The China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology (CALT) is a major state-owned civilian and military space launch vehicle manufacturer in China and one of the major launch service providers in the world. CALT is a subsidiary of the larger China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC). It was established in 1957 by Dr. Xue-Sen Qian and is headquartered in Fengtai District, Beijing.[4]
| CALT | |
Native name | 中国运载火箭技术研究院 |
| Company type | Subsidiary |
| Industry | Aerospace |
| Founded | November 16, 1957[1] |
| Headquarters | |
Key people |
|
| Products | |
| Services | Orbital rocket launch |
| Total assets | |
Number of employees | 33,000[3] (May 2020) |
| Parent | CASC |
| Website | www |
| China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Simplified Chinese | 中国运载火箭技术研究院 | ||||||
| Traditional Chinese | 中國運載火箭技術研究院 | ||||||
| |||||||
| CALT | |||||||
| Chinese | 火箭院 | ||||||
| |||||||
Its major contribution to China's civilian and military launch capability has been the manufacture of the Long March family of rockets.[5][6] CALT has over 33,000 employees.[6] The current Chief Designer is Long Lehao (龙乐豪).[7]
CALT is also planning two spaceplanes. They would both be single-stage to space sub-orbital rocketplanes. One would be a 10-ton 4-passenger plane that would fly to 100 km at Mach 6. The other would be a 100-ton 20-passenger plane that would fly to 130 km at Mach 8. They would be equipped with liquid methane/liquid oxygen rocket engines. The larger spaceplane would also be able to carry a strap-on space rocket, making it function as the first stage of a two-stage to orbit space launch platform. That rocket would launch above the Karman line, and lift 1–2 tons to LEO.[8]
In 2021, following tests by CALT, United States Secretary of the Air Force Frank Kendall III stated that China was developing and testing a fractional orbital bombardment system.[9][10][better source needed][relevant?]
U.S. sanctions
editIn August 2020, the United States Department of Defense released the names of “Communist Chinese military companies” operating directly or indirectly in the United States. CALT was included on the list.[6][11]
In November 2020, U.S. President Donald Trump issued an executive order prohibiting U.S. companies and individuals owning shares in companies, including CALT, that the U.S. Department of Defense has listed as having links to the People's Liberation Army.[12][13]
Subsidiaries
edit- China Energine
- China Rocket, which developed Jielong 1
References
edit- ^ "California Business Search (C2414622 - Space Exploration Technologies Corp)". California Secretary of State. Archived from the original on March 12, 2017. Retrieved May 5, 2018.
- ^ "Leadership Team - China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology". CALT Official Website. CALT. Archived from the original on 13 December 2020. Retrieved 17 November 2020.
- ^ a b "About US - Chinese Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology". www.calt.com. CALT. Archived from the original on 20 October 2016. Retrieved 17 November 2020.
- ^ "Chinese Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology - CALT 1st Academy - China Nuclear Forces". fas.org. Archived from the original on 2021-02-11. Retrieved 2021-06-18.
- ^ Clark, Stephen. "China launches three military satellites, tests new rocket steering fins". Spaceflight Now. Archived from the original on 2020-11-07. Retrieved 2020-08-29.
- ^ a b c "DOD Releases List of Additional Companies, in Accordance with Section 1237 of FY19 NDAA". U.S. Department of Defense. August 28, 2020. Archived from the original on 30 August 2020. Retrieved 30 August 2020.
- ^ Lin, Jeffrey; Singer, P.W. (July 19, 2018). "China's super-sized space plans may involve help from Russia". Popular Science. Archived from the original on July 20, 2018.
With this size and lift, China's Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology (CALT) Chief Designer Long Lehao announced that the Long March 9 will be capable of lifting 140 metric tons to low Earth orbit (LEO), 50 tons to Earth-Moon transfer orbit, and 44 tons to Earth-Mars transfer orbit (140 tons is right between the projected lifts of NASA's Space Launch System (130 tons) and SpaceX's 150 ton BFR).
- ^ Jeffrey Lin (7 October 2016). "China's Private Space Industry Prepares To Compete With SpaceX And Blue Origin". Popular Science. Archived from the original on 8 November 2020. Retrieved 8 October 2016.
- ^ Axe, David (October 16, 2021). "Report: China Has Tested A Nuke That Can Dodge American Radars". Forbes. Archived from the original on October 17, 2021. Retrieved October 17, 2021.
- ^ Watt, Louise; Parekh, Marcus (2021-10-17). "'We have no idea how they did this': Secret hypersonic launch shows China streaking ahead in arms race". The Daily Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Archived from the original on 2023-03-22. Retrieved 2021-10-17.
- ^ "Qualifying Entities Prepared in Response to Section 1237 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 1999 (PUBLIC LAW 105–261)" (PDF). U.S. Department of Defense. August 28, 2020. Archived (PDF) from the original on 28 August 2020. Retrieved 30 August 2020.
- ^ Chen, Shawna (November 12, 2020). "Trump bans Americans from investing in 31 companies with links to Chinese military". Axios. Archived from the original on October 28, 2021. Retrieved November 12, 2020.
- ^ Pamuk, Humeyra; Alper, Alexandra; Ali, Idrees (2020-11-12). "Trump bans U.S. investments in firms linked to Chinese military". Reuters. Archived from the original on 2021-10-28. Retrieved 2020-11-12.