At 19:15 Beijing time on August 24, 2021, China successfully launched the Fusion Test Satellite 01/02 into the predetermined orbit with the Long March-2C carrier rocket / Expedition-1S Remote 2 upper stage at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, which was a complete success. In this launch mission, the in-orbit unlocking and unfolding of solar wings and antennas on the two satellites has for the first time used a batch of 36 intelligent actuators driven by shape memory alloys, which has carried out the in-orbit unfolding mission successfully and made good preparations for the large-scale adoption of non-fireworks drive technology for subsequent space missions.

The new intelligent drive was jointly developed by the General Department of China Academy of Space Technology and the School of Energy and Power Engineering of Beihang University. The Intelligent Propulsion Laboratory of the School, led by Professor Yan Xiaojun, has carried out nearly 20 years of research in the field of intelligent drive. So far, 69 sets of intelligent drives have been completed for flight verification, applied to 16 national major space missions such as BeiDou Navigation, thus promoting China’s space drive technology into the non-fireworks era.

The intelligent drive for this launch mission adopted a new drive principle and structural design. Compared with pyrotechnic devices, the intelligent drive has technical advantages such as low impact, reusable, zero emission pollution and good transportation safety, which is in line with the future development trend of space drive.

Reported by Yan Zehong

Reviewed by Yan Xiaojun

Edited by Jia Aiping

Translated by Wen Peiyu