China appears to have pulled off not only the first satellite-to-satellite refuelling in geosynchronous orbit, but also the “largest single manoeuvre” ever seen in that orbit, according to a former US Space Command official.
The two spacecraft – the Shijian-21 and Shijian-25 – have been docked some 36,000km (22,370 miles) above Earth since early July. Their mysterious mission was widely believed to involve the Shijian-25 supplying the Shijian-21 with propellant.
Last month, they executed what Lieutenant General John Shaw called “the largest single manoeuvre ever conducted in geosynchronous orbit”, shifting their track with a velocity change of more than 330 metres (1,083 feet) per second.
“That’s actually a lot, at least by today’s standards,” Shaw, a former deputy commander of the US Space Command, told senators at a hearing in Washington on Wednesday.
Observers said the manoeuvres would have burned the equivalent of six years’ worth of station-keeping fuel – the amount needed to keep a satellite steady in such a high orbit.
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China’s Chang’e-6 mission returns to Earth with first samples from moon’s far side
China’s Chang’e-6 mission returns to Earth with first samples from moon’s far side
At the same hearing – titled “There’s a Bad Moon on the Rise: Why Congress and Nasa Must Thwart China in the Space Race” – former Nasa administrator Jim Bridenstine became one of the few senior officials to openly say that the US will probably lose the race against China to land astronauts on the moon.