星河动力空间科技有限公司 Galactic Energy- Galaxy Power (Beijing) Space Technology Co., Ltd. Located in Block D, Aviation Technology Plaza, E-Town, and Beijing – Beijing – China – People’s Republic of China ….Galaxy Aerospace is the first private aerospace company in China to achieve successful continuous launches, the first to send commercial networked satellites into a 500km sun-synchronous orbit, and the first to master the ability to launch multiple satellites with one carrier rocket
[New Generation 100-Ton-Class CQ-90 Engine Completes 130-Second Long-Duration Test]
Recently, Galactic Energy successfully completed a 130-second long-duration rated operating condition test of the new generation 100-ton-class CQ-90 (Cangqiong-90) liquid oxygen/kerosene engine, the main engine of the large reusable liquid launch vehicle Zhishenxing-2, at the Niutoushan test stand. The test was a complete success. With this, the CQ-90 engine has completed more than 20 research-oriented test runs and has officially entered the reliability verification test phase.
The CQ-90 engine is an independent upgrade of the already successfully developed CQ-50 (50-ton-class needle-bolt variable thrust engine) by Galactic Energy. The CQ-50 has undergone more than 23,000 seconds of hot-fire testing, fully verifying core technologies such as needle-bolt injection, depth variable thrust control, and multiple start-ups. The development of the CQ-90 effectively avoided repetitive verification from scratch, achieving a rapid iterative closed loop of design-simulation-testing. From scheme design to the first full-scale hot test, it took less than 8 months, improving development efficiency several times over compared to the traditional model.
Galaxy Power integrated several cutting-edge achievements with completely independent innovations into the CQ-90: a simple, efficient, and redundant engine system design that reduces engine connection interfaces and improves product reliability; a rear-pump swing overall layout that gives the engine ±6° bidirectional swing capability, significantly reducing the envelope and torque requirements of the servo mechanism and making the structure more compact; a new high-performance adjustable needle-bolt injector that achieves a thrust chamber combustion efficiency of over 97%, reaching the advanced level of similar domestic engines; a coaxial split-type two-stage high-speed turbopump and staged injection gas generator that ensures stable operation under all working conditions; a fully 3D-printed copper alloy design for the high-temperature section of the thrust chamber, shortening the production cycle and increasing heat exchange effect; and the use of 3D printing for more than 90% of the components, significantly shortening the production cycle, reducing manufacturing costs, and improving product consistency.
The CQ-90 engine uses a gas generator cycle, providing 30-120 tons of thrust at sea level, perfectly matching the rocket’s thrust requirements during ascent and deceleration during recovery and landing. Its specific impulse at sea level is no less than 282 seconds, and its thrust-to-weight ratio exceeds 150. Furthermore, the engine has a ≥3-start capability, meeting the requirements for multiple restarts including optional reentry ignition, re-entry ignition, and landing ignition.
The Ceres-2 rocket has a diameter of 4.5 meters and includes two configurations: a basic model with a liftoff mass of approximately 757 tons, a liftoff thrust of approximately 910 tons, and a low-Earth orbit payload capacity of 21.5 tons. The entire rocket is powered by nine CQ-90 engines operating in parallel, and its recovery and reuse capability significantly reduces launch costs. The bundled configuration has a liftoff mass of approximately 1950 tons and a low-Earth orbit payload capacity of 58 tons.
Images and visuals are from their respectives also Galactic Energy is located in Block D, Aviation Technology Plaza, E-Town, Beijing- China – People’s Republic of China
