China currently has four launch centers (three inland and one coastal) and is building a floating one.
China is making progress with a spaceport to facilitate sea-based launch activity and development of rockets, satellites and related applications.
The China Aerospace Science and Technology Corp. (CASC), the country's main space contractor, is developing the spaceport in Haiyang City on the coast of the eastern province of Shandong.
The 'Eastern aerospace port' will add to China's four established space launch centers and be a base for sea launches of light-lift solid rockets.
Use of a sea based launch site could reduce safety risks to civilians and also decrease visibility of launches.
Launches from inland sites often see spent stages threaten inhabited areas, requiring expensive safety and cleanup operations.
China's intention to buildout a 'satellite internet' is one of multiple infrastructure initiatives likely to benefit from the new launch center.
(Score: 2) by ikanreed on Tuesday September 01 2020, @02:52AM (4 children)
The problem with "Just using space telescopes" gets a little complicated.
The physical diameter of a focusing mirror, regardless of interference and everything else, is basically the built-in physics-based limit of detail resolution that no amount of noise cancellation, atmospheric cancelation or other algorithmic cleverness can overcome. Sometimes longer exposure can make up for it, but not if your looking for events instead of objects.
Ground based telescopes, by virtue of not needing to be launched on a giant explosive can be much much larger. Meaning we can examine objects in deep space more clearly. The James Webb telescope, the largest space telescope, as yet to be launched, will have a focusing size of 6.5 meters, whereas on earth there are already several(very expensive) 10 M telescopes, that I promise you don't want rendered worthless.
Probably what will happen is some algorithm that cancels out the orbiting debris-to-be from captured data.
(Score: 5, Interesting) by takyon on Tuesday September 01 2020, @03:15AM (3 children)
Actually, there are physics-based limits to the size of ground (optical) telescopes. They will probably never exceed 100 meters on the ground due to weight, wind, and cost, but in microgravity, kilometer-sized or larger apertures will be possible.
At 39.3 meters, ESA's Extremely Large Telescope (ELT) is a scaled down version of the axed 60/100 meter Overwhelmingly Large Telescope [wikipedia.org] concept. ELT could be the largest telescope of its kind we will ever see (on Earth).
The rocket problem is easy. Use fully reusable rockets to launch them in modular form, and assemble them in space.
https://www.nasa.gov/directorates/spacetech/niac/2018_Phase_I_Phase_II/Kilometer_Space_Telescope/ [nasa.gov]
https://www.nasa.gov/directorates/spacetech/niac/2018_Phase_I_Phase_II/Modular_Active_Self-Assembling_Space_Telescope_Swarms/ [nasa.gov]
The actual materials used in a gigantic space telescope would be a lot less than an equivalent ground telescope, since it can be in a flattened shape with no gigantic structure supporting it. You also won't get any protests due to putting up yet another telescope on sacred land.
NASA and other institutions will have to acknowledge the reality of fully reusable rockets when building future telescopes. I suspect that a space telescope far larger than JWST could be made for less than JWST's original $500 million budget, and without the risk of destroying the whole thing during one failed launch or an unfolding mechanism malfunction.
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 1) by khallow on Tuesday September 01 2020, @07:42PM (2 children)
(Score: 2) by takyon on Wednesday September 02 2020, @12:27AM (1 child)
An optical interferometer is good to have, and adaptive optics can narrow the gap between ground and space telescopes. But the virtual diameter does not increase the light collecting area/capability that you would get from having larger mirrors. Perhaps you can even start using a modular space telescope, and just keep adding more mirror segments as they are manufactured and launched.
Maybe it's possible for optical interferometry to do even better in space. You could separate two telescopes by a long distance, have a physical or laser connection, and not have to worry about the vibrations and distortions caused by earthly sources.
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 1) by khallow on Wednesday September 02 2020, @04:58AM
More mirrors on the other hand does increase the light collecting area. The real advantage of microgravity environments will be that you can make a viable and enormous mirror out of really flimsy material, like metallised plastic film.
For starters, physical separation of more than 12k km.