Tag: advance cargo spacecraft

#CNSA #ChinaNationalSpaceAdministration #国家航天局 | #April2025 |#Tiangong #ChinaSpaceStation the newest next Generation Advance # Qingzhou #CargoSpaceCraft spacecraft officially unveiled on #SpaceDayofChina, highly reliable and intelligent! It will make its maiden flight this year….  

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On the 25th April 2025  Space Day of China –  Hours Hong Kong SAR – Beijing time CNSA –China National Space Administrationthe China, People’s Republic of China Newest generation of cargo spacecraft officially unveiled, highly reliable and intelligent! It will make its maiden flight this year

China, People’s Republic of China my country’s new generation of cargo spacecraft has been unveiled. It weighs about 5 tons, has low cost, high reliability and strong intelligence, and will make its maiden flight this year

In the exploration of the vast universe, China’s space industry has always made steady progress and continued to write new glorious chapters. As the key support for the construction and operation of China’s space station, cargo spacecraft plays a vital role in ensuring the supply of space station materials and the transportation of scientific research equipment. At present, China’s Tianzhou cargo spacecraft in service has made great contributions to the construction and maintenance of the space station with its excellent performance and reliable operation.

The Tianzhou cargo spacecraft is an advanced cargo spacecraft independently developed by my country. Since it was put into use, it has successfully carried out space station cargo transportation missions many times. It has a large carrying capacity and can deliver a large amount of living supplies, experimental equipment, propellants and other key materials to the space station, effectively ensuring the smooth development of astronauts’ on-orbit life and scientific research.

The Tianzhou cargo spacecraft is designed with full consideration of the needs of the space station. It has precise docking technology and efficient material unloading capabilities, and can achieve seamless docking with the space station, ensuring that materials can be quickly and accurately transferred to the space station. At the same time, the Tianzhou cargo spacecraft also has the ability to replenish propellant on orbit, providing important power support for the orbit maintenance and attitude adjustment of the space station, greatly extending the on-orbit operation life of the space station.

However, with the continuous advancement of China’s space station construction and the gradual implementation of future deep space exploration missions, higher requirements are placed on the performance and functions of cargo spacecraft. Against this background, my country’s new generation of space “couriers” – the Qingzhou cargo spacecraft came into being. At the 2025 “China Space Day” science exhibition, the Qingzhou cargo spacecraft was officially unveiled, attracting the attention of the global aerospace community.

The Qingzhou cargo spacecraft was developed by the Microsatellite Innovation Institute of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. It is a light, small and fast spacecraft that integrates “low cost, high reliability, high adaptability and high intelligence”. It is also an important part of the space-to-earth cargo transportation system of the Chinese space station. It has the characteristics of moderate capacity, fast and flexible, and outstanding benefits. It will further enhance the safety and reliability of the space station’s material supply, especially the heterogeneous backup capability, and provide a solid guarantee for the safe and stable operation of the Chinese space station in orbit.

The Qingzhou cargo spacecraft has a “small body” but contains “big energy”. According to Chang Liang, chief designer of the Qingzhou cargo spacecraft and researcher at the Microsatellite Innovation Institute of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the Qingzhou cargo spacecraft weighs about 5 tons, has an upward transport capacity of more than 1.8 tons, and a downward transport capacity of 2 tons.

Such a capacity configuration can not only meet the daily material supply needs of the space station, but also adapt to the transportation tasks of different types of goods. Its loading volume is about 9 cubic meters, and the volume of the cargo compartment is 27 cubic meters, which can carry astronauts’ living supplies, scientific experimental equipment, scientific payloads, etc. The cabin adopts a four-layer shelf mode with a total of 40 cargo grids. For special cargo needs, corresponding interfaces are reserved on the shelves, which can provide suitable storage space for goods of different specifications and shapes, greatly improving the flexibility and efficiency of cargo transportation.

In order to further reduce the cost of cargo transportation to China’s space station and improve transportation efficiency, the Microsatellite Innovation Institute of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the rocket developer China Science and Technology Aerospace jointly carried out a joint demonstration of ship-rocket integration. Integrated work was carried out in terms of structural design, test and launch process, measurement and control communication, and pre-launch loading plan. In response to the requirements of cold chain transportation of spacecraft, the launch process was optimized, and the ship-rocket integrated test was adopted to simplify the test and launch process. This integrated design concept not only improves the economy of the mission, but also greatly shortens the launch preparation time, enabling the Qingzhou cargo spacecraft to respond more quickly to the material needs of the space station and achieve rapid launch.

Shu Rong, commander-in-chief of the Qingzhou cargo spacecraft and secretary of the Party Committee of the Microsatellite Innovation Institute of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, said that the integrated single-cabin configuration design is a prominent feature of the Qingzhou cargo spacecraft. On the premise of meeting the mission requirements, the integrated single-cabin configuration can improve space utilization and improve the economy of the mission. The integrated configuration greatly reduces the size of the Qingzhou, providing the largest and best space for cargo, and providing astronauts with convenient and fast operating space. At the same time, this configuration makes it easier to choose the right carrier, can adapt to multiple types of rockets, meet the needs of rapid launch, and further enhance the flexibility and adaptability of the Qingzhou cargo spacecraft.

