On May 8, 2024, at 16:14:36 Beijing time, the "Chang'e 6" lunar probe released Pakistan's iCube Qamar micro remote sensing satellite near its apogee at an altitude of 8600 kilometers.
This satellite entered a highly elliptical lunar orbit with a perigee of 200 kilometers, an apogee of 8600 kilometers, and a period of 12 hours.
The "Siyuan-II" (ICUBE-Q/iCube Qamar) is a micro optical remote sensing satellite jointly developed by Shanghai Jiao Tong University and Pakistan.
The satellite itself weighs 6.5 kilograms, with a total payload weight of 9 kilograms.
The satellite is equipped with two cameras to image the lunar surface and detect the lunar magnetic field.
Compared to launching Earth-orbiting spacecraft, the cost of launching lunar probes is several times higher.
Even for a satellite weighing less than 10 kilograms like the iCube Qamar, the costs are considerable.
In the second decade of the 21st century, the Moon has become a hotspot for international space exploration.
The United States is promoting commercial space enterprises as the main suppliers for its lunar exploration missions.
On January 8, U.S. time, the Vulcan rocket sent the "Peregrine One" lunar lander into a trans-lunar injection (TLI) orbit.
This mission's probe was developed by the American commercial space company Astrobotic Technology, which offers commercial launch services for lunar orbital, landing, and roving missions.
Astrobotic's lunar exploration launch services are available to businesses, governments, universities, non-profits, and individuals.
The commercial launch service prices for lunar orbital, landing, and roving missions are $300,000, $1.2 million, and $4.5 million per kilogram, respectively.
Based on these prices, the launch cost for the 9-kilogram iCube Qamar would be $2.7 million.
In contrast, China's Long March 5 rocket's single launch price is lower than SpaceX's Falcon Heavy rocket.
As of the end of 2022, the starting price for a single Falcon Heavy mission was $97 million, with actual contract prices potentially reaching twice that amount.
A single Long March 5 rocket costs less than $80 million.
With a trans-lunar injection capacity of 8.35 tons, its trans-lunar injection launch price is less than $10,000 per kilogram (only accounting for rocket costs).
Entering a lunar orbit requires orbital braking, and with the cost-sharing of the orbiter launch, the lunar orbit launch price is close to $15,000 per kilogram (excluding the cost of the Chang'e 6 probe).
Based on this, the cost of sending the iCube Qamar satellite into lunar orbit is estimated to be above $135,000.
Including launch site services, telemetry and communications services, and cost-sharing of the Chang'e 6 probe, the actual cost would be significantly higher than $135,000 but still notably lower than international commercial launch service quotes.
Currently, global space technology is rapidly advancing, and the scale of space launches is accelerating.
The application of technologies like reusable rockets, 3D printing, and digital simulation is significantly reducing the development and launch costs of carrier rockets, enabling more and larger spacecraft to be sent into Earth's orbit and deeper into space.
In the future, with the expansion of the scale of carrier rocket development and production and the development of more large and heavy rockets, space launch vehicles will achieve economies of scale, and space launch costs are expected to decrease geometrically, accelerating humanity's entry into the era of large-scale space exploration.
Commentaires