China Develops Reusable Commercial Rockets to Improve Launch Capabilities

China Develops Reusable Commercial Rockets to Improve Launch Capabilities

China has been working to improve its rocket launch capabilities by sending low-cost rockets into space with a focus on developing reusable rockets.

The Lijian-2 carrier rocket, the first liquid-propellant rocket developed by a high-tech enterprise in Beijing, is scheduled to be launched next year for the first time with the first stage and the booster of the rocket recycled by 2028.

"It's highly reliable and developed rapidly, with a payload capacity of around eight tonnes. It's mainly used to launch satellite groups for the construction of the low-orbit Internet constellation, and low-cost cargo ships," said Shi Xiaoning, vice president of Beijing CAS Space Technology Co., Ltd.

He said the construction of large-scale satellite constellation puts forward higher requirements on the costs and production capacity of rockets, and they have conducted a number of recycling tests.

"To recycle rockets is the major way to reduce the demand for rocket production capacity as it's impossible for us to build production lines without limits. So we recycle the big stuff, which is the best way to improve the launch capacity," Shi said.

Another commercial rocket company LandSpace in Beijing is also working on the research on reusable rockets.

The vertical return technology of Zhuque-3, a reusable rocket developed by the company, has successfully completed its first flight test at the beginning of this year.

The flight test verified the vertical recovery of a rocket at low altitude and low speed, matching between the control system and engine thrust adjustment performance, and the rocket vertical recovery's guidance and control algorithm, according to LandSpace.

"We have made a rough assessment before. It is preliminarily estimated that if the first stage of the rocket can be reused for 20 times, the entire cost can be reduced by more than half. Taking into account the expense on test, maintenance and fuel after recycling, we can save more than 60 percent of the costs," said Dai Zheng, commander in chief of China's reusable rocket Zhuque-3.

Video Credit: China Central Television (CCTV) Video News Agency

Duration: 1 minute, 11 seconds

Release Date: Aug. 7, 2024

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