Orbital Focus - International Spaceflight Facts and Figures
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Shenzhou 9


Tyneside, UK
2024 Mar 28
Thursday, Day 88

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NOTAMs

The abbreviation/acronym "NOTAM" stands for "Notice to Airmen" and is a service provided by individual Flight Information Regions around the globe to warn of events, changes and obstructions that are likely to affect the flights in their areas. They are published when something is about to happen, giving details of times and locations affected.


Major Shenzhou 9 NOTAMs

Three Major NOTAMs were issued June 14 in anticipation of the Shenzhou 9 launch. Their outlines are shown on the map and there is an explanation in the following paragraphs.

Shenzhou 9 NOTAM


Protecting the Launch

The first is a long area extending eastward from the Jiuquan launch site. What it represents is the area that would be needed in the event that the Launch Escape System were to be used to pull the spacecraft away from a malfunctioning launch vehicle. It would be an unpredictable event so the Shenzhou cabin could come down anywhere along the line.

The chance of it arising is quite small so the area is less to protect people on the ground from falling debris but to give rescue aircraft freedom of movement to come to the aid of a stricken craft without having to worry about random air traffic gting in the way.

The smaller area to the east is for components of the launch vehicle that will fall to Earth as a matter of course during a succesful launch. The two wording of the two NOTAMS is below:. They both say similar things in that aircraft are prohibited from entering the are designated, at any height (SFC-UNL = 'surface to unlimited') between the times given.

A0656/12 - A TEMPORARY RESTRICTED AREA ESTABLISHED BOUNDED BY N4204E10033-N4026E10006-N3435E11915-N3605E12012 BACK TO START. VERTICAL LIMITS: SFC-UNL.ALL ACFT ARE PROHIBITED TO FLY INTO THE AREA. SFC - UNL, 16 JUN 10:22 2012 UNTIL 16 JUN 11:10 2012. CREATED: 14 JUN 03:22 2012

A0657/12 - A TEMPORARY RESTRICTED AREA ESTABLISHED BOUNDED BY N3457E12043-N3416E12000-N3220E12400-N3321E12400 BACK TO START. VERTICAL LIMITS: SFC-UNL.ALL ACFT ARE PROHIBITED TO FLY INTO THE AREA. SFC - UNL, 16 JUN 10:22 2012 UNTIL 16 JUN 11:12 2012. CREATED: 14 JUN 03:23 2012


On-orbit Emergency

To the south of these two areas is an emergency landing zone should Shenzhou have an emergency immediately on reaching orbit that requires re-entry at the first opportunity available which is the end of the first circuit of the Earth. An example might be the solar panels failing to unfold.

A0658/12 - A TEMPORARY RESTRICTED AREA ESTABLISHED BOUNDED BY N3147E10333-N2921E10750-N3017E10828-N3228E10359 BACK TO START. VERTICAL LIMITS: SFC-UNL.ALL ACFT ARE PROHIBITED TO FLY INTO THE AREA. SFC - UNL, 16 JUN 12:14 2012 UNTIL 16 JUN 13:01 2012. CREATED:14 JUN 03:24 2012


Air Route Closures

As well as the defined tracts of land to control avaiation in general, specific NOTAMs have been issued covering the civil air routes that cross the area. These are the routes used by airlines on domestic and internation journeys:

A0667/12 - THE FLW SEGMENTS OF ATS RTE CLSD:
1.A326:IKADI-SURAK
2.W113:IKADI-GORPI
3.W108:BINOR-SOSMA
4.B221:SAGUT-ODULO.
16 JUN 10:22 2012 UNTIL 16 JUN 11:12 2012. CREATED: 15 JUN 06:15 2012

A0669/12 - THE FLW SEGMENTS OF ATS RTE CLSD:
1.B330:MORIT-YABRAI VOR 'YBL'.
2.V16: MAMDA-DENGKOU VOR 'DKO'.
3.A596: YABRAI VOR 'YBL'- DENGKOU VOR 'DKO'
4.G212:OKVUM-NONIT
5.A461:WEIXIAN VOR'WXI'-HENGSHUI NDB'HG'
6.A593:POTOU VOR'BTO'-UDINO
7.B208:TODAM-EGEBI
8.W135:MAPMU-EXUMI
9.W136:EXUMI-TEDIB
10.B458:WEIXIAN VOR'WXI'-ZHENGDING VOR'SJW'.
16 JUN 10:22 2012 UNTIL 16 JUN 11:10 2012. CREATED: 15 JUN 06:34 2012

A0673/12 - THE FLW SEGMENTS OF ATS RTE CLSD:
1.A596:YABRAI VOR 'YBL'-DENGKOU VOR 'DKO'.
1.B330:YABRAI VOR 'YBL'-MORIT.
2.V16: DENGKOU VOR 'DKO'-NUKTI.
FL000 - FL999, 16 JUN 10:20 2012 UNTIL 16 JUN 11:10 2012. CREATED: 15 JUN 13:52 2012


Further NOTAMs

If the pattern of the Shenzhou 8 launch is followed, further notices may emerge in the final few hours.. The Shenzhou 8 NOTAMs and their history can be followed from the left hand menu.

New NOTAMs will be publ;ished to cover the Shenzhou landing zone once the mission end date is decided.

To check out NOTAMs for yourself , follow the link in the left hand menu, select the NOTAM type as "ICAO" from the drop-down menu in the first search box and enter the locations: ZLHW ZSHA ZBPE ZHWH ZPKM. Alternatively, try the latitude and longitude search.

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