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'One More Star' Launch

In the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, China successfully launched the "Jianxian One 01", "Star Times-5" and "Tianqi-2" satellites in the "One Arrow Samsung" mode. They all entered the predetermined track. Xinhua News Agency (photo by Wang Jiangbo)

Recently, China successfully sent 4 new technology test satellites into the planned orbit with the Long March II Ding rocket at the Xichang Satellite Launch Center.

The launch of the "one-four-four-star" launch has once again caused some small partners to be curious about the launch technology of multiple stars: Is the more satellites launched at a time the more powerful?

The multi-satellite launch technology is difficult, and currently only the United States, Russia, China, India, Japan, and the European Space Agency have mastered it. However, the large number of satellites does not mean that the technology content is necessarily high.

A multi-satellite arrow refers to the technology in which a launch vehicle sends several satellites into orbit at the same time or in succession. Compared with the traditional single star launch, it can make fuller use of the rocket carrying capacity, improve launch efficiency, and reduce launch cost.

In 1960, the United States launched two satellites with a rocket for the first time, and one arrow later achieved Samsung. Later, the Soviet Union and the European Space Agency also mastered this launch technology. In 1981, China used the Storm-1 carrier rocket to put three practical satellites into orbit, and became the fourth country to independently master the technology of launching multiple arrows with one satellite.

With the development of rocket carrying capacity and launch, satellite and arrow separation technology, the number of "one arrow" launch satellites has hit record highs.

In 2015, China ’s Long March 6 carrier rocket sent 20 satellites into space during its first flight mission, setting a record for Asia ’s multi-dart star at the time.

In 2017, India completed the launch of 104 arrows, breaking the world record of 37 arrows in Russia created in 2014, and maintaining this world record to this day.

In 2018, the American SpaceX company launched 64 star-chain satellites with the Falcon 9 rocket, and has since launched several constellations. Just a few days ago, the company successfully launched a fifth batch of 60 Starlink satellites.

However, in the eyes of aerospace experts, the number of launch satellites is not critical from a technical point of view, and the launch method reflects the technical content.

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