Du kannst deine Tweets vom Web aus und über Drittapplikationen mit einem Standort versehen, wie z.B. deiner Stadt oder deinem genauen Standort. Du hast jederzeit die Möglichkeit, Standortangaben nachträglich zu löschen. Mehr erfahren
BREAKING NEWS. New Chinese satellite....uhhh not exactly "just a satellite"....launch. From Jiuquan. Tomorrow. Around 05:30 UTC. And this one is a BIG one. One that will trigger responses like below after it launches.pic.twitter.com/geoOFKE16A
The rocket? Long March *2F*. That's right, 2F. As in Shenzhou and Tiangong. The spacecraft? No-one but those who build it know for sure. But there are rumors spreading since late last year that it has WINGS.pic.twitter.com/365wVoq67i
And here's the proof that I have waited for months of this elusive, no out-of-thin-air mission that can finally almost conclusively prove its existence.https://twitter.com/LaunchStuff/status/1301494799489531908 …
The only official thing the Chinese has said was way back in March, where a LM-2F was mentioned delivered to Jiuquan. However rumors of such a mission actually popped up briefly on a Chinese forum way back last November Of course this official article got deleted...
Quote from the article: "This CZ-2F mission is the first major scientific research and experimental mission other than HSF 3 years after the "Shenzhou 11". It is the basis for the successful implementation of subsequent HSF projects and is a key to future aerospace technology."
This really sounds like a prototype spaceplane, isn't it? It really sounds like how the respective developers describe @SierraNevCorp Dreamchaser. Or @esa on @esa_SpaceRider.
We don't know if it's the Shenlong - some say it's another project by CASC called "Aotian", per rumors.
The launch has been awaited for months. A tracking ship went into the S Atlantic back in April, waited for a month before heading back, apparently without tracking anything. Then last month YW-6 pushed through back to its position east of Argentina, w/ YW-3 in the Arabic Sea too.
What will happen tomorrow? Will the Chinese simply launch it, land it and never said a thing? Or will they boast it as they got something with real wings (sorry lifting bodies...), the 3rd nation to do so to space? Or...? No-one knows. Ah the suspense!
Per one usually reliable insider source the T-0 will be 05:28 UTC. And there's a journal paper (%) on rocket terminal guidance control methods that mentions one of such methods to be tested on the "CZ-2F/T3" mission (T1/2 being for the TG-1/2 launches). This is likely it.
(%) Song Zhengyu, Pan Hao, Wang Cong, Gong Qinghai. Development of Flight Control Technology of Long March Launch Vehicles. Journal of Astronautics, 2020, 41 (7), 868-878. doi: 10.3873/j.issn.1000-1328.2020.07.005
It's definitely interesting to see how this mission plays out. IF this is really a spaceplane a la X-37B (or who knows, BOR/Hermes/Dreamchaser), or even a lifting body a la IXV/@esa_SpaceRider, looking at the tracking ships' positions a single orbit mission might be possible.
On the other hand the Chinese might use it to the maximum extent and fly a multi-month mission a la the 1st X-37B a decade ago. Whatever mission profile they choose, the Chinese will probably get more hypersonic flight data from this (well they played w/ such things for years).
Just to make it clear, the photos below are Photoshopped - though they do show what the launch config. might be, the 4.2 m dia. fairing for Tiangong probably too small for something requiring a LM-2F.
Or maybe it will fly in the open a la Hermes... 
https://twitter.com/AJ_FI/status/1301505513113481217 …
Apparently here's the formal notice for everyone related to this to stay mouth-zipped at launch. 
Time to think of buying photos from @planetlabs/@Maxar in advance! 
pic.twitter.com/dA31pptx3m
Twitter ist möglicherweise überlastet oder hat einen vorübergehenden Schluckauf. Probiere es erneut oder besuche Twitter Status für weitere Informationen.
