China successfully launched the Shiyan-21 satellite at 9:27 p.m. Beijing time on Oct. 24 from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center on a Long March 3B carrier rocket, and the satellite has entered its scheduled orbit.
China’s Xinhua News Agency said the Shiyan-21 satellite is mainly used for space debris mitigation technology test verification.
China’s Shiyan-21 satellite’s “space debris mitigation technology” may be aimed at reducing the speed of debris through technology so that it can enter the atmosphere and be destroyed.
China launched a satellite called Aolong-1 (遨龙一号) on June 25, 2016, which was officially described as an active space debris cleanup vehicle.
At the time, Chinese officials revealed that Aolong-1 was equipped with a robotic arm to simulate grabbing abandoned satellites and other large pieces of debris in space and taking them to the atmosphere for burning. It was then pointed out that the potential military significance of the Aolong-1 was that it could serve as an anti-satellite weapon.
According to information published on the official website of the China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology, the “Long March 3B” (CZ-3B) rocket used to launch the Shiyan-21 satellite is a high-orbit, high-thrust launch vehicle, which means that the Shiyan-21 satellite is a high-orbit satellite, and the space debris located in high-orbit is mainly the debris of failed satellites, which is large volume and mass “space debris”.
It is reported that the International Space Station has tested the use of a catch net and a “harpoon” system to capture space debris.
The launch of the Shiyan-21 satellite is likely to test similar equipment, rather than the robotic arm already used on Aolong-1, and may even validate a high-energy laser targeted removal approach.