Beijing Zhongke Aerospace Exploration Technology Co., Ltd. is the first domestic aerospace enterprise with mixed ownership, and it is also the target enterprise that Oriental Aerospace Port focuses on introducing. Relying on the scientific research strength and resource advantages of the Institute of Mechanics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Aerospace Flight Technology Center of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, China Aerospace Science and Technology has been committed to the research and development and integration of space technology and aerospace vehicles as a platform for the transformation of major national scientific research projects, as well as the transformation and provision of technological achievements. Aerospace launch service. The Lijian-1 rocket project also adds a brand-new name card to the Oriental Space Port, which will surely promote the construction of the Oriental Space Port to take a solid step forward.
[Lijian-1 Y4 launch vehicle has been successfully delivered and will soon carry out its fourth launch mission]
The launch ceremony of Lijian-1 Y4 launch vehicle was successfully held at the China Science and Technology Aerospace Industrialization Base. Lijian-1 Y4 launch vehicle has completed all pre-delivery tasks according to the process and successfully passed the factory review. It will carry out the “one Carrier rocket, five satellites” launch mission at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in late September. This is also the fourth launch mission of this type of rocket. This batch of launched satellites is mainly used to provide remote sensing information services…
Lijian-1 Y4 launch vehicle has been successfully delivered from the factory – China Science and Technology Aerospace News; Lijian-1 Y4 launch vehicle has completed all pre-delivery work according to the process. After testing, the product functions and performance indicators meet the flight mission requirements and have successfully passed the factory review. It will carry out the “one rocket, five satellites” launch mission at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in late September. This batch of satellites is mainly used to provide remote sensing information services.
Under the pulsating production mode, the Lijian-1 Yao-6, Yao-7, and Yao-8 launch vehicles are carrying out mass production and final assembly in an orderly manner. The products, equipment, instruments, tooling, etc. involved in the entire process have been planned in advance. Deployment, production tasks are clear, and production and assembly can be started simultaneously in the final assembly and testing plant and intelligent manufacturing plant. It is worth mentioning that the Zhongke Aerospace Industrialization Base currently has complete structural cabin manufacturing and assembly capabilities. Starting from the Lijian-1 Yao-5 launch vehicle, the manufactured cabins will be directly used and delivered for final assembly, further shortening the production and manufacturing cycle. .
As China’s first medium-sized rocket to achieve high-density launches and the record holder for multiple satellite launches in a single launch of Chinese commercial rockets, the Lijian-1 carrier rocket has achieved complete success for three consecutive launches, accurately delivering 37 satellites with a total load of 3.5 tons into the scheduled orbit, with a 100% launch success rate. This type of rocket is suitable for rapid network launch of small and medium-sized satellites in medium and low orbits. It has a carrying capacity of 1.5 tons in a 500-kilometer sun-synchronous orbit. It is a medium-sized solid launch vehicle with core competitiveness in China’s commercial launch vehicle launch market and is also the main force in China’s commercial aerospace industry. It is one of the rockets that can effectively meet the needs of the commercial launch market in medium and low orbits. It also has the ability to respond quickly to diversified market demands and is committed to providing customers with highly reliable, low-cost, and high-density flight-based launch services.
Beijing Zhongke Aerospace Exploration Technology Co., Ltd. is the first domestic aerospace enterprise with mixed ownership, and it is also the target enterprise that Oriental Aerospace Port focuses on introducing. Relying on the scientific research strength and resource advantages of the Institute of Mechanics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Aerospace Flight Technology Center of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, China Aerospace Science and Technology has been committed to the research and development and integration of space technology and aerospace vehicles as a platform for the transformation of major national scientific research projects, as well as the transformation and provision of technological achievements. Aerospace launch service. The Lijian-1 rocket project also adds a brand-new name card to the Oriental Space Port, which will surely promote the construction of the Oriental Space Port to take a solid step forward.
Static test of composite cabin of “Lijian-2” liquid launch vehicle
Before July 29, 2024, the static test of the composite cabin of the “Lijian-2” liquid launch vehicle was successful. This test mainly verifies whether the structural scheme meets the design requirements under the maximum design load and assesses the feasibility of the composite scheme. Since the beginning of this year, the development of the “Lijian-2” rocket has been rapidly advanced and is steadily moving towards its first flight.
