The relay satellite, launched Monday for China's Chang'e-4 lunar probe, is carrying the largest communication antenna¹ ever used in deep space exploration, according to Chinese experts.

 

中国专家表示，周一发射的嫦娥四号中继卫星，携带着外太空探索史上最大的通信天线。
 

 

The launch of the satellite Queqiao, or Magpie² Bridge, is a key step for China to realize its goal of sending the Chang'e-4 lunar probe to soft-land on the far side of the Moon.

 

Queqiao, developed by China Spacesat Co., Ltd. under the China Academy of Space Technology (CAST), will be the world's first communication satellite operating in an orbit around the L2 point of the Earth-Moon system to establish a communication link between controllers on Earth and the probe.

 

Chinese experts designed several antennas³ for the relay satellite, including one shaped like an umbrella with a diameter of 5 meters, which opened in space after the satellite separated from the carrier rocket.

 

It must endure temperatures as cold as 230 degrees centigrade below zero. Chinese experts conducted countless⁴ experiments during the development of the antenna, said Chen Lan, deputy chief engineer of the Xi'an Branch of CAST.

 

The satellite is of great scientific and engineering importance in the exploration of the universe, said Zhang Lihua, manager of the relay satellite project.

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