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Chinese Space Activities in 2011
2011 had been another successful year for the Chinese space programme, with a total of 19 launches, of which 18 were Success. For the first time China had exceeded the United States in the number of launches. With NASA losing its last space shuttle in July, Russia and China remained the only two nations in the world with the capability of sending human into space.
The most high-profile mission of the year was China’s first experimental space station Tiangong 1, and the subsequent remotely-controlled rendezvous docking between Shenzhou 8 and Tiangong 1. The Success docking mission was the first major milestone in China’s effort to build a permanent space station.
Seven months after its departure from the Earth, the Chang'e 2 lunar orbiting probe ended its mission and flew to the Lagrangian point (L2) for further experiment and tests. The spacecraft was about 1.5 million kilometres away from the Earth, the furthest point any Chinese spacecraft had ever reached.
China’s space exploration effort also suffered from some setbacks this year. In August, a Changzheng 2C launch vehicle failed to send its payload Shijian 11-04 into the orbit due to a malfunction of the rocket’s second-stage. In November, China lost its first Mars orbiting probe Yinghuo 1, when its carrier, the Russian Mars exploration spacecraft Phobos-Grunt, got stranded in low Earth orbit shortly after launch.
Launches
| # | # of yr. | Date | Payload | Role | Orbit | Launch vehicle |
Launch site |
Launch complex |
Status |
| 147 | 1 | 2011-04-10 | Compass-IGSO3 | Navigation | GSO | CZ-3A | Xichang | Success | |
| 148 | 2 | 2011-06-21 | ChinaSat 10 | Telecom | GEO | CZ-3B | Xichang | LC2 | Success |
| 149 | 3 | 2011-07-06 | Shijian 11-03 | Scientific | LEO | CZ-2C | Jiuquan | SLS2 | Success |
| 150 | 4 | 2011-07-11 | Tianlian 1-02 | Data relay | GEO | CZ-3C | Xichang | LC2 | Success |
| 151 | 5 | 2011-07-27 | Compass-IGSO4 | Navigation | GSO | CZ-3A | Xichang | Success | |
| 152 | 6 | 2011-07-29 | Shijian 11-02 | Scientific | LEO | CZ-2C | Jiuquan | SLS2 | Success |
| 153 | 7 | 2011-08-11 | Paksat-1R (Pakistan) |
Telecom | GEO | CZ-3B | Xichang | LC2 | Success |
| 154 | 8 | 2011-08-16 | Haiyang 2 | Ocean | SSO | CZ-4B | Taiyuan | LC9 | Success |
| 155 | 9 | 2011-08-18 | Shijian 11-04 | Scientific | LEO | CZ-2C | Jiuquan | SLS2 | Failure |
| 156 | 10 | 2011-09-19 | Chinasat 1A | Telecom | GEO | CZ-3B | Xichang | LC2 | Success |
| 157 | 11 | 2011-09-29 | Tiangong 1 | Space lab | LEO | CZ-2F | Jiuquan | SLS1 | Success |
| 158 | 12 | 2011-10-07 | Eutelsat W3C (France) |
Telecom | GEO | CZ-3B | Xichang | LC2 | Success |
| 159 | 13 | 2011-11-01 | Shenzhou 8 | Unmanned | LEO | CZ-2F | Jiuquan | SLS1 | Success |
| 160 | 14 | 2011-11-09 | Yaogan 12 Tianxun 1 |
Reconnaissance / Tech demo |
SSO | CZ-4B | Taiyuan | LC9 | Success |
| 161 | 15 | 2011-11-20 | Shiyan 4 Chuangxin 1-03 |
Tech demo | Polar | CZ-2D | Jiuquan | SLS2 | Success |
| 162 | 16 | 2011-11-30 | Yaogan 13 | Reconnaissance | Polar | CZ-2C | Taiyuan | LC9 | Success |
| 163 | 17 | 2011-12-02 | Compass-I5 | Navigation | GSO | CZ-3A | Xichang | LC3 | Success |
| 164 | 18 | 2011-12-19 | NIGCOMSAT 1R (Nigeria) |
Telecommunications | GEO | CZ-3B | Xichang | LC2 | Success |
| 165 | 19 | 2011-12-22 | Ziyuan 1-02C | Remote-sensing | SSO | CZ-4B | Taiyuan | LC9 | Success |
Space Launch League Table 2011
| Year | Success | Failure | Total |
| Russia | 30 | 5 | 35 |
| China | 18 | 1 | 19 |
| United States | 17 | 1 | 18 |
| Europe | 5 | 0 | 5 |
| India | 3 | 0 | 3 |
| Japan | 3 | 0 | 3 |
| Iran | 1 | 0 | 1 |
Statistics (Launch Site)
| Year | Jiuquan | Xichang | Taiyuan |
| 2011 | 6 | 9 | 4 |
Statistics (Launch Vehicle)
| Rocket | Success | Failure | Total |
| CZ-2C | 3 | 1 | 4 |
| CZ-2D | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| CZ-2F | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| CZ-3A | 3 | 0 | 3 |
| CZ-3B | 5 | 0 | 5 |
| CZ-3C | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| CZ-4B | 3 | 0 | 3 |
| CZ-4C | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Last updated: 23 January 2012