Global InformationFanhui Shi Weixing information
| 返回式卫星 | |
 Mock-up in Shanghai Museum | |
| Program overview | |
|---|---|
| Country | People's Republic of China |
| Organization | China Academy of Space Technology (CAST) |
| Purpose | Reconnaissance |
| Status | Completed |
| Programme history | |
| Duration | 1974–2016 |
| First flight | 26 November 1974 |
| Last flight | 5 April 2016 |
| Successes | 23 |
| Failures | 2 |
| Launch site(s) | Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center (JSLC) |
| Vehicle information | |
| Launch vehicle(s) |
|
The Fanhui Shi Weixing (simplified Chinese: 返回式卫星; traditional Chinese: 返回式衛星; pinyin: Fǎnhuí Shì Wèixīng; lit. 'recoverable satellite') series of satellites was China's first reconnaissance satellite program. The satellites were used for military reconnaissance and civilian imagery tasks and completed 23 missions between November 1974 and April 2016. There were four generations of the Fanhui Shi Weixing (FSW) satellites: FSW-0 from 1974 to 1987; FSW-1 from 1987 to 1993; FSW-2 from 1992 to 1996; and FSW-3 from 2003 to 2005. Two derivative models, the Shijian-8 (SJ-8) and Shijian-10 (SJ-10), were developed and launched as 'seed satellites' conducting bioastronautic experiments for the Chinese Ministry of Agriculture. All FSW-series satellites were launched into orbit using Long March rockets from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center (JSLC).
The successful recovery of an FSW-0 recoverable satellite in 1974 established China as the third nation to launch and recover a satellite following the United States and the Soviet Union.[1][2][3][4][5][6] This success served as the basis for the second Chinese crewed space program, the third crewed program (Project 863) during the late 1980s, and the current Shenzhou program (active since 1992).[3] A novel feature of the spacecraft's re-entry module was the use of impregnated oak, a natural material, as the ablative material for its heat shield.[7]
The Fanhui Shi Weixing (FSW) imagery reconnaissance satellite program was succeeded by the ongoing Yaogan Weixing satellite program which began in 2006 and consists of imagery, synthetic aperture radar (SAR), and ocean surveillance payloads.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
:52was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ "FSW-0 Imagery Intelligence". GlobalSecurity.org. 21 July 2011. Retrieved 18 May 2022.
- ^ a b Wade, Mark. "FSW". Austronautix. Archived from the original on 16 January 2010. Retrieved 17 May 2022.
- ^ Brügge, Norbert. "Variants of China's re-coverable photo-reconnaissance satellite FSW". Retrieved 18 May 2022.
- ^ Ramachandran, R (24 October 2003). "For another great leap forward". FRONTLINE: India's National Magazine. Retrieved 18 May 2022.
- ^ Carey, William; Chen Qing, Dave; Lan, Chen; Myrrhe, Jacqueline (October 2012). "History of the Chinese Recoverable Satellite Programme" (PDF). Go Taikonauts! (6): 7–10.
- ^ "Chinese FSW reconnaissance SA < Satellite". Encyclopedia Astronautica. Archived from the original on 2010-01-16. Retrieved 2016-01-12.