China's 'Queqiao No.2' Relay Satellite Completes Task and Enters New Phase

TapTechNews July 3rd news, the National Space Science Center announced today that on June 25, 2024, the Queqiao No.2 relay satellite successfully completed the communication support task for Chang'e-6 and entered the scientific exploration task stage.

The Array Neutral Atomic Imager developed by the National Space Science Center of the Chinese Academy of Sciences started working smoothly at 4:48 PM on June 26th. Then during June 26th and 27th respectively, successfully completed the first stage of on-orbit test work, and all functions of the payload are normal.

Queqiao No.2 Array Neutral Atomic Imager is independently developed by China and the world's first high-time-space-resolution magnetic layer energy neutral atomic two-dimensional coded imaging detection payload. Through the combination of time-of-flight measurement and two-dimensional coded imaging detection technology, it realizes the imaging detection of the type, energy and direction distribution of magnetic layer energy neutral atoms to achieve high-time-space-resolution panoramic imaging of the earth's magnetotail and ring current, and provides observational data support for studying the process of geomagnetic storms, the triggering mechanism of substorm injection, and the energy conversion mechanism of the magnetotail.

At present, the project development and scientist team are actively carrying out the analysis work of on-orbit test data, and it is expected to obtain new observational evidence in the future 8 years of on-orbit work and provide new support for the output of independent original achievements.

According to TapTechNews' query of data, the Queqiao No.2 relay satellite weighs about 1.2 tons, the antenna length is about 4.2 meters (about 13.8 feet), and the designed service life is 8 years. It carries an extreme ultraviolet camera, an array neutral atomic imager, and a ground-moon VLBI test system.

The Queqiao No.2 relay satellite entered the lunar orbit in March this year and has so far completed the communication support task for Chang'e-6, and will also be used for China's subsequent lunar exploration tasks.