搭建地月鹊桥的嫦娥四号中继星（英文）

作者：YU Guobin

来源：Aerospace China, 2019, 20(02): 40-45.

The far side of the moon is a unique place for some scientific investigations. Chang’e 4 is a Chinese lunar far side landing exploration mission. Relay communication satellite, named as Queqiao, is an important and innovative part of Chang’e 4 mission. It can provide relay communication to the lander and the rover operating on the lunar far side to maintain their contacts with Earth. It was launched by LM-4 C launch vehicle at the Xichang Satellite Launch Center on May 21, 2018. After five precise orbit controls and a journey of more than 20 days, Queqiao inserted into final halo mission orbit around Earth-moon libration point 2, located about 65,000 km beyond the moon. It is the world’s first communication satellite operating in that orbit. Up to now, Queqiao worked very well and provided reliable, continuous communication relay service for the lander and the rover to ensure the mission success of Chang’e 4 exploration mission. Via Queqiao, the lander and the rover were controlled to work by ground stations and obtained a great amount of scientific data. The mission overview, operation orbit selection, relay communication system design and flight profile were introduced in this article.