China's homegrown third-generation space-craft tracking ship Yuanwang-5 set sail for the Pacific Ocean on March 22, 2022. (Photo by Wang Luyao)
NANJING, March 23 -- China's homegrown third-generation space-craft tracking ship Yuanwang-5 set sail for the Pacific Ocean and other sea areas for maritime tracking and measuring missions on the morning of March 22.
Yuanwang-5 is China's homegrown third-generation space-craft tracking ship and a backbone in China's maritime tracking and measuring network.Yuanwang-5 has by far sailed safely over 570,000 nautical miles and completed more than 80 tasks at sea, including tracking the Shenzhou spacecraft, the Chang'e lunar probes, BeiDou satellites and Mars probe Tianwen with a 100 percent success rate.
The ship had spent 256 days accumulatively at sea last year, setting a historical high among the Yuanwang vessels in terms of the number of missions performed, the accumulated mileage, and the average number of days at sea per ship.
Before sailing, Yuanwang-5 had undergone more than 50 days of maintenance to improve the power system and facilities, and the reliability and operability of its special equipment had also been advanced.
At present, Yuanwang-7, which has completed several maritime tracking and measuring missions, has returned to its homeport; Yuanwang-6 has embarked on the maiden voyage of the Yuanwang vessels in 2022, en route to the mission sea area.