XZF-SC

Launch, orbit & landing data: Designation  45599 / 20027A Launch date - time  05 May 2020 - 10:00 UTC Launch site  Wenchang, LC101 Launch vehicle:  CZ-5B Mission: Spaceship, New cabine unpiloted test flight Earth orbit:    - Perigee / Apogee  162 x 377 km    - Inclination  41.1°    - Period   min Landing date:  08 May 2020 (.24) Landing site:   Flight duration: 3 days

Credit: CCTV/Inside Outer Space screen grab

Spacecraft data: Prime manufacturer  CAST/Beijing Platform   Operator   Mass at launch  21600 kg Dry Mass   kg Basic shape, dimension  3.3m dia 3.0m long (conical crew module) 3.3m dia 5.8m long (service module) Equipment   Solar array  2 deployable solar arrays Stabilization   Propulsion   DC power

The prototype Next Generation Crew Space capsule

Description of the New Generation Crew Space Capsule:

• The XZF-SC (Xinyidai Zairen Feichuan - Shiyan Chuan, "New Generation Crewed Spaceship - Test Ship") is a protoype for the next Generation crewed spacecraft developed by CAST, Beijing.
• Housed inside a cavernous 20.5 meter long payload fairing, the mission of this new generation crewed space vehicle will be to test key technologies such as the control of its re-entry into the atmosphere coming from lunar velocities, and its heat shielding and recovery technology, specifically multiple parachutes and airbags.
• The new capsule will go to an 8,000 km high orbit before coming to a high-speed re-entry.
  The new vehicle, composed of a service module and a return capsule, was designed to be reused ten times.
  She will be used in both low-Earth orbit missions and deep-space exploration flights. Capable of transporting six crew members (or 500 kg of cargo with a crew of three), the new capsule as a total length of 8.8 meters, a 5-meter diameter, and a launch weight of 21,600 kg.
• The service module is discarded before re-entry. It contains liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen for fuel cell operation and water production (as well as to provide breathing oxygen for the crew), fuel cells, solar panels and batteries to provide electrical power to the spacecraft, guidance computer systems and sensors, fuel and oxidizer for reaction control and propulsion systems and thermal control systems for proper heating and cooling.
• The return capsule is the reusable part of the Chinese new generation crew space capsule. It provides a pressurized habitat for the crew, also providing storage for consumables and research instruments. Depending on the mission it can be adapted with a docking port for crew transfers.
  
  

  Docking port for the Chinese Crew Capsule

  
  
• The development team used new materials and a new structure to make the heat shielding capacity three to four times greater than that of the Shenzhou spacecraft.
• The new vehicle has two versions. A LEO version (with a launch mass of around 14,000 kg) and a Beyond-LEO version (21,600 kg). The main difference between both vehicles is in the service module.

Mission details:

• The prototype was launched on top of a Chinese heavy-lift CZ-5B rocket. 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.
  This rocket is largely the same as the Chang Zheng 5, with small modifications to the 4 strapon boosters and core stage, but with the upper stage omitted. The CZ-5B can deliver 22 tonnes to low Earth orbit.
• After separating from the Long March 5B rocket, the crew capsule raised its orbit to 299 x 719 km x 41 deg on the first day in space and by May 7, 2020 had reached 523 x 6278 km x 42.9 deg. On May 7, possibly about 1130 UTC, a final orbit raising burn put the apogee at around 8000 km, but no TLEs are available for this phase.
  The spacecraft extended power-generating solar panels and deployed a communications antenna to send and receive data from ground controllers. The ship also hosted several space science and technology experiments, including a 3D-printing demonstration.
• After reaching orbit, the new generation crew capsule was put on an initial orbit of 162 x 377 km, 41.1-degree orbit. In the days that followed, the capsule executed a series of orbital maneuvers. At the end of May 5, it was on a 299 x 719 km, 41.1-degree orbit.
• It was initially tested in an orbit of 320 x 4,971 km orbit, rising even further on May 6 to a 523 x 6,278 km, 42.8 degree orbit.
• The final apogee of the was reported to be near 8,000 km altitude.
• In a statement, China′s top space contractor said the spacecraft spent more than 2 days and 19 hours in orbit.
  At about 0415 UTC the ship began a deorbit burn of about 120 m/s which was concluded at 0421 UTC (12:22 a.m. EDT) on May 08,. This lowered perigee into the atmosphere. The return cabin (fanhui cang) separated from the service module (fuwu cang) at 0533 UTC (1:33 a.m. EDT) to burn up during re-entry. Entry interface was at 0538 UTC with a 9.0 km/s entry speed, then unfurled two drogue parachutes and three main chutes. Before landing, the capsule inflated six airbags to soften the impact of touchdown.
• Landing near Jiuquan Space Centre at 0549 UTC. Total delta-V of the XZF mission was around 2.0 km/s, implying a propellant load of over 10.3 tonnes and a dry mass of at most 11.3 tonnes.
• Total flight time was two days and 19 hours, during which it carried out a series of space science and technology experiments, including key technologies like heat shielding and control during its re-entry into the atmosphere, as well as multi-parachute recovery and partial reuse.
• The primary objective of the crew capsule′s demonstration flight was to gather data on the heat shield’s performance and the spacecraft′s aerodynamic shape during re-entry.
• A secondary payload on the launch was designed to test an inflatable heat shield, but it malfunctioned during return to Earth on April 06.

Capsule landing under chutes and airbags.

The crew capsule after landing, concluding an unpiloted orbital test flight. Credit: Xinhua