China deployed a mini satellite into low-earth orbit from its Tiangong (“Heavenly Palace”) space station, which was completed in October this year. The 12-kilogram satellite was developed by the China Academy of Space Technology and is called the Macao Student Science Satellite 1, according to China Daily. The Chinese Communist Party-run publication says the satellite is designed to help students in Macao learn about Erth imaging, radio communication and other spaceflight activities, quoting the China Manned Space Agency. 卫星分离视频 pic.twitter.com/svmDhDZYtR — Seger YU (@SegerYu) December 20, 2022 The satellite was carried on the Tianzhou 5 cargo spacecraft to the space station. According to China Daily, scientists have used the Tianhou-series cargo ships to transport many payloads of scientific equipment and mini-satellites to orbit to make the best use of their äbundant carrying capacity.” The Macao Student Science Satellite 1 is in a roughly circular orbit with an altitude of about 385 kilometres and has been catalogued by the US Space Force’s 18th Space Defense Squadron according to Space.com. The 18th Space Defense Squadron is a US Space Force unit tasked with maintaining a space object database and managing the United States Space Command’s space situational awareness. The Tiangong space station has three modules—the Tianhe (“heavenly river”) crew module, and the laboratory modules Wentian (“quest for heavens”) and Mengtian (“dreaming of heaven”). The Tianhe core module, which launched first, hosts living quarters for three crew members and provides many key functions of the space station, including power, propulsion, guidance, navigation and life support systems. The Wentian science module, which was launched second, also provides additional navigation, propulsion and orientation controls as a backup while functioning as a pressurised environment for researchers to conduct zero-gravity experiments. The Mengtian module, launched in October, is designed mainly for science experiments.
