China Launches Lunar Sample Return Test – UPDATE

China Launches Lunar Sample Return Test – UPDATE

UPDATE:  This article is updated throughout. 

China’s Xinhua news service confirmed that a spacecraft to test technologies for returning a lunar sample to Earth was launched this afternoon, October 23 Eastern Daylight Time (Friday, October 24, local time in China).

Xinhua tweeted (@XHNews) at approximately 2:00 pm EDT: “#BREAKING  China launches an experimental return spacecraft that will orbit the moon and return to Earth.”

Approximately one hour later, Xinhua issued another tweet that the spacecraft had entered the expected orbit and provided a photo of the launch.

Launch of lunar sample return test spacecraft as precursor to Chang’e-5, October 24, 2014 local time in China (October 23 Eastern Daylight Time).
Photo credit:  Xinhua

Chinese English language news sources have reported on the upcoming launch for quite some time, but provided few details.  Unofficial Chinese space program analysts and the amateur radio community have provided more information.  An amateur radio payload, 4M-LXS, built by LuxSpace, is included on the spacecraft.  AMSAT-UK reports that the first telemetry from the JT65B beacon on the satellite was received in Brazil at 19:18 GMT (3:18 pm EDT).  It is encouraging radio amateurs to receive and report on the signals.

The launch took place from China’s Xichang Satellite Launch Center using a Long March 3C rocket.  Jonathan McDowell of Jonathan’s Space Report tweeted (@planet4589) late on Thursday EDT that the launch had taken place at 18:00 GMT (2:00 pm October 23 EDT, or 2:00 am October 24 Beijing time) into a 209 x 413000 kilometer circumlunar trajectory.

This mission is a precursor to the Chang’e-5 spacecraft scheduled for launch in 2017.  This precursor mission is expected to last 196 hours and return to land on Earth.  Xinhua revealed shortly after launch that the intended landing site is in north China’s Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region.

China has not provided an official designation for the mission.  Even the news items issued by Xinhua in the hours after the launch do not refer to the spacecraft by name, saying only that it is a precursor to Chang’e-5.   Some analysts of the Chinese space program refer to it as Chang’e-5-T1, but the origin of that designation is unclear.  McDowell reports that the name is “Chang’e wu hao feixing shiyan qi” or CE-5 Flight Test Device.

Note:  an updated link to Jonathan McDowell’s report with the name of the mission has been added.

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