World's first three-satellite constellation in Earth-moon region established by China
The world's first three-satellite constellation on the distant retrograde orbit (DRO) of the Earth-Moon system has been successfully established by Chinese scientists. The development lays a foundation for the exploration and utilization of space, and for future crewed deep-space exploration.
The DRO is a unique type of orbit, while the Earth-moon space refers to the region extending outward from near-Earth and near-lunar orbits, reaching a distance of up to 2 million kilometers from Earth.Developed by scientists of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), DRO-A and DRO-B satellites have established inter-satellite measurement and communication links with DRO-L, a previously launched near-Earth orbit satellite.
The achievement was disclosed at a symposium on Earth-moon space DRO exploration in Beijing on Tuesday.Scientists have revealed that in Earth-moon space, DRO is characterized by a prograde motion around Earth and a retrograde motion around the moon.DRO, which provides a highly stable orbit where spacecraft require little fuel to enter and stay, also serves as a natural space hub connecting Earth, the moon, and deep space.It offers support for space science exploration, the deployment of space infrastructure, and crewed deep-space missions.
Currently, the DRO-A satellite stays in DRO, while the DRO-B satellite operates in Earth-moon space maneuver orbits, according to the Technology and Engineering Center for Space Utilization (CSU).
Zhang Jun, a senior engineer at the CAS' Innovation Academy for Microsatellites, revealed that the satellites ultimately succeeded in entering their designated orbit, demonstrating China's breakthroughs in deep-space fault recovery and autonomous navigation technologies. Zhang stated that this achievement highlights the satellite team's flexibility and adaptability in complex missions and paved the way for low-cost deep-space exploration.He also revealed that the project achieved the world's first spacecraft entry into DRO with low energy consumption. Through innovative design, the team completed a lunar transfer and DRO entry by using just one-fifth of the fuel usually required.
Scientists revealed that the program would support China's future lunar exploration mission, including providing space-based inter-satellite measurement for rapid orbit determination and autonomous navigation services for lunar exploration mission orbiters, and supply high-precision time signals for lunar surface facilities, reported Global Times.
Zhang highlighted that by using three hours of in-orbit inter-satellite measurement data, the team achieved an orbit determination precision level that would typically require two days of ground-based tracking. This advancement has significantly reduced operational costs and improved the efficiency of spacecraft in the Earth-moon space.
Later, Chinese scientists will continue investigating the complex and diverse orbits in the Earth-moon space, and study the laws of the lunar space environment. With the long-term stability of DRO, scientists will carry out fundamental scientific research in such fields as quantum mechanics and atomic physics.
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