China


2012 – Probes

Mars is attracting interest from other nations as well. India’s government announced in August 2012 that it approved plans for their country’s first mission beyond the Moon. The Mars Orbiter Mission, slated to launch in late 2013, will make India the ## to launch a mission to the Red Planet, after the United States, Russia, Europe, Japan, and China.

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2012 – Dual Purpose EO/RS

Many remote sensing satellites have dual military and civil or commercial purposes. India launched its indigenously developed radar imaging satellite, RISAT-1, in April 2012. The satellite will join RISAT-2 and will provide India with the ability to image features on the ground even if covered by clouds or foliage due to its use of a C-band microwave synthetic aperture radar. RISAT-2, a radar-based reconnaissance satellite, was purchased from Israel and deployed before RISAT-1 to help track and prevent terrorist activity, such as the 2008 Mumbai terrorist attacks.

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2012 – Land Imaging

Land imaging satellite performance is described using a variety of characteristics, including differences in spatial resolution (as measured by how many pixels compose an object), positional accuracies (as measured by the extent to which objects are represented accurately), and spectral capabilities (as measured by wavelengths of light captured, including visible and beyond-visible spectra). High-resolution land imaging satellites have resolutions below 1 meter (3 feet) per pixel, allowing users to distinguish cars from trucks, for example.

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2012 – Remote Sensing Ground Networks

Ground facilities support space infrastructure by controlling spacecraft or processing the data that satellites gather and send to Earth. Remote sensing satellites orbit the Earth, gathering data that then needs to be archived, processed, and analyzed while the satellites themselves need to be tasked and targeted to collect imagery in the most efficient manner possible. To perform these tasks, commercial remote sensing satellite operators have established networks of satellite control stations, data reception stations, and data processing centers.

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2012 – Chinese Spaceports

China is also in the process of building a new spaceport, the Wenchang Satellite Launch Center (WSLC), on the Chinese island of Hainan, in the South China Sea. It will host the new Long March 5 rocket series, as well as successor vehicles. Construction started on the center in late 2007 and is expected to be completed in 2013, allowing for a first launch in 2014.

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2012 – Spaceports as an Economic Engine

The Falcon 9 launch vehicle carrying the Dragon C2 spacecraft lifts off from the SpaceX launch pad at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. The Dragon was the first commercial spacecraft to successfully dock with the ISS and return to Earth, splashin… Thank you for visiting The Space Report! The Authoritative Guide to Global Space Activity,…

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2012 – Launch Industry

In 2012, ## orbital launches were attempted, carrying ## payloads, including satellites, interplanetary probes, and flights to the International Space Station (ISS). Compared to the 2011 total of ## launch attempts, this represents a #% decrease. Of these ## launches, ## placed their primary payloads into orbit.

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2012 – Chinese Government Space Budget

Responsibility for Chinese space activities is shared by several agencies, including the China National Space Administration (CNSA), which serves as the public civil face of the Chinese space program, and the People’s Liberation Army (PLA), which operates the country’s overall government space program, including human spaceflight, as well as all Chinese launch facilities. The structure and organization of the Chinese space program are not transparent. This makes obtaining credible data on the Chinese national space enterprise, including budget and organization, difficult.

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2012 – Demographics

Considering the number of doctoral degrees earned in science and engineering, the European Union has the greatest proportion, followed by China and the United States. As with first university degrees, China has been rapidly increasing the number of doctoral science and engineering degrees granted since the early 2000s.

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2012 – Top-level Trends

Science and engineering education provides the advanced skills required for a competitive space workforce. It also cultivates the expertise needed for research and innovation. Understanding trends in the production of highly skilled scientists and engineers can provide an indication of long-term prospects for the space workforce.

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