Source:Blue Arrow Aerospace Official WeChat
Written by |Liu Siyu Cheng ZiyunEdit |Shen LuluAudit |Liu Yulin.
Cover |Tianbing Science and Technology official WeChatAt the end of 2023, a number of commercial aerospace start-ups have made new breakthroughs in liquid rockets, and some companies are betting on liquid rocket progress in 2024. The first echelon of commercial rockets may therefore be shuffled in the new year.
On December 1, the head enterprise Blue Arrow Aerospace officially announced that its Suzaku No. 2 Yao-3 liquid oxygen methane carrier rocket had been successfully transferred to the launch area and was ready to choose the opportunity to carry out the launch missionThe world's first methane rocket was successfully commercially launched
Taking this opportunity, Blue Arrow Aerospace released our country on the same dayThe first stainless steel launch vehicle- Suzaku IIIReusable liquid oxygen methane rockets, which is expected to be performed onIt will have the ability to make its first flight in 2025
And last month (November 8), Tianbing Technology also officially announced its "Tianlong III" (TL-3).Large liquid launch vehiclesWill beThe first flight will take place in June 2024
In fact, Tianbing Technology and Blue Arrow Aerospace have successfully launched their respective liquid rockets in the first and second quarters of this year.
April 2ndThe Tianlong-2 Yao-1 carrier rocket independently developed by Tianbing Technology was successfully ignited and took off at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center. Since then, Tianlong-2 has been hailed as the first liquid launch vehicle successfully launched into orbit in China's commercial aerospace fieldTianbing Technology has thus become domesticBe the first to step through the doors of liquid launch vehiclesof private rocket enterprises.
According to the data, the rocket is a medium-sized launch vehicle (** liquid rocket, using liquid oxygen kerosene propellant) developed by Tianbing Science and Technology for three years. According to Liu Lan (pseudonym), a person familiar with the matter, "When the rocket was launched, it did not rely on a launch station with a shelf, but used a simple launch method on the cement floor." ”
According to Xinhua**, before the first flight of the "Tianlong-2" rocket, it had already received the largest market order in the domestic commercial aerospace field. After the successful launch, Tianbing Technology received olive branches from many parties.
The launch of the Blue Arrow Aerospace Liquid Rocket into orbit is a close secondJuly 12thThe Suzaku Yao-2 carrier rocket of Blue Arrow Aerospace was successfully launched at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center and successfully entered the scheduled orbit. The rocket also becameThe world's first liquid oxygen methane rocket to successfully enter orbit
After the launch of the Suzaku 2 Yao-2 rocket, the capital circle and the commercial aerospace circle cheered: Jingwei Venture Capital, Sequoia, Country Garden Venture Capital and other institutions that have invested in Blue Arrow Aerospace, as well as employees of commercial aerospace companies such as Emposat, Rocket School, and Micro-Nano Star have applauded on social platforms. (For details, see Taber.com's article "After the Liquid Goes into Orbit: The Cheering Crowd, the Subtle "Shuffle").
At this point, looking back on 2023,The successful launch of the liquid rocketIt has becomeThe first echelon of commercial rocketsbarrier to entry. In contrast,Galaxy Power, a private commercial rocket company, has taken a relatively lead in the field of solid rockets this year, while the launch of liquid rockets needs to be verified next year
A few days before the first commercial launch of the Suzaku-2 Yao-3 liquid oxygen methane carrier rocket (December 5), Galaxy Power successfully launched the Ceres-1 (Yao-9) carrier rocket from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, successfully carrying out the morning and dusk orbital launch mission for the first time. This is also the 10th successful launch of Galaxy Dynamics' Ceres-1 series of commercial launch vehicles.
As an angel round investor of Galaxy Power, Chen Dong, founding partner of Yuanhang Capital, recently said at the 2023 Aerospace Daxing Forum, ".At present, in the field of solid rockets, Galaxy Power has put into production 30 rounds, fired 10 rounds, and successfully launched 9 rounds, generating stable and large-scale income
On the other hand, looking at the propulsion of its liquid rockets, Xiao Cheng (pseudonym, the same below), a commercial rocket practitioner, said: "It can be seen that Galaxy Power wants to 'do it in one step' in the field of liquid power generation and directly enter the first echelon." ”
In Chen Dong's view, generally a type of liquid rocket will be made into a small rocket or a disposable rocket first, "the planning of Galaxy Power's liquid rocket is directly to make a medium and large liquid rocket with reusable ability, and the research and development process is completely commercialized, without any superfluous actions." "Moreover, the "Zhishenxing-1" liquid rocket in 3Seven 50-ton thrust liquid oxygen kerosene engines are connected in parallel in the 35-meter-diameter rocket body, with a reusable architecture, providing 350 tons of thrust, and the low-orbit capacity can reach 5 tons.
