Scientist says China's first reusable rocket in the pipeline

[xizhimen]

Scientist says China's first reusable rocket in the pipeline
By Zhao Lei
Thursday, March 04, 2021, 10:04

Photo taken on Dec 16, 2020 shows the Long March-8 Y1 rocket at the Wenchang Spacecraft Launch Site in south China's Hainan province. (PHOTO / XINHUA)


Designers at the China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology have started developing the first reusable model in the nation's Long March carrier rocket family, said a senior rocket scientist.

Jiang Jie, an expert at the academy and a member of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, said on Wednesday that research and development of the reusable variant of the Long March 8 rocket was proceeding well and designers plan to conduct the first test to verify key vertical landing technologies before the end of this year.

"The new model will feature highly integrated equipment, autonomous technologies and convenient pre-launch preparations," said Jiang, a member of China's top political advisory body, one day ahead of the opening of the fourth session of the 13th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference.

Designers are developing an integrated first stage for the reusable variant, she said. This new first stage will consist of a core booster and two side boosters. Instead of breaking up and falling back to Earth like the first stages of all previous Chinese rockets, the new core and side boosters will stay together and make a powered landing on a preset landing site or a recovery platform at sea.

Jiang said a reusable space transportation system "will help to reduce safety risks created by launch activities, lower launch costs and boost space technology".

The expert noted that designers are focusing on several crucial subsystems such as low-speed landing navigation and guidance apparatus and a foldable landing buffer.

The Long March 8, the latest addition to China's Long March launch vehicle fleet, flew its first mission in December from a coastal launchpad at the Wenchang Space Launch Center in Hainan province.


The 50.3-meter rocket reached a sun-synchronous orbit at an altitude of 512 kilometers and then deployed the New Technology Demonstrator 7 experimental satellite and four small private satellites.

Designed and built by the China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology, a subsidiary of China Aerospace Science and Technology Corp, the Long March 8 has two core stages and two side boosters. It has six engines propelled by liquid oxygen, liquid hydrogen and kerosene.

With a liftoff weight of 356 metric tons, it is capable of sending payloads weighing 4.5 tons to a sun-synchronous orbit 700 km above the Earth or satellites

China's commercial rocket SD-3 to make maiden flight in 2022

with a combined weight of 2.8 tons to a geostationary transfer orbit, according to the academy.

The Long March 8 is capable of transporting various types of spacecraft to multiple types of orbit, but its main task is to place satellites in sun-synchronous orbit to meet the surging demand for launch services from commercial satellite companies at home and abroad, said Song Zhengyu, chief designer of the Long March 8.

The best-known reusable rocket is SpaceX's Falcon Heavy, which had its maiden launch in February 2018. All of the boosters on the US rocket's first stage can be recovered and reused as they separate from each other and perform controlled reentry and landing.

Scientist says China's first reusable rocket in the pipeline

Jiang Jie, an expert at the academy and a member of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, said the development of the reusable rocket was proceeding well.

www.chinadailyhk.com

 

[xizhimen]

Long March-8 rocket likely to try out vertical landing in 2021: Chinese developer
Published: Mar 04, 2021 05:10 PM

Jiang Jie Photo: Courtesy of CALT

Development for a fusion version of China's potentially reusable medium-sized launch vehicle, the Long March-8, has been initiated, and it is hoped that the new rocket will carry out key technology demonstration tests for vertical take-off and vertical landing (VTVL) in 2021, said Jiang Jie, a leading expert with the project developer China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology (CALT) on Thursday.

Research and development work for the Long March-8 has been initiated to accelerate the rollout of a fusion version of the rocket, Jiang, who is also a member of the 13th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), China's top political advisory body, told the Global Times on Thursday.

"The rocket will adopt a range of new technologies including electrical integration as well as the integration of ground tracking, monitoring and controlling system," Jiang said.

The fusion version of the Long March-8, to be reusable, is expected to demonstrate and test the key VTVL technology within this year, the CALT official noted.

According to CALT, the fusion version of the Long March-8 will explore key technical possibilities including navigation control for low-speed landing and large stretch-fold ratio landing buffer mechanism, among others.

In the future, the new rocket type will be able to be collected in a cluster, with two boosters and the first core stage being affixed to each other, according to the academy.

Bringing about the re-use of a launch vehicle system would mark a giant leap in the country's space industry, elevating the country's capability of space entry and exit and explorations, Jiang said.

Conquering such technology would resolve landing area safety issues and reduce costs for launch missions, and would help the country obtain the technological edge and answer current pressing needs, she said.

Long March-8 made a successful maiden flight from the tropical island province of Hainan in South China on Tuesday, sending five satellites into designated orbit at the same time in December 2020.

The 50.3-meter-long Long March-8 has a 3.35-meter-diameter core stage and two 2.25-meter-diameter side boosters. Weighing 356 tons at launch, it has a 480-ton take-off thrust and is capable of sending payloads weighing more than 4.5 tons into the SSO 700 kilometers above the ground, CALT said in a statement it sent to the Global Times.

The model has been dubbed the "Chinese version of SpaceX Falcon 9" for its potential to be reusable. The first stage of Long March-8 is expected to become reusable 10 times by 2025, and by 2035, the entire rocket is expected to be reusable, the CASC said in November.

Wu Yansheng, a senior official with CASC, previously revealed in November 2020 that China aims to develop the first launch vehicle capable of VTVL by 2025.

Also on Thursday, carrying the hopes of space enthusiasts all around the world, Elon Musk's SpaceX Starship rocket SN10 prototype made a smooth high-altitude flight and even executed a "beautiful soft landing" back on Earth, before the final twist - the rocket exploded eight minutes after reaching the launching pad.

Photo: Tu Haichao

Chinese netizens sent their congratulations for the near-perfect flight, sending their best wishes for the success for the next flight of the system, which is designed to be a fully reusable mode of space transport.

Chinese space experts reached by the Global Times said they were closely following the SpaceX test, and said the explosion after landing could have been caused by a crash in the internal fuel tank while it was landing.

They also called for room to be allowed for trial and error in such reusable rocket technology tests, whether they are carried out by Chinese firms or American ones.

Netizens expressed their wish that someday scientists from all over the world could join hands in the quest for space exploration, cast aside their political differences and make the dream of travel to Mars and Moon come true sooner.

Long March-8 rocket likely to try out vertical landing in 2021: Chinese developer - Global Times

www.globaltimes.cn