China Develops Lunar Long March-10 Carrier Rocket for Moon Landings
China is developing a lunar version of its Long March-10 carrier rockets for upcoming moon landing missions. A ground test run for the the first-stage propulsion system of the lunar version rocket was completed on Friday, June 14, 2024, marking a key step to achieve the first crewed moon landing goal by 2030.
The Long March 10 uses a modular design. This allows a flexible configuration of modules depending on the need of the mission. Currently, the crewed launch vehicle has two main versions for space missions.
The Long March-10, measuring 92.5 meters (303.5 feet) tall, is a three-stage super-heavy rocket that burns kerosene and liquid oxygen.
Its first stage is five meters wide and powered by seven YF-100K engines. Along with two boosters, each also consisting of seven YF-100K engines, the rocket can generate a thrust of 2,678 tonnes at lift-off.
It is capable of delivering at least 27 tonnes to an Earth-moon transfer orbit—around three times the capacity of Long March-5, China’s most powerful rocket to date.
"The lunar version is mainly used to send the lunar lander and manned spacecraft to the lunar orbit, so it has two configurations, one for launching the lander and the other for launching the manned spacecraft. The near-Earth version currently under intensive R&D also has two configurations, and is mainly used in the operation and development stage of the space station project, mainly for transporting people and cargo," said Xu Hongping, an engineer with the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC).
For China’s planned crewed moon landing, Long March-10 rockets will be tasked with two launches—one to send the Mengzhou spacecraft towards the lunar orbit, and another to launch the Lanyue moon lander.
These two spacecraft will then rendezvous and dock in lunar orbit, and two astronauts will enter the moon lander from the Mengzhou.
After the lander touches down on the lunar surface, the astronauts will drive a rover to carry out scientific investigations and collect rock samples, according to state broadcaster CCTV.
Once they complete their mission, the crew will return to Lanyue and depart the moon. They will dock with Mengzhou in lunar orbit and return to Earth with the samples they collected, CCTV said in July after a successful hot-fire test of the YF-100K engine.
China has been working on all key components of its planned moon landings, such as the crew spacecraft, the moon lander and rover, and the lunar landing suits.
Video Credit: CCTV Video News Agency
Duration: 38 seconds
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