RCS-FC-SC

Launch, orbit & landing data: Designation  45600 / 20027B Launch date - time  05 May 2020 - 10:00 UTC Launch site  Wenchang, LC101 Launch vehicle:  CZ-5B Mission: Flexible Inflatable Cargo Reentry Test Earth orbit:    - Perigee / Apogee  163 x 372 km    - Inclination  41.1°    - Period   min Landing date:  06 May 2020 (.22) Landing site:   Flight duration: ~1 day

RCS-FC-SC (before inflation) RCS-FC-SC (inflated)

Spacecraft data:

Description:

• The RCS-FC-SC (Rouxing Chongqi Shihuowu Fanhui Cang - Shiyan Cang, "Flexible Inflatable Cargo Return Module - Test Module") was a Chinese recovery test of a capsule with an inflatable heat shield designed and built by CASIC.
• RCS-FC-SC is a small spacecraft of 1.0 m × 1.5 m size. The experiment was mounted on the rear of the XZF-SC service module. For reentry it inflated a 3 m conical heat shield, which also was to decelerate the capsule for landing, so no parachute was needed.

Mission details:

• The Chinese heavy-lift CZ-5B rocket was launced on May 05, 2020.
  Without a launch escape system, the prototype spacecraft is carried inside a large payload fairing. The launch vehicle puts the spacecraft into a low earth orbit (LEO), then the spacecraft uses its own propulsion system to reach an elliptic orbit with an apogee of about 8000 km to perform a high speed reentry.
• A second payload was launched on the maiden CZ-5B rocket, it was referred to as RCS-FC-SC (Rouxing Chongqi Shihuowu Fanhui Cang - Shiyan Cang), (Flexible Inflatable Cargo Return Module - Test Module). It is a recovery test of a capsule with an inflatable heat shield, and was developed by the CASIC organization. The 1.0 x 1.5m experiment was ejected from the rear of the XZF service module and inflated a 3-metre conical heat shield. The vehicle was deorbited on May 6 for a landing east of Jiquan at around 0515 UTC. However the recovery was reported to be unsuccessful.
• The secondary payload on the launch was designed to test an inflatable heat shield, but it malfunctioned during return to Earth on April 06.