Arelaysatellite,sometimesreferredtoas“theMay21,2018:TechniciansreadytheQueqiaorelaysatelliteforlaunchattheXichangSatelliteLaunchCenterintheLiangshanYiAutonomousPrefecture,SichuanProvince.Thatsameday,aLongMarch-4Crocketcarryingtherelaysatellitewassuccessfullylaunchedfromthesatellitelaunchcenter.VCGsatelliteofsatellites,”isakindofcommunicationsatelliteusedtotransmitmassivevolumesofdata.Byprovidingdatarelay,telemetry,trackingandcommand(TT&C)servicesforspacecraftandsatellites,itgreatlyimprovestheefficiencyandemergencyresponsecapabilitiesofvarioussatellites.Thetechnologyenablesreal-timedatatransmissionofresourcessatellitesandenvironmentalsatellites,earningmorewarningtimeformajornaturaldisasters.
EarlyonthemorningofMay21,2018,Chinasuccessfullylaunchedtheworld’sfirstrelaysatellitenamedQueqiao(“MagpieBridge”)inorbitaroundthemoon,whichwillprovideacommunicationlinkbetweentheearthandtheplannedChang’e-4lunarprobethatwillsoft-landonandexplorethemoon’smysteriousfarsideattheendof2018.
Therelaysatellitewillsolveamajordifficultyinlunarexploration.Thetidalforcesoftheearthslowedthemoon’srotationtothepointwherethesamesidealwaysfacestheearth.Theotherside,mostofwhichisnevervisiblefromtheearth,isknownasthe“darkside”ofthemoon.
Duetoshieldingfromthemoonitself,thedetectorlandingonthefarsideofthemooncannotdirectlyrealizeTT&Ccommunicationanddatatransmissionwiththeearth.
TheQueqiaorelaysatellitewillassistthecontrolcenterontheearthtoenhancecontrolofthelunarprobetoensureasmoothlanding.