On May 17, Galaxy Power successfully held the completion and opening ceremony of the rocket launch line and the rocket engine test base, and the first Chizhou-made "Zhishenxing-1" liquid launch vehicle was successfully completed and put into use.
At that time, Liu Baiqi, chairman of Galaxy Power, publicly stated that the "Zhishenxing-1" liquid rocket was oneReusable liquid launch vehiclesAfter the successful rolloff of this rocket, it is expected that about 60 large-scale ground tests will continue, andThe first flight is planned for the second half of next year, with the goal of reaching 50 reuses in the future.
For Galaxy Power, the launch time of the "Zhishenxing-1" liquid rocket next year is the key to its continued ranking in the first echelon. Liu Baiqi said, "In the next step, the company will accelerate the industrialization of reusable liquid launch vehicles." ”
Similar to Galaxy Power, Interstellar Glory, which also takes into account the research and development of solid rockets and liquid rockets, ushered in new developments yesterday (December 17).
At 15:00 on December 17, the hyperbola-1 Yao-7 carrier rocket developed by Interstellar Glory was launched at Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in China and successfully completed the commercial launch mission. It is reported that"Hyperbola-1" is China's first private commercial launch vehicle successfully put into orbitAfter a successful first flight, after three consecutive defeats, it finally regained its success in the launch of the hyperbola-1 Yao-6 rocket carried out in the first half of this year (April 7). The launch mission was the sixth flight of the Hyperbola-1 commercial launch vehicle.
On the liquid rocket route, Interstellar Glory and Blue Arrow Aerospace also use liquid oxygen methane engines. According to official information, Interstellar Glory mainly has "Focus 1" and "Focus 2 (under development)" liquid oxygen methane engines, and the main direction of Interstellar Glory is the reusable small liquid oxygen methane launch vehicle Hyperbola 2 equipped with "Focus 1".Its official path is "first **, then into orbit".
On November 2 this year, according to the Interstellar Glory announcement, the company's self-developed liquid oxygen methane reusable verification rocket Hyperbola-2 (codenamed SQX-2Y) was ignited at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in China, and then the Interstellar Glory Hyperbola 2 landed accurately and the test was successful.
Just this month (December 10), the company developedHyperbola-2 reusable liquid oxygen methane verification rocketThe second flight test mission was carried out at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in China, and the mission was a complete successThe first reusable flight of a reusable rocket in China was realized
In fact, as early as December 25, 2019, the 500-second long-range test run of the reusable liquid oxygen methane engine of Interstellar Glory Focus No. 1 was successfulOn September 27, 2023, Star Glory completed the first full-system test run of the 100-ton liquid oxygen methane rocket engine Focus 2 (code JD-2).
StillJudging from the current launch progress, Blue Arrow Aerospace and Tianbing Technology have been listed as core members of the first echelon of liquid rockets with the help of the launch of liquid rockets. In the process of competition between these two companies, they have followed the current marketization trajectory of liquid rockets and opened up their own development path (methane kerosene).
According to public information, in the next few years, Tianbing Technology will take the first and reuse technology of liquid launch vehicles as its core technology. The company has completed the research and engineering verification of key technologies of the "Tianlong" series of liquid launch vehicles. Among them, "Tianlong-3" is one of the largest rockets in China, and its performance is directly comparable to SpaceX's Falcon 9, which is tailored for China's new satellite Internet infrastructure.
Tianbing Technology told Taber.com,"Tianlong-3" large liquid launch vehicle, which is expected to be performed onThe first flight will take place in June 2024。At the same time, the first sub-stage of the "Tianlong-3" is equipped with grid rudders and **outriggers, which are capable of reusing more than 50 times and can return on their own.
