SSC09-IV-4 BX-1: the Companion Microsatellite in Shenzhou-7 Mission

Microsatellites flying around big spacecraft can provide security monitoring for spacecrafts, extend mission functions, and provide an ideal platform for demonstrating and verifying key technologies of coordinated space missions. Most companion satellites have orbit manoeuvre capability. They usually take space station, aircraft, piloted spaceship, big satellite or other big spacecraft as task centre or service object, and fly with it in a certain relative formation. The BX-1 micro-satellite is the companion satellite for the Shenzhou VII (SZ-7) manned spaceship and carries out two in-orbit experiments in the Shenzhou VII mission: images capturing of SZ-7 and the companion flying experiment. The release of BX-1 from SZ-7 was successful, which verifies the safety design of satellite release in orbit. The observation of SZ-7 spaceship from space was achieved by BX-1 after it was released. Images captured by the double-focusing system provide for the first time the high resolution photos of the spaceship at a distance from about 4 metres to 8 km. After astronauts returned to the ground, BX-1 continues its mission by conducting companion flying around the orbital module of SZ-7 remained in the orbit, which successfully demonstrates the companion flying technologies of BX-1. In this paper, we give comprehensive information about the BX-1 satellite and introduce the in-orbit experiments of BX-1 in the Shenzhou-7 mission with flight datum.