At 17:07 on December 10, the liquid oxygen methane reusable verification rocket independently developed by Interstellar Glory Company was ignited at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in the desert of northwest China.
The rocket completed its first vertical take-off and landing flight test in early November, and the flight on December 10 was its second flight reuse, realizing the first reuse of liquid oxygen methane rocket in China.
A few days ago, Blue Arrow Aerospace's Suzaku 2 Yao-3 launch vehicle and Galaxy Power's Ceres-1 Yao-9 carrier rocket were also successfully launched in the same desert, respectively representing the world's first continuously successful liquid oxygen methane rocket entering a new stage of large-scale commercial launch and the first successful launch mission of a domestic private rocket company in the morning and dusk orbit, adding new achievements to a number of records set by China's private rockets in 2023.
As big as the rocket is capable of, the arena of astronautics is as big as it is. On the occasion of the completion of the 500th launch of the Long March series of carrier rockets, China's commercial aerospace is also poised to launch, and private rockets are ready to help China's aerospace industry further move towards marketization and industrialization.
Create a cost-effective space trip.
In 2017, 35-year-old Xia Dongkun was already a senior technician at the China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology, but this year he decided to put down the "iron rice bowl" and step into the "blue ocean" of private rockets with his colleague Liu Baiqi.
The confidence of the two of them comes from a keen observation of China's commercial aerospace industry - on the one hand, various domestic commercial aerospace companies and local governments have launched multiple satellite constellation plans with communication and remote sensing as applications, and the demand for satellite launches will grow sharply in the coming period; On the other hand, the rocket carrying capacity of the "national team" does not meet the needs of all aspects.
In 2014, the state issued a number of policies to encourage private capital to participate in the construction of national civil space infrastructure. We are confident that we can develop a cost-effective rocket with our accumulated experience, so we want to come out and boldly break through. Xia Dongkun said.
In 2018, Liu Baiqi, Xia Dongkun and others founded Galaxy Power, which provides new commercial launch vehicle launch services, and released the "Ceres" and "Zhishenxing" commercial launch vehicle development plans.
At 7:33 a.m. on December 5, the Ceres-1 Yao-9 carrier rocket was launched from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, and the launch mission was a complete success. Xinhua News Agency (photo by Wang Jiangbo).
Ceres and Homo sapiens were the first two asteroids discovered by humans in the early 19th century, and they were out of reach for people at the time. Today, human probes have visited Ceres. We hope that the rockets we build will also bring the seemingly distant space closer to everyday life. Xia Dongkun said.
The high launch cost of rockets is a "roadblock" that hinders mankind's large-scale access to space, and the reusability of launch vehicles is the most important means to reduce launch costs. Ji Haibo, chief designer of the liquid model of Beijing Interstellar Glory Space Technology Co., Ltd., said that the realization of the carrier rocket is the only way for domestic and foreign commercial aerospace to pursue the highest input-output ratio, and the success of the hyperbolic No. 2 verification rocket reuse flight has laid the foundation for China's commercial aerospace to master the best technology.
Also aware of the importance of rocket reusability is Liu Lei, general manager of the power research and development department of Blue Arrow Aerospace Space Technology Co., Ltd., who joined Blue Arrow Aerospace from Beijing Aerospace Propulsion Research Institute in 2017.
When I first joined, Musk's reusable rocket had already begun to launch and operate. I thought: Americans can do it, why can't we Chinese? And at that time, commercial aerospace companies were still in the state of laying the foundation, and there was more room for free play. Liu Lei expressed his belief that before he retired, he would be able to realize his dream of traveling to space on a rocket he built.
Explore China's reusable rockets.
The two recent successful launches of Interstellar Glory's Hyperbola-2 have verified the rocket's rapid reusability capabilities. Ji Haibo said that this means that Interstellar Glory has initially mastered a series of key technologies for low-altitude return and landing and reuse of reusable rockets.
On November 2, the liquid oxygen methane reusable verification rocket developed by Interstellar Glory Company was ignited and launched at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center. About 1 minute later, the rocket landed smoothly and accurately at the target landing site, the rocket state was safely restored, and the flight test mission was a complete success.
