Kuaizhou-1

Spacecraft Nº:

Chinese spacecraft Nº: 213

Launch data:

Description:

• Kuaizhou 1 is reportedly a satellite for natural disaster monitoring. It will be used to monitor natural disasters and provide disaster-relief information for its user, the National Remote Sensing Center of China, a public institution under the Ministry of Science and Technology.
• Likely the satellite is integrated with the upper stage of the launch vehicle, which is consistent with only one object detected in orbit. It demonstrated the capability for orbital manoeuvres by raising the initial orbit was 275 km × 293 km × 96.7° on 27 September to 299 km × 306 km.
• KUAIZHOU 1 will be used to monitor natural disasters and provide disaster-relief information for its user, the National Remote Sensing Center of China, a public institution under the Ministry of Science and Technology.

Mission details:

• The Kuaizhou-1 satellite was launched by China′s new Kuaizhou small quick-response launch vehicle on Sep 25, 2013. "Kuaizhou" means "fast vessel" and might best be translated as "Clipper" or "Swift Boat". The solid fuel vehicle is thought to be built by CASIC in collaboration with the Harbin Institute of Technology and may be a derivative of the DF-21 family, like the failed KT-1 launch vehicle of 2002-2003. Development of the rocket began in 2010.
• KZ-1 was launched on Sep 25, 2013 into a 275 x 293 km orbit, raised on Sep 27 to 299 x 306 km. The orbit decayed to 279 x 288 km and then was raised on Oct 17 to 288 x 321 km; after a further decay another reboost on Nov 1 restored the orbit to 290 x 317 km. The third reboost on Nov 19 raised the orbit from 267 x 294 km to 287 x 322 km.

Astrophilately covers:

Launch Kuaizhou 1. Credit: #411a