Based on this, Kang Yonglai said that the "Tianlong No. 3" has achieved small batch production, and at the same time threw three whole arrows and more than 40 rocket engines. According to the company, it is expected that after the successful first flight of the rocket next year, it will officially enter the commercial mass launch stageIn the future, it will have the capacity of more than 30 commercial launch services per year。In the face of satellites weighing 300 kg to 500 kg, the Tianlong-3 rocket can carry 30 to 60 satellites at a time, and the launch cost can be effectively reduced to the highest level of SpaceX's "Falcon 9" rocket.
Blue Arrow Aerospace focuses on methane fuel. Zhang Changwu, CEO of Blue Arrow Aerospace, publicly stated after the successful first flight of his liquid rocket (in July this year).More than 60% of the systems of the Suzaku 2 rocket are independently developed by the company。Next,Suzaku 2 will be delivered in small quantities to the marketNext year, it is planned to deliver 3-4 roundsAfter that, it doubled every year for three consecutive years.
At the same time,Blue Arrow Aerospace has launched a reusable rocket project, which is expected to test fly the ** rocket in 2025.
Compared with the liquid oxygen kerosene engine, the liquid oxygen methane engine used by Blue Arrow Aerospace requires more test preparation and engineering validation. Xiao Cheng said: "Since methane has not been used in the aerospace industry of various countries before the development of commercial aerospace, private enterprises choosing the liquid oxygen methane route are still facing the problem of lack of scientific research and launch infrastructure, and even require private rocket companies to invest heavily in building their own liquid oxygen methane launch stations." ”
The self-built engine intelligent manufacturing base and rocket manufacturing base can ensure stable mass production while the technology is independent and controllableSelf-built launch station to ensure the stable frequency of rocket transmission;Through the engine production base in Huzhou, the rocket manufacturing base in Jiaxing and the self-built liquid oxygen methane launch station in Jiuquan, Blue Arrow Aerospace has formed a comprehensive delivery capacity for mass production, testing and launch.
According to the plan, the Blue Arrow space program is inIn 2025The third phase of the Jiaxing Blue Arrow Space Center project has been fully completedAchieve an annual output of 12 pieces and launch 6 piecesThe goal of the Suzaku 2 launch vehicle is to help fully form the delivery capacity of large-scale commercial launches.
Similar to Tianbing Technology, the large-scale commercial launch of Blue Arrow Aerospace also points to the construction of satellite Internet constellations. According to reports, Suzaku 3 will meet the rapid growth needs of domestic large-scale satellite Internet constellation construction and space-to-earth transportation tasks on the basis of independent and controllable "R&D, production, testing, launch, and comprehensive capabilities."
The above four companies are not the only ones that make frequent moves. In addition to Blue Arrow Aerospace, Tianbing Technology, Galaxy Power and Interstellar Glory, companies such as Oriental Space, Zhongke Aerospace, and Deep Blue Aerospace are also preparing for the launch of liquid rockets or conducting rocket verification.
For example, Oriental Space. On November 27, at the 2023 China (Wenchang) Commercial Aerospace Summit Forum, Oriental Space said that it is expected to start construction of the launch vehicle launch and Hainan base in 2024, and the first flight of the liquid launch vehicle "Gravity-2" is planned to be completed in 2025.
In addition, on December 2, the groundbreaking ceremony of the Zhongke Aerospace Liquid Power System Test Center was held in Aotou Town, Conghua District, Guangzhou, and the Liquid Power System Test Center officially started, making every effort to sprint the first flight of the liquid rocket.
On December 18, according to the official WeChat message of Hainan Commercial Development, Deep Blue Aerospace made it clear when it visited Hainan International Commercial Space Launch on December 16 that rocket launch tests will be carried out at the Hainan Commercial Space Launch Site next year, including land, sea, and the first launch of rockets at the end of the year.
Based on the development dynamics of domestic liquid rockets, Xiao Cheng said: "The development of domestic commercial rockets is still in the early stage, and the future competition pattern may undergo major changes. ”
At present, private commercial aerospace enterprises have gone through many years of precipitation of sounding rockets, solid rockets and small and medium-sized liquid rockets, and their liquid rocket technology has been completed "from 0 to 1". Next, it will take time to verify the "from 0 to 1" of the relevant commercialization pathway.