China’s Satellite Tracking Vessel in Hambantota Port
,The Chinese scientific research vessel “Yuan Wang 5″, will enter Hambantota port on August 11 for a week and It is expected to leave on August 17 after replenishment. The Yuan Wang 5 will conduct satellite control and research tracking in the north western part of the Indian Ocean region through August and September.. China’s Yuan Wang 5 space-tracking ship last week successfully completed a maritime monitoring mission for the launch of Wentian laboratory cabin module of the Tiangong space station, which is the 1st lab module of China Space Station. The ship has by far sailed safely over 580,000 nautical miles and completed 80+ tasks at sea. The visit of Yuan Wang 5 to Hambantota Port will be excellent opportunity for Sri Lanka and the regional developing nations to learn and develop their own space programs.
China’s spacecraft-tracking ship Yuanwang-5, responsible for the maritime tracking and measuring mission for the launch of the country’s Long March-5B rocket, returned to the dock from the Pacific Ocean on 12 May 2020 after finishing its mission. During the missions the vessel has operated at sea for 81 days and safely navigated for more than 20,000 nautical miles in major ports an international sea. Such kind of tracking vessel is essential for space programs, looking back since early 2000s China was keen to join the International Space Station as member state, yet China was rejected membership many times.
Moreover, the NASA prohibit all researchers from working with Chinese citizens affiliated with a Chinese state enterprise or entity, and also the 112thUnited States Congress in 2011 banned NASA from using its funds to host Chinese visitors at NASA facilities. In March 2013, the U.S. Congress passed legislation barring Chinese nationals from entering NASA facilities without a waiver from NASA.
However, China developed its own space program which dates back to 1950s, saw new development since the 2003, and On April 29, 2021, Tianhe, the 22-tonne core module of Tiangong space station, was successfully launched into Low Earth orbit by a Long March 5B rocket, indicating the beginning of the construction of the Chinese Space Station.
Yuan Wang 5, a Chinese scientific research vessel, will enter Hambantota port on August 11 for a week. It is expected to leave on August 17 after replenishment. The Hambatota Port which currently is a major RoRo hub between East and West, also invested on entering a new market of Marine bunkering. The Port is a major Deepsea port fully equipped with modern operational machineries to accommodate variety of over 40,000 vassals passing port annually.
Where is the ship?
Research/Survey Vessel YUAN WANG 5 is currently located at CCHINA – East China Sea at position 25° 58′ 06.8″ N, 125° 50′ 31.6″ E as reported by Marine Traffic Terrestrial Automatic Identification System on 2022-07-15 12:45 UTC (11 days, 15 hours ago)
Where is this vessel going to?
The vessel departed from JIANGYIN, CN on 2022-07-13 09:00 LT (UTC +8) and is currently sailing at 19.0 knots with Southeast direction heading to HAMBANTOTA, LK with reported Estimated Time of Arrival at 2022-08-11 12:00 LT (UTC +8) local time (in 14 days, 23 hours )
What kind of ship is this?
YUAN WANG 5 (IMO: 9413054) is a Research/Survey Vessel that was built in 2007 (15 years ago) and is sailing under the flag of China. It’s carrying capacity is 11000 t DWT and her current draught is reported to be 8.2 meters. Her length overall (LOA) is 222 meters and her width is 25.2 meters.
The Current Position of the Ship;