“Lijian-2” is a medium-sized cryogenic liquid carrier rocket developed by the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CAS Space). It adopts a two-and-a-half-stage configuration. The take-off stage adopts a CBC configuration, in which the core first stage and two core first stage module boosters are bundled side by side, and the core second stage is connected in series on the core first stage.
The first stage of the rocket core is equipped with three YF-102 liquid oxygen-kerosene engines, adopting an open gas generator cycle and a pump-front swing design, supporting double swing of ±6°, a single sea level thrust of approximately 85 tons (835 kN), a sea level specific impulse of 275.5 seconds, and a thrust-to-weight ratio of not less than 130; the two boosters are configured basically the same as the first stage of the core; the second stage of the core is equipped with a YF-102V liquid oxygen-kerosene engine with a thrust of approximately 72 tons (710 kN), which can achieve 55%~100% variable thrust, a vacuum specific impulse of 320 seconds (throttling)~330 seconds, and support repeated starts for no less than 2 times.
Schematic diagram of the Force Arrow II
The entire rocket of “Force-2” is 52 meters high. The diameters of the core stage, core stage and booster are all 3.35 meters. It is equipped with a fairing with a diameter of 4.2 meters. The take-off mass is 625 tons and the take-off thrust is 766 tons. Its low-Earth orbit (LEO) carrying capacity is 12 tons and its 500-kilometer sun-synchronous orbit (SSO) carrying capacity is 8 tons.
The ultimate goal of “Force Arrow II” is to become a reusable launch vehicle, realize multiple recovery and reuse of the core stage and boosters, and support reuse more than 20 times. The three-core parallel launch stage of the arrow will implement cluster separation and cluster recovery. The convenience lies in that it only needs to be equipped with a flight control system and a recovery and landing system, the latter includes a set of sang rudders and a set of landing legs. Two of the four sang rudders are distributed in the core stage, and the other two are distributed in the boosters. Two of the four landing legs are distributed in the core stage, and the other two are distributed in the boosters. According to the plan, “Force Arrow II” will realize the recovery of the core stage and booster modules in 2028.
The first flight is to launch a cargo spacecraft
Since the proposal, the “Lijian-2” has undergone major changes in the plan. The current design is very different from the previous single-stage plan, and the first flight has been postponed for several years. According to the plan, in August 2025, the “Lijian-2” will make its first flight at the No. 2 station of the Wenchang Commercial Space Launch Site, and the takeoff stage will not be recovered.
The first flight mission of “Lijian-2” carried a heavy-duty cargo spacecraft. The cargo spacecraft was developed by the Microsatellite Innovation Institute of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. In the bidding for the overall plan of the low-cost cargo transportation system for the Chinese space station released by the China Manned Space Engineering Office in May 2023, the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Satellite Innovation Institute jointly carried out ship-rocket joint demonstration and key technology research, and carried out the “ship-rocket-cargo” integrated space-to-earth transportation system plan design. With the ship-rocket collaborative solution of the low-cost cargo spacecraft and the “Lijian-2” rocket, it was successfully shortlisted in the bidding and entered the detailed design stage of the plan.
The launch mission of the low-cost cargo spacecraft to be carried out by the Lijian-2 rocket is the first time that a Chinese commercial aerospace enterprise has participated in the development and launch of a low-cost cargo transportation project for the Chinese space station. If it is finally selected, the Lijian-2 will become China’s first commercial rocket to carry out manned space missions, which will also be a recognition of the reliability of the Lijian-2.
Build your own advantages by networking for the constellation!
As a commercial aerospace enterprise, China Aerospace Science and Technology is targeting the vast commercial space launch market, especially the low-orbit satellite constellation launch service market. my country’s currently planned low-orbit constellation contains tens of thousands of satellites, which require launch vehicles to provide large-capacity, high-frequency, low-cost, and high-reliability launch services. Compared with China’s liquid commercial rockets of the same level, the “Lijian-2” rocket does not have an advantage in capacity, but it can work hard on high frequency, low cost, and high reliability.
