Successfully completed! What did the first reusable and recoverable satellite do?

On October 24, the National Space Administration held a ceremony to deliver the Shijian-19 satellite payload in Beijing. The Shijian-19 satellite payloads delivered this time include 20 categories, including staple food crops, cash crops, microbial space breeding payloads, and space technology test payloads.

The delivery of the payload of the Practice 19 satellite marks the successful completion of the satellite project's return mission.

Image source: China National Space Administration

Practice 19: my country's first reusable and recoverable technology test satellite

Shijian-19 is an important new technology test satellite during my country's 14th Five-Year Plan period. At 18:30 on September 27, 2024, my country successfully launched the first reusable and recoverable technology test satellite, Shijian-19, using the Long March 2D carrier rocket at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center. The satellite successfully entered the predetermined orbit.

Through flight tests, the satellite has achieved breakthroughs in key technologies such as reusability, lossless recovery, and high microgravity support, verified various technical indicators of a new generation of high-performance reusable returning space test platform, and achieved various expected test results.

In addition, the Shijian-19 satellite also carried payloads applied for by five countries including Thailand and Pakistan, carrying out extensive international cooperation.

On October 11, Practice 19 was successfully recovered.

Image source: Xinhua News Agency (Photo by Wang Heng)

What are the characteristics of the Practice 19 satellite?

The first is " repeatability ". As early as 1975, China successfully launched and safely recovered its first recoverable satellite, becoming the third country in the world to master the recovery technology at that time.

The Practice 19 satellite was awarded the honor of being the "first" because its recovery capsule has made a breakthrough in reusable technology. The satellite platform can be reused more than 10 times, making it able to travel back and forth between the earth and the sky, thereby greatly reducing manufacturing costs and improving utilization efficiency.

In addition, the satellite also has the ability to provide a higher quality microgravity environment, which can provide a higher quality microgravity environment guarantee for high-end microgravity experiments.

The picture shows the microbial experiment box carried by the satellite.

Image source: Xinhua News Agency (Photo by Song Chen)

In terms of new technology experiments , the satellite carried out new technology experiments in orbit, including microgravity hydrogen preparation technology, low-frequency magnetic communication technology, inflatable sealed cabin technology, wireless power transmission technology, aerodynamic parameter measurement technology, functional gradient thermal protection materials, and low expansion coefficient structures.

In terms of space science experiments , the satellite carries a number of space science experiment payloads, including research on the diffusion behavior of alloy melts, structure and surface atomic dynamics of amorphous alloys, carbon nanomaterials and devices, solid catalyst materials, oral medicine materials, chiral drug research, and research on the molecular mechanism of microbial drug production.

In terms of independent and controllable components , it is equipped with 27 domestic devices including DSP digital signal processors, ultra-high-speed optical communication processors, and high-reliability dual-core processors.

As my country's first reusable and recoverable technology test satellite, Shijian-19 can not only "go to the sky" but also "go to the earth", and can even travel repeatedly between heaven and earth like "Sun Wukong". It is a space test platform that can realize convenient round-trip transportation of payloads between heaven and earth and provide high-quality test services.

Comprehensive sources: National Space Administration, Xinhuanet, etc.