深蓝航天 Deep Blue Limited – Deep Blue Aerospace 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…..
Recently , the reusable liquid engine “Thunder-R1” independently developed by Deep Blue Aerospace conducted its first long-distance test run of 420 seconds under rated operating conditions. The test run time covered more than twice the flight time of the first stage of the reusable rocket “Nebula-1 ” ; The engine started and shut down normally, and the whole process worked stably. The test was a complete success, marking that the “Thunder-R1” engine entered the series boundary, life and reliability test stage.
As China’s first pin-bolt reusable liquid oxygen kerosene engine , this long-distance test run verified the reliability and stability of the system and components of the “Thunder-R1” engine under rated operating conditions. The engine status is stable and its performance is excellent. It demonstrates the technical strength and product leadership of Deep Blue Aerospace’s reusable rocket engine, and proves that the “Thunder-R1” is one step closer to being officially delivered, carrying out the high-altitude recovery test of the first stage of the “Nebula-1” rocket, and flying into orbit.
“ Thunder-R1″ is a liquid engine product specially developed for vertical recovery and reuse of launch vehicles. It currently demonstrates excellent performance in various aspects such as reuse, multiple starts, and wide-range thrust adjustment. 85% of the weight of this engine is made by 3D printing. It adopts a pump-back swing and has a compact structure. It is used as the main power for the first and second stages of the Deep Blue Aerospace “Nebula-1” recyclable and reusable liquid launch vehicle.
Up to now, the cumulative test run time of the same engine has reached 2,000 seconds, which has verified the anti-fatigue characteristics and service life of engine components in the harsh engine working environment.
The single ground ignition of the engine lasted 420 seconds. It assessed the long-range work coordination, process reliability and margin design of the entire engine and each component. According to real-time monitoring throughout the test run, the engine was working stably and in good condition. The test data is consistent with the set indicators, and all indicators meet the flight requirements of the “Nebula-1” rocket.
Long-distance test run is an indispensable and important link in the development, production and engineering application of a type of engine. The success of this long-distance test marks the rapid development of Deep Blue Aerospace’s reusable liquid oxygen kerosene rocket engine, and also provides strong power support for the subsequent “Nebula-1” rocket to enter orbit. Previously, the same “Thunder-R1” engine has completed starting and ignition test, complete machine test, secondary start test, and full flight sequence three-start test. In the future, we will continue to carry out ground testing work such as a series of working conditions for pulling deviation, swing test, life and reliability test for engineering applications. The “Thunder-R1” engine is the power foundation of the medium-sized launch vehicle “Nebula-1” and will cover the needs of liquid rockets entering orbit and first-stage recovery.
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