Create high-frequency launches. At the Hainan Commercial Space Launch Center in China, two launch stations have been built. Both stations have a designed launch capacity of 16 times per year. Station 2 is a general-purpose station that needs to support the launch of more than a dozen types of rockets, which is far from enough for high-frequency launches. In addition to using Hainan Commercial Launch Station 2, China Science and Technology Aerospace is building a dedicated technical preparation plant at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center and is about to build a dedicated launch station for the “Lijian-2” rocket. Based on self-built stations, China Science and Technology Aerospace will be able to achieve dozens of launch frequencies per year.
The core secondary box section of “Lijian-2”
Achieve low cost. “Lijian-2” uses a lot of mature technologies. The main power is all YF-102 series engines. All stages use mainstream tank modules with a diameter of 3.35 meters. It uses the same avionics system as “Lijian-1”. The application of mature and common technologies means that costs can be greatly reduced. At the same time, simplifying the design is another important way to control costs. For example, the core second-stage box section takes into account the functions of the traditional liquid rocket instrument cabin and cancels the core second-stage instrument cabin, which simplifies the cabin structure and saves materials.
Achieve high reliability. While applying mature and general technologies, the power system and avionics system adopt redundant design, and the separation scheme is simple, making the rocket highly reliable. For example, the launch stage of the rocket is equipped with 9 YF-102 engines, with a single sea level thrust of about 85 tons, a total rocket takeoff thrust of 766 tons, a takeoff mass of 625 tons, and a thrust-to-weight ratio of 1.23, achieving a large power redundancy, and can complete the launch mission in the event of one engine failure.
Schematic diagram of the heavy-duty “Force Arrow II”
Building a stronger model
After my country’s low-orbit constellation enters the large-scale networking period, the intensive networking and launch of tens of thousands of satellites requires a large-scale reusable launch vehicle, but the current “Lijian-2” has obviously insufficient capacity.
Based on the Lijian-2, China Aerospace Science and Technology will develop a more powerful “Lijian-2” heavy-lift launch vehicle (called “heavy”, but actually large). The latter is based on the former and adds two core-stage module boosters to achieve five cores in parallel (5CBC). The “Lijian-2” heavy-lift rocket is 56 meters high, with optional fairings of 4.2 meters and 5 meters in diameter, a takeoff mass of 913 tons, a low-Earth orbit (LEO) capacity of 22 tons, and a 500-kilometer sun-synchronous orbit (SSO) capacity of 15 tons. The core stage and booster can be reused more than 20 times.
In general, the “Force-2” will be a high-quality rocket that can meet market demand to a large extent. Facing the needs of constellation network launches, with its advantages of high frequency, low cost and high reliability, the “Force-2” is bound to become one of the main near-Earth “flights”.
深蓝航天 Deep Blue Limited – Deep Blue AerospaceLandspace One of sixty Chinese private space Carrier Rocket Companies in China-People’s Republic of China… As many of sixty plus Private Rocket Deep Blue Aerospace Co., Ltd. was established in 2017. The company is mainly a high-tech aerospace enterprise that focuses on the direction of liquid recovery and reusable launch vehicles and provides users with commercial launch services. Deep Blue Aerospace Co., Ltd. is headquartered in Nantong City, Jiangsu Province. At the same time, the company has rocket general and liquid engine R&D centers in Yizhuang, Beijing and Xi’an, Shaanxi, respectively, and a rocket power system test base in Tongchuan, Shaanxi…..
