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summary:a young team is responsible for this innovative project.

recently, the first satellite of the "innovation x" series of scientific experimental satellites, the space new technology experimental satellite, completed its orbit change, and raised its orbit by 7.5 kilometers through the gel green thrusters it carried. it will continue to detect cosmic substances such as the solar atmosphere, space x-rays, and gamma-ray bursts. previously, the "high energy burst explorer" payload on this satellite detected the grb 221009a gamma-ray burst, which is more than 10 times brighter than the brightest gamma-ray burst ever observed by humans.

through its detection data, chinese scientists have also obtained important results such as the world's first wide-field x-ray focused imaging sky map, my country's first image of the solar transition zone, the first global magnetic field survey by a domestically produced quantum magnetometer, and completed the verification of 44 new space technologies.

how was this satellite, which has spawned many scientific and technological achievements, successfully developed? recently, a reporter from jiefang daily and shangguan news went to the microsatellite innovation institute of the chinese academy of sciences in pudong, shanghai, to listen to the "innovation x" space new technology experimental satellite development team tell the story of "crowdfunding" satellite building.

exploring new paradigms for space science and technology experiments

zhang yonghe, deputy director of the microsatellite innovation institute of the chinese academy of sciences, introduced that in january 2021, the chinese academy of sciences reviewed and agreed to carry out the development of new space technology test satellites in accordance with the principle of "self-raised funds, self-bearing risks, science first, and no waiting for obsolescence". why adopt this principle? zhang yonghe explained that with the rapid development of aerospace technology and space science, the number of new ideas and new technologies that scientific research fields hope to observe and verify in space has increased dramatically, but the opportunity to be selected for national projects to go to space is "hard to come by", so obtaining opportunities for space science experiments and technology verification through "crowdfunding" has become a new scientific research paradigm exploration of the transformation of basic research into industry.

in this project, the microsatellite innovation institute of the chinese academy of sciences raised funds on its own to develop the satellite. all payload equipment on the satellite was independently developed and funded by relevant units. satellite design and manufacturing were carried out through "crowdfunding" rather than national project funds.

the rocket that sent the satellite into space is a solid-fuel carrier rocket developed by the institute of mechanics of the chinese academy of sciences and co-developed by china science and technology aerospace corporation. it has commercial aerospace genes. on july 27, 2022, the "lijian-1" successfully sent the space new technology test satellite into the predetermined orbit.

"innovation x" space new technology test satellite

after the selection of payload projects, the satellite was finally equipped with 16 new payloads, including a 46.5-nanometer extreme ultraviolet solar imager, a lobster-eye x-ray telescope, and a high-energy burst explorer, covering astronomy, quantum, remote sensing and other fields. the development team involved more than 20 units including the chinese academy of sciences, peking university, and tongji university. "the satellite series is named 'innovation x', which means innovation crossover and innovation without limit. it breaks through the original dedicated satellite model and conforms to the needs of innovation through crowdfunding and flight-style space science and new technology experiments." zhang yonghe said. at present, new satellites in the "innovation x" series are under development, and their payloads are also developed by domestic research institutes and universities. it will take the "force arrow" series of launch vehicles to the sky to carry out a new round of space science exploration and new technology experiments.

zhang xiaofeng, chief designer of the innovation x satellite and secretary of the temporary party branch, said that in order to match the satellite design with the new paradigm of "crowdfunding and flight", the development team overturned the traditional plan and designed the first satellite of the "innovation x" series as a universal platform for dynamic integration of payloads. it not only has many interfaces, but also has multiple observation modes such as high-precision solar observation, earth observation, and inertial orientation, providing a wide-adaptability, low-cost, and reusable test platform for new payloads and new technology products.

the "innovation x" space new technology experimental satellite development team is at work.

post-85s take the lead in formulating innovative solutions

the team responsible for this innovative project is a young team of 19 people, including 13 people born after 1985 and 13 members of the communist party of china. their shortcoming is the lack of experience in aerospace engineering. how to make up for this shortcoming while focusing on innovation? zhang yonghe and others proposed a research and development model of standardization first, special identification, key control, and dual responsibility system. the so-called dual responsibility system is to let the "post-85s" serve as the technical leaders of satellite thermal control, satellite affairs, structure and other subsystems, and let more experienced scientific researchers do a good job of checking, so that the old can lead the new.

"this project has a great effect on training talents. only by letting young people take on important responsibilities can we inspire the sense of responsibility of the younger generation of party members." zhang xiaofeng said, "this is also the first time for me to be a chief designer. we often hold meetings to discuss innovative plans, and after the plans are finalized, they will be reviewed by senior scientific researchers."

when designing the installation plan for the cpt atomic magnetometer, they discussed how to make this precise measurement payload of the earth's magnetic field avoid electromagnetic noise as much as possible. the young designer proposed a plan - install it on the satellite's extension rod, so that when the extension rod is extended, a better measurement background can be obtained. after review, senior experts believed that this innovative plan would help to accurately measure the earth's magnetic field. although it increased the complexity of the system, it was feasible in engineering. later on-orbit verification showed that the peak value of the magnetic measurement noise of the cpt atomic magnetometer was less than 0.1nt (nanotesla), successfully completing the first space verification of a domestically produced quantum magnetometer.

the "innovation x" space new technology experimental satellite development team is at work.

limited budget is a major constraint of this project. li jinsong, chief designer of the innovative x-attitude orbit control, told reporters that they hope to control the angular velocity of the satellite's attitude to 1/1000 degree per second, but this requires the purchase of gyroscopes costing millions of yuan, which exceeds the budget. can this indicator be achieved with a gyroscope costing hundreds of thousands of yuan? after discussion, the team believed that it was feasible, so they asked experts from the beijing university of aeronautics and astronautics to develop this gyroscope and try to improve the hardware quality under limited funding conditions; li jinsong and others worked hard on the software to further improve the accuracy of the gyroscope through algorithms. "mr. qian xuesen pointed out that low-level devices can achieve high-level effects through system optimization. we followed mr. qian's ideas and achieved the high-precision indicator of 1/1000 degree per second." zhang xiaofeng said.

the tight time limit was also a constraint on this project. li tiantong, deputy chief designer of innovation x structure, who joined the company in 2020, had no engineering experience when she participated in the project. however, she had to compress the time for satellite structure design because of the instruction that "the satellite must be shipped in one year". faced with the challenge, she worked hard to solve the problem and played a pioneering and exemplary role as a party member. under the guidance of chief designer li rui, she adopted an innovative solution after the three-dimensional model of the satellite was completed, eliminating the conventional two-dimensional assembly drawing production process, saving a month for satellite development.

after the baptism of actual combat, these "post-85" researchers have become "veterans" in satellite development. today, they are developing the second satellite of the "innovation x" series of scientific experimental satellites and have undertaken major national projects, writing a new chapter of innovation for the young generation of party members.