Beijing Aerospace Control Centre
The Beijing Aerospace Control Centre (BACC) is the mission control centre for Shenzhou flight and Chang’e lunar exploration missions. It is located inside the Beijing Aerospace City, about 14km northwest of the city centre. Construction of the centre began in 1994 in order to support the Project 921, and the centre became operational in 1998.
BACC has so far supported all four unmanned and three manned Shenzhou missions, two Chang’e lunar orbiting missions, and will also be used to support the upcoming Sino-Russia interplanetary space mission to the Mars. The centre can issue orders to and collect information from the flying spacecraft, space launch centres, space tracking stations and space tracking ships in real-time via a communications network consisting of communications satellites, fibre-optic, and UHF. The central command & control hall of BACC is equipped with large projector screens and control consoles, as well as a visitor area for VIP guests and press.
In a typical Shenzhou mission, the Mission Command and Control Centre (MCCC) of the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre (JSLC) is responsible for monitoring and managing the spacecraft during the launch and ascending stage of the flight. Once the spacecraft enters its initial orbit, BACC takes over the control of the spacecraft and remains in charge throughout the mission until the re-entry capsule has landed.
Last update: 11 December 2011