[The first stage of the Deep Blue Aerospace Nebula-1 rocket is scheduled to conduct a high-altitude vertical recovery flight test in August and a 100-kilometer-level VTVL vertical recovery flight test at an appropriate time]
Recently, Deep Blue Aerospace successfully completed the B2 round of financing, fully accelerating the technological innovation of recyclable rockets and the commercialization of the recyclable and reusable rocket Nebula-1 (hereinafter referred to as “Nebula-1”). Wuxi High-tech Zone Investment and Control Group led this round of financing and became a cornerstone investor in multiple rounds, completing and locking in nearly 1 billion yuan in funds, injecting strong development momentum into the research and development and production of Deep Blue Aerospace, and jointly promoting the rapid development of China’s aerospace in the era of great aerospace
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This round of funds will be mainly used to strengthen technology research and development, expand production scale, optimize supply chain management, and accelerate market promotion. It is worth noting that the Deep Blue Aerospace Rocket Intelligent Manufacturing and Assembly Base of more than 20,000 square meters has landed in Wuxi High-tech Zone. With the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal as the background, it will accelerate the expansion of the rocket industry cluster along the canal. The Deep Blue Aerospace Rocket Canal Factory will become a demonstration base for high-end manufacturing and commercial rocket industries in Wuxi High-tech Zone. The
Canal Factory will be mainly used for the mass production of Nebula-1 and Nebula-2 rockets. As a representative of China’s recyclable rockets, the Nebula-1 rocket will significantly reduce launch costs and increase launch frequency, and will be of milestone significance for promoting the sustainable development of China’s commercial aerospace industry. At present, preparations for the first launch of the Nebula-1 rocket are in full swing. The Nebula-2 rocket, which is scheduled to make its maiden flight at the end of 2025, will have a takeoff scale of 1,000 tons and will also be recyclable and reusable. On
July 21, the Nebula-1 rocket completed a series of tests of the first-stage three-machine parallel full-time power system at the Deep Blue Jigang Test Base in Jinan City, simulating the full working conditions of high-altitude recovery flight and a large range of engine variable thrust tests, and achieved complete success. In August, the rocket body will go to the test site to prepare for the upcoming high-altitude vertical recovery flight test of the first stage of the Nebula-1 rocket, and will choose an opportunity to conduct a 100-kilometer-level rocket vertical recovery flight test. Each test of the rocket will accumulate valuable test data for the first flight of the Nebula-1 orbital rocket, ensuring that the Nebula-1 reusable rocket “goes into space without any problems” and that the first flight of the Nebula-1 rocket into orbit and recovery will be completed smoothly by the end of the year. Deep Blue Aerospace will continue to increase its R&D investment in the field of reusable rocket technology, and is committed to exploring more efficient, economical and environmentally friendly space launch solutions to promote the innovative development of China’s commercial space industry. (Deep Blue Aerospace )
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.
On the 25th July 2024 The latest news from Galaxy Power; Recently, the company completed a series of static, modal, and separation tests on the Pallas-1 launch vehicle fairing, all of which were successful. The Pallas-1 series of launch vehicles are compatible with fairings with diameters of 3.35m, 4.2m, and 5.2m to meet the needs of different satellite customers. The fairing used in this test is one of the series of fairing products independently developed and designed by Galaxy Power, and is consistent with the status of the Pallas-1 Yao-1 flight test product.
The Pallas- 1 has a maximum low-orbit carrying capacity of 8 tons, with seven 50-ton liquid oxygen-kerosene engines in parallel in the first stage. It is scheduled to make its maiden flight at the end of this year….
Recently , Galaxy Aerospace completed a series of static, modal and separation tests on the fairing of the Pallas-1 launch vehicle, and all the tests were a complete success!
The Pallas-1 series of launch vehicles are compatible with fairings with diameters of 3.35m, 4.2m, and 5.2m to meet the needs of different satellite customers. The fairing used in this test is one of the series of fairing products independently developed and designed by Galaxy Power, and is consistent with the Pallas-1 Yao-1 flight test product. The fairing adopts a von Karman shape, which has the advantages of low flight aerodynamic resistance, light structural mass and easy operation.
The fairing end cap is made of high-strength ablation-resistant composite material, a large area of honeycomb sandwich composite material structure, and a metal frame structure at the rear. The fairing separation system adopts a “hinge-spring” half-cover rotation separation scheme, and the lateral and longitudinal separation unlocking devices both use point-type explosive bolts, which have small impact during the separation process and high separation reliability.
The static test of the fairing assessed the fairing’s ability to resist external loads and verified the structural strength. The test achieved the intended purpose and obtained relevant data. The modal test obtained the fairing’s modal parameters, providing a basis for structural dynamics model modification and fairing separation calculation.
The fairing separation test fully verified the correctness of the fairing separation system design, obtained the collision boundary data between the fairing separation body and the payload, assessed the adaptability of the structural system to the separation concentrated force load and the impact load of pyrotechnics, and obtained important mechanical environment parameters.