Depending on the propellant used, rockets can generally be divided into solid and liquid rockets. Compared with solid rockets, liquid rockets have the advantages of high specific impulse, adjustable thrust, and multiple starts, which are the best choice for launch vehicles.
Liu Lei said that methane is low cost, easy to procure, and liquid oxygen methane is not easy to coke and deposition carbon, which is conducive to the maintenance of engines and rockets, and is one of the feasible ways to build reusable rockets.
After coming to this conclusion, although we understand that we are following a path that others have not taken, and that it will take more time and more pressure to carry on our backs, our goal has not changed from beginning to end. Liu Lei said.
After a series of preparations, the Blue Arrow space team ushered in the successful launch of the Suzaku 2 Yao-2 carrier rocket on July 12, 2023. After the countdown was over, the flames at the bottom of the rocket erupted, forming four bright beams that sent the rocket into the sky. The "Tianque" engine powered by liquid oxygen methane inside the rocket has laid the foundation for Blue Arrow to master the best technology.
It took eight years from the establishment of Blue Arrow Aerospace in 2015 to the successful launch, which can be described as eight years of grinding an 'arrow'. Liu Lei said.
After the successful launch of the Suzaku 2 Yao-3 launch vehicle, Blue Arrow Aerospace announced the development plan of the Suzaku 3 reusable liquid oxygen methane launch vehicle. The number of first-level design reuses of Suzaku 3 will be no less than 20 times, and the carrying capacity is strong, which can help large-scale constellation networking tasks.
The "arrow" that drives the benign development of the industrial chain
Rockets are the most important tools for entering space and developing space, and the main customers of private rocket companies at this stage are commercial satellite companies. "We are more aimed at the application of the commercial market, to solve the pain points of customers, what customers need, we will develop something. Xia Dongkun said.
Beijing Guodian Hi-Tech Technology Co., Ltd. is a commercial aerospace company focusing on the research and development of low-orbit satellites, and the cooperation between this company and Galaxy Power began with the first arrow of Ceres-1.
Generally speaking, satellite companies are reluctant to use the first arrow, but our company has a good understanding of the technical department of Galaxy Power and trusts them very much. Pei Yao, the relevant person in charge of Guodian Hi-Tech, said.
Pei Yao said that the company pays attention to both stability and cost performance when choosing rockets, and the "national team" of large-capacity rockets can launch commercial low-orbit small satellites, but the "starting price" is higher, and private rocket companies have developed rockets that can accurately match this part of the demand for small capacity and low-orbit launches, and the launch can be greatly reduced, providing one more choice for satellite companies.
In recent years, Beijing Guodian Hi-Tech Technology has launched 8 low-orbit narrowband communication satellites through private rockets. These satellites can solve the problem of object information backing in areas that cannot be covered by ground-based signals, and play a role in the monitoring of mountains, rivers, forests, fields, lakes, grasses and sands, geological disasters, pests and diseases, and ultra-high voltage lines.
Commercial rockets and satellites are an important part of China's commercial aerospace industry, and at present, the market size has exceeded one trillion yuan, and the number of registered and effective commercial aerospace enterprises in China exceeds 400.
At 7:39 a.m. on December 9, the Suzaku 2 Yao-3 carrier rocket was launched from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, and the launch mission was a complete success. Xinhua News Agency (photo by Wang Jiangbo).
Blue Arrow Aerospace has laid out two intelligent manufacturing bases in Zhejiang, respectively to carry out rocket testing, engine manufacturing and hot test work, and a large part of the parts required for the Suzaku 2 rocket also come from Zhejiang.
Through continuous research and development and improvement, rocket companies can explore a set of standardized processes suitable for the whole industry chain, drive commercial aerospace to a virtuous cycle track, and make the popularity of commercial aerospace higher and higher. Liu Lei said.
Chief Planner: Gu Qianjiang.
Producer: Wei Tiemin.
Reporter: Xu Xintao, Yu Fei, Yang Chunxue.
*: Xu Xintao, Yu Fei, Song Chen.
Editors: Liu Chang, Ou Dongqu.
Xinhua News Agency on external production.
Produced by the China Story Workshop.