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Queqiao 2 [CNSA]
Queqiao 2 is a Chinese relay satellite mission in support of the Chang'e 6, 7 and 8 lunar landing missons.
It is a larger, heavier, more capable version of Queqiao-1. The about 1200 kg relay satellite is based on the three-axis stabilized CAST-2000 small satellite bus featuring an 130 N hydrazine propulsion system. It carries a deployable 4.2 m dish antenna for the relay equipment. It provides four 256 kBps X-band links between itself and the lander/rover and one 2 MBps S-band link towards earth.
Besides the relay function, the spacecraft also carries some science payloads:
- Extreme ultraviolet camera
- array neutral atom imager
- Earth-Moon VLBI system
The mission is to be launched in 2024 on a CZ-8 (1).
| Nation: | China |
|---|---|
| Type / Application: | Lunar Orbiter, relay, radio astronomy |
| Operator: | CNSA |
| Contractors: | CAST |
| Equipment: | Relay payload, NCLE low-frequency radio detector |
| Configuration: | CAST-2000 |
| Propulsion: | ? |
| Power: | 2 deployable solar arrays, batteries |
| Lifetime: | > 8 years |
| Mass: | ~1200 kg |
| Orbit: | Earth-Moon Lagrange point L2 halo orbit |
| Satellite | COSPAR | Date | LS | Launch Vehicle | Remarks | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Queqiao 2 | 2024-051A | 20.03.2024 | We LC-201 | CZ-8 (1) | with Tiandu 1, Tiandu 2 |
Launch Sites:
- We = Wenchang Space Launch Center (WSLC), Hainan, China
