guangdongt
Registered Member
The US Space Force has determined that China is attempting to rescue the DRO-A/B satellite near the moon and has criticized China for the transparency and openness of information in its lunar space missions. On March 13, 2024 at 20:51, the Chinese Long March 2C/Yuanzheng 1S upper stage carrier rocket carrying DRO-A/B satellites was launched from Station 3 at the Xichang launch site. Subsequently, it was announced that the first and second stage flights were normal, while the upper stage flights were abnormal, resulting in the satellite not accurately entering the intended orbit. According to data from the US Space Force's 18th Space Defense Squadron (SDS), the satellite was operating in an orbit of 525x132577km at that time. On March 26th, it operated on a track of 971x225193km. Tracking analysis shows that the payload has been separated from the upper stage and has undergone at least one orbital lift, indicating that China is attempting to salvage the mission. A 2023 journal paper on high-precision relative navigation technology for satellites of the same name indicates that these two satellites plan to enter a distant retrograde orbit (DRO) around the moon. From the analysis of tracked orbit data, this has now been confirmed. The DRO-A and B satellites aim to communicate with another satellite in LEO called DRO-L from a distant retrograde orbit. DRO-L was launched from the Jielong III rocket in February. DRO is a high lunar orbit that moves in the opposite direction of the moon's rotation around the Earth. China has not yet provided the latest information on DRO-A and B satellites. When a satellite is in perigee or closest to Earth, the next orbit lift ignition may elevate its apogee to the distance to the moon. Then, the satellite needs to undergo another engine ignition to enter the predetermined lunar orbit. It is currently unclear how the unplanned use of propellants to elevate the orbit to reach the moon will have a significant impact on this mission. If the satellite or satellite enters the originally planned lunar orbit, the latest situation of the mission may occur. The transparency and openness of information in this Chinese mission are in stark contrast to the problems encountered by Astrobotic's falcon lander during its unfortunate lunar mission. After analysis, it is believed that the DRO-A/B mission does not seem to be a major part of China's lunar exploration plan, and its failure will not have a significant impact on China's lunar exploration plan. On the contrary, this is a technical and orbital testing task that can play a role in its subsequent lunar ambitions, namely establishing lunar navigation and communication infrastructure to support exploration on the moon.