The complete success of the fairing series tests indicates that Galaxy Aerospace has the ability to quickly design, analyze and test large liquid rocket fairings, laying a solid foundation for the company’s subsequent model development.
Beijing Zhongke Aerospace Exploration Technology Co., Ltd. is the first domestic aerospace enterprise with mixed ownership, and it is also the target enterprise that Oriental Aerospace Port focuses on introducing. Relying on the scientific research strength and resource advantages of the Institute of Mechanics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Aerospace Flight Technology Center of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, China Aerospace Science and Technology has been committed to the research and development and integration of space technology and aerospace vehicles as a platform for the transformation of major national scientific research projects, as well as the transformation and provision of technological achievements. Aerospace launch service. The Lijian-1 rocket project also adds a brand-new name card to the Oriental Space Port, which will surely promote the construction of the Oriental Space Port to take a solid step forward.
[Zhongke Aerospace Pulsating Production Model Lijian-1 Y4 Launch Vehicle Completes Final Assembly and Testing] Recently, Lijian-1 Y4 launch vehicle completed the final assembly and testing as scheduled at the Zhongke Aerospace Industrialization Base and successfully passed the factory review. Factory delivery conditions are met. This time is an example of starting a new chapter in the pulsating production model in an industrialized base and applying parallel assembly of multiple rockets. It fully verifies the leanness, standardization and mass production of rockets under the pulsating production model.
During the final assembly work of the Lijian-1 Yao-4 launch vehicle, based on the existing production process optimization basis, the task of starting the final assembly test of the Yao-4 and Yao-5 rockets in parallel was completed. At the same time, the Yaosi-4 Star-Arrow joint Operation test, satellite and rocket modal test, satellite and rocket separation test. The two rockets are located at different pulse production sites, and production resources are cleverly deployed at different production rhythm sites. On the one hand, it significantly improves the efficiency of production resource use, and on the other hand, it de-tasks rocket production and manufacturing. A solid foundation was laid.
In terms of process flow, technicians completed the relatively cumbersome process in the final assembly and testing phase, effectively reducing the final assembly workload at the launch site and facilitating the requirements for batch storage, rolling backup, and real-time launch during high-density launch periods. In terms of quality control, based on the accumulated successful practical experience of previous multiple missions, technical details have been continuously improved to form a complete closed-loop system for recording, monitoring, and tracking the entire process to ensure the traceability of the entire quality life cycle. Under the requirements of ensuring innovation in the production model and continuously improving product reliability, the final assembly of the Lijian 1 Yao 4 and Yao 5 launch vehicles was completed ahead of schedule. The final assembly of the Lijian 1 Yao 4 launch vehicle took 25 days, which was longer than the previous period. The speed of one-shot rocket assembly has increased again!
Under the pulsating production mode, the Lijian-1 Yao-6, Yao-7, and Yao-8 launch vehicles are carrying out mass production and final assembly in an orderly manner. The products, equipment, instruments, tooling, etc. involved in the entire process have been planned in advance. Deployment, production tasks are clear, and production and assembly can be started simultaneously in the final assembly and testing plant and intelligent manufacturing plant. It is worth mentioning that the Zhongke Aerospace Industrialization Base currently has complete structural cabin manufacturing and assembly capabilities. Starting from the Lijian-1 Yao-5 launch vehicle, the manufactured cabins will be directly used and delivered for final assembly, further shortening the production and manufacturing cycle. .
As China’s first medium-sized rocket to achieve high-density launches and the record holder for multiple satellite launches in a single launch of Chinese commercial rockets, the Lijian-1 carrier rocket has achieved complete success for three consecutive launches, accurately delivering 37 satellites with a total load of 3.5 tons into the scheduled orbit, with a 100% launch success rate. This type of rocket is suitable for rapid network launch of small and medium-sized satellites in medium and low orbits. It has a carrying capacity of 1.5 tons in a 500-kilometer sun-synchronous orbit. It is a medium-sized solid launch vehicle with core competitiveness in China’s commercial launch vehicle launch market and is also the main force in China’s commercial aerospace industry. It is one of the rockets that can effectively meet the needs of the commercial launch market in medium and low orbits. It also has the ability to respond quickly to diversified market demands and is committed to providing customers with highly reliable, low-cost, and high-density flight-based launch services.
