi. The upper stage provided also the reentry manouevre for the DFFC capsule.

Mission details:

• China inaugurated the Wenchang spaceport on Hainan Island on Jun 25, 2016 with the launch of the first Chang Zheng 7 rocket. The CZ-7 entered orbit with a YZ-1A upper stage, which made several burns to deploy small satellites and then was deorbited along with a subscale spacecraft reentry cabin to qualify systems for the next generation of Chinese human spaceflight missions.
• Four small satellites are ejected from the YZ-1A: the Aoxiang Zhixing is the first 12U cubesat, with a mass of 18 kg (33 kg including payload adapter).
  Ao Long 1 is an active space debris removal experiment;
  Tiange feixingqi 1 and 2, if I understand the Chinese press reports, are a pair of satellites testing data relay to each other, perhaps similar to NASA's recently-launched Nodes 1 and 2.
  Attached to the YZ-1A as a non-separable payload is the 'zai guijia zhu shiyan zhuangzhi', the In-Orbit Refeulling Experimental Device. The YZ-1A would be deorbited over the Pacific after the experiment is completed; the stage has a design operation life of 48 hours. US tracking indicates the stage was deorbited on Jun 27, 2016 as expected.
• The primary payload is the DFFC (Duoyongtu Feichuan Fanhui Cang, multipurpose subscale spacecraft return capsule) flight test mission, which is to be recovered in China. There is also a ballast frame (pei zhong zhijia) which may be a dummy service module for the capsule.
  The DFFC capsule was deorbited on Jun 26, 2016 and landed in China at 0741 UTC.
  
  

  Capsule returning on earth

  Capsule after landing

• It seems possible that the YZ-1A stage performed the deorbit and then separated to fire again immediately, regain orbit and continue operations for another day.
• The objects from the launch, based on comparing the Space-Track identifications with the orbital data and the Chinese media reports, are:
  

    42E        CZ-7 second stage            203 x 378 x 40.8
    42G,H,J,K  Separation motor covers      199 x 570 x 40.5  
  
    42A        YZ-1A upper stage            203 x 378 x 40.8  (initial orbit)
                                            287 x 381 x 40.8  after burn 1 at apogee 1
                                             40?x 290 x 40.8  Deorbit of DFFC
                                            280 x 290 x 40.8  after reorbit?
                                             40?x 290 x 40.8  Final deorbit of YZ-1                                        
  
    -          DFFC reentry capsule         Attached to YZ-1A until deorbit
    42B        Aoxiang zhixing              289 x 376 x 40.8
    42C        Ao Long adapter?             200 x 379 x 40.8
    42D       "Reentry shroud"              200 x 377 x 40.8 (Ballast structure?)   
    42F        Ao Long 1                    202 x 379 x 40.8
    42L,M      Tiange 1,2                   280 x 290 x 40.8  
  

External links:

• Spaceflight 101: Flight Information