During this year of 2023, China People’s Republic of China’s CNSA – China National Space Administration Reusable Ultra Heavy Carrier Rocket长征九号火箭 Change Zheng –Long March Nine Reusable Carrier Rocket of it’s first heavy-duty rocket 10-meter-class rocket tank has been developed!……. The “waist circumference” of the rocket storage tank in front of me reaches 10 meters, and it is the largest rocket storage tank developed by our country so far. Compared with the “Fat Five” rocket’s tank with a diameter of 5 meters, its “waistline” has nearly doubled. At present, the storage tank has been developed, and the project has been completed recently.
Its successful development has realized the leap from a 5-meter-level diameter to a 10-meter-level launch vehicle storage tank in my country, and also marks that my country has become the third company in the world with the development capability of a 10-meter-level ultra-large-diameter storage tank after Russia and the United States. The country has laid a solid foundation for the development of my country’s heavy-duty launch vehicle engineering.
Hu Zhenggen, deputy chief designer of the heavy-duty launch vehicle of the Rocket Academy, introduced that expanding the diameter of the storage tank to the 10-meter level seems to be just the diameter multiplied by 2, but the actual development difficulty is not as simple as doubling, and the process almost challenges the limit of my country’s industrial basic capabilities , but it also fully drives the development of advanced materials, advanced technology, high-end manufacturing and other related basic industries, and plays a positive role in accelerating the transformation and upgrading of my country’s manufacturing industry, driving the development of high-end equipment in my country, and promoting the construction of a strong manufacturing country.
The project team innovated with the model of national large-scale cooperation and brainstorming, united more than 20 domestic superior units, and carried out collaborative research. It took more than 6 years to open up the entire development chain from materials, design, component forming, assembly and welding, and test assessment. The road has realized the upgrading of the design and manufacturing technology of large-diameter tanks for launch vehicles in my country. Previously, the team has successively completed the important components of the tank – the overall transition ring of the 10-meter tank (Figure 3), the melon petal sample of the 10-meter tank (Figure 4), the bottom ring of the 10-meter tank ( Figure 5) …
During this process, the team has overcome a series of key technologies:
preparation of super-large-sized plates, super-large
-diameter tank structure optimization design,
super-large-diameter components, precise shape, collaborative manufacturing technology,
super-large-diameter tank bottom, friction stir welding technology,
super-large-diameter tank Vertical assembly friction stir welding technology
…
The successful development of the 10-meter rocket body tank is an important achievement in the key technology research and program deepening demonstration stage of heavy-duty launch vehicles, which shows that China has the ability to develop heavy-duty launch vehicles….
Images and visuals are from their Respectives CMS China Manned SpaceCNSA-China National Space Administration