Chinese aerospace scientists said they had independently developed
the country's Long March series of carrier rockets and they did not
need to covet the sensitive space technology of the United States.
Chinese aerospace scientists voiced their complaints Thursday after
the Boeing Company's Satellite Systems and the Hughes Electronics
Corp. agreed on March 5 to pay a 32-million-US-dollar civil penalty
levied by the US State Department for charges of illegally sharing
sensitive space technology with Beijing.
The penalty involved two failed launches of the commercial
communications satellites -- the Long March 2E rocket carrying the
APSTARII Spacecraft in January 1995 and the Long March 3B rocket
carrying the INTECSAT 708 Spacecraft in February 1996 -- and the
later success which the United States claims resulted from aide by
Boeing and Hughes.
Long Lehao, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering
and chief designer of the series of Long March 3 carrier rockets,
said that "As a participator in the projects, I think it's
necessary to clarify the facts."
He
said less than 10 hours after the INTECSAT 708 Spacecraft exploded
early in the morning on Feb. 15, 1996, Chinese scientists made a
preliminary judgment on the accident's cause, which was the changes
of inertial reference in the rocket's control system.
The changes produced wrong information which was sent to the
computer-driven control system, which ordered the spacecraft to
change course, with disastrous results.
Three months of laboratory analyses followed, which, after 125
ground tests in 12 categories, have fully repeated the accident
phenomenon, he said.
After that, Long said, Chinese scientists spent another three
months making a total of 256 improvements on the rockets to improve
their reliability.
Currently, the Long March series of carrier rockets have made 27
successful launches in a row. As 91 percent of its past launches
have been successful, the China-made carrier rockets are next only
to the American Delta rockets and the European Ariane rockets,
whose success rates stand at 94 percent and 93 percent
respectively.
This high success rate has been questioned by the United States and
attributed to the illegal contribution of US sensitive space
technology.
Mu
Shan, former deputy general engineer of the Xichang Satellite
Launching Center in southwest China's Sichuan Province who
participated in the launches of 14 American satellites between1990
and 1998, said "No Chinese were allowed to enter the working area
of American scientists unless joint cooperation or technical
support from the Chinese side was required."
"In both situations, security guards were always present. It was
impossible for technicians from either side to share so-called
sensitive space technologies," he said.
According to him, after the launch of the APSTARII Spacecraft
failed in 1995, Chinese scientists requested no rocket data from
its US partners.
"All our analyses are based on satellite remote data. Instead, we
provided them live videotape to facilitate their work." he
said.
"The research and development of a carrier rocket requires
complicated technologies," said Long Lehao. "It is just like a
child. Only the mother who gives birth and brings him/her up can
well understand his/her temper and merits and demerits."
The situation is similar to the scientists who directly participate
in developing a carrier rocket, he said.
"For researchers from any nation, no matter how superior their
understanding capabilities are, it is very difficult for them to
know clearly every detail of the rocket," Long said.
"Its an extraordinary trek for humans to challenge space," said
Long. "It is a job of high technology and high risks."
The two scientists expressed deep sorrow for the Feb. 1 catastrophe
of the Columbia Spaceship.
"Developments in this sophisticated field may inevitably cost
lives. But lessons will be drawn from the failures, which will help
the cause progress in a better way," Long said.
Over the past three decades, China's Long March carrier rocket
series evolved from employing storable to cryogenic propellants and
from utilizing tandem configuration to cluster configuration.
Initially, they each carried one satellite, but now they carry
several satellites each, and even carry an unmanned spaceship.
Currently, the Long March series is able to carry different types
of satellites into low earth orbit, Sun-synchro orbit and
geosynchrous transfer orbit.
To
date, China has completed 22 commercial satellite launches for
foreign clients with the Long March series. The country plans to
carry out a manned space program and develop deep space exploration
technology, so as to gradually establish a new- and high-tech
industry based on space technology.
"Technology and knowledge, which should go beyond national
boundaries, are the common wealth of the human being. Both the
United States and Russia have exerted strenuous endeavors in
probing high technologies. China would like to participate in
international cooperation on an equal footing," Long Lehao
said.
(Xinhua News Agengy March 14, 2003)