China Three-Stage Engine of China's New Manned Carrier Rocket to Enter Prototype Development, China tests engine for new crewed moon rocket

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Three-Stage Engine of China's New Manned Carrier Rocket to Enter Prototype Development​

Jun 17, 2022



China’s space programme has moved a step closer to crewed lunar and interplanetary missions with the completion of a prototype super heavy-lift rocket engine, according to state media.

The 220-tonne engine will power the next generation Long March 9 rocket

The China National Space Agency plans to land people on the moon by 2030 and there are ambitions for a return to Mars

The 220-tonne engine is intended to power the next generation Long March 9 (CZ-9) carrier rocket, expected to enter service before 2030. The CZ-9 will be a three-stage rocket with boosters, with the new engine forming its core and second stage, according to China Space News.

“It is one of the most important symbols of a nation becoming a space power,” the report said.

The China National Space Agency (CNSA) plans to land people on the moon by 2030 and announced plans in June to set up a joint lunar station with Russia around 2035.

But China’s rocket capability has been a bottleneck to its ambitions for bigger missions into deeper space. The CZ-5 – the most powerful Chinese rocket in operation – has a payload of 25 tonnes to lower Earth orbit (LEO). In contrast the CZ-9, will have a capacity of 150 tonnes to the LEO.

The new supplement combustion cycle hydrogen-oxygen engine has been in development for at least four years. Its key specifications – including engine thrust, vacuum specific impulse and thrust-to-weight ratio – have set records for China’s rocket engines, although the China Space News report did not give details.

Once the CZ-9 enters service, it is expected to power a crewed lunar landing and eventually a mission to retrieve samples from Mars.
 

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China tests engine for new crewed moon rocket (photo)​

By Andrew Jones
June. 29 2022

The tests mark the latest progress in the country's human spaceflight plans.

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A hot-fire test of the third stage engine for China's next-generation crewed launch vehicle, which is designed to be capable of sending astronauts to the moon. (Image credit: CASC)

China has successfully conducted a hot-fire test of a new engine that will help power a next-generation rocket capable of launching astronauts to the moon.

"The long-distance and multiple ignition tests of the engine have been successfully completed, indicating that it is ready to enter the next stage of prototype sample development," the state-run media outlet Xinhua reported this month(opens in new tab).

The test examined the engine's key technologies, components and performance, the reliability of the ignition system and a real-time fault diagnosis system, according to officials with the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC), the country's state-owned main space contractor, which is developing the liquid hydrogen-liquid oxygen rocket engine.

China released a space white paper earlier this year outlining key tasks for the next five years (2021-2025) that included language indicating that the first liftoff of a new crew launch vehicle would take place before the end of the period.

The first version to be tested will be a two-stage rocket capable of sending a next-generation crew spacecraft to China's Tiangong space station.

The larger, three-stage version — which will include the new engine — will be able to send a larger variant of the next-gen crew spacecraft to the moon, potentially before the end of the decade.

 

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