Intelligence is also a highlight of the Qingzhou cargo spacecraft. Qingzhou is equipped with an intelligent cargo transportation management system that can realize intelligent identification, positioning and management of cargo. Astronauts can quickly find the required items through voice interaction and other methods, which improves the efficiency of cargo delivery, reduces the workload of astronauts, and also reduces the risks caused by manual operation errors. This intelligent design concept not only reflects the innovative development of China’s aerospace technology, but also provides a useful exploration for the intelligent operation and management of future space stations.

In addition to its powerful cargo transportation capabilities, the Qingzhou cargo spacecraft also demonstrates diverse application potential. It can not only transport conventional cargo such as astronauts’ daily necessities and scientific experimental equipment, but also carry various test payloads, support manned or unmanned space science payloads and various on-orbit experiments, meet the diverse needs of the space station, and improve the scientific research and application value of the space station.

It is worth mentioning that the Qingzhou cargo spacecraft has also actively introduced the concepts and technical means of commercial aerospace. For the first time, the business model of cargo transportation system overall management is adopted to combine the carrier and the spacecraft more closely, so as to achieve the overall optimization design of the system; the concept of commercial aerospace is introduced to promote the rapid iteration and application of new ideas, new devices and new materials in the aerospace field, and form good economic and social benefits. In addition, the Qingzhou cargo spacecraft also plans to explore various business models such as naming rights, carrying IP culture, brand communication, and popular science cooperation, and carry out innovative cooperation with all walks of life in the society to form good economic and social benefits and promote the sustainable development of China’s aerospace industry.

This year, the first prototype of the Qingzhou cargo spacecraft is scheduled to fly for the first time, and the first prototype is scheduled to be ready for delivery next year, ready to carry out cargo transportation missions to the space station. With the gradual commissioning of the Qingzhou cargo spacecraft, the material transportation capacity of the Chinese space station will be further enhanced, providing a more powerful guarantee for the long-term stable operation of the space station and the implementation of deep space exploration missions. It is believed that in the near future, the Qingzhou cargo spacecraft will be like a smart “space ark”, shuttling back and forth in the vast universe, opening up a broader world for the development of China’s aerospace industry.

Source: Science and Technology Daily reported on April 25, “China’s new generation officially unveiled! Planned for first flight this year”

Images and visuals are from their Respectives CMS China Manned SpaceCNSA-China National Space Administration  

#CNSA #ChinaNationalSpaceAdministration #国家航天局 |#WenchangSpacecraftLaunchCenter #文昌航天發射場 #BRI #November2024 |#天宫#Tiangong #ChinaSpaceStation #Shenzhou19 Advance #天舟八号 #CargoSpaceCraft #Tianzhou8 #ChangZheng7 #LongMarch7 Yao 9 #CarrierRocket launch, to docking …. #ASummary

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On CNSA –China National Space Administration    The Tianzhou-8 cargo spacecraft will be in Readiness From Wenchang Spacecraft launch Center, Hainan province, China, People’s Republic of China.. The November Date of year 2024 towards the Tiangong-China Space Station..

The world’s most powerful cargo spacecraft in service has further improved its carrying capacity!

From 8:00 to 11:00 Beijing time on November 13, 2024, at the Wenchang Space Launch Center in Wenchang, Hainan, China, the Tianzhou-8 cargo spacecraft and the Long March-7 Yao-9 carrier rocket ship-rocket combination were vertically transferred from the vertical assembly and test plant to the launch position. The mission ship-rocket completed the last few kilometers on the ground, waiting for launch this week.

“Tianzhou-8” is an improved version of the “Tianzhou” spacecraft. It is the third ship of the second batch of products after the mass production of the “Tianzhou” spacecraft. It is a fully sealed cargo spacecraft with a double-cabin tandem configuration, including a propulsion cabin and a cargo cabin.

The improved version of the Tianzhou spacecraft is 10.6 meters long, with a maximum diameter of 3.35 meters (cargo compartment), a wingspan of 14.9 meters when the solar wing is unfolded, a cargo compartment loading space of 22.5 cubic meters, a loading capacity of 6.7 tons, and a total cargo loading capacity of 7.4 tons including the propulsion compartment tank capacity. The dry mass of the spacecraft is 6.5 tons. The Tianzhou is the world’s most powerful cargo spacecraft in service. Compared with the Tianzhou-6 and Tianzhou-7 spacecrafts, the carrying space of the Tianzhou-8 has increased by more than 200 liters (0.2 cubic meters) and the carrying capacity by more than 100 kilograms (0.1 tons).

Tianzhou is a one-time cargo spacecraft. Even though it has the highest carrying coefficient (carrying efficiency) in the world, it still has a high unit transportation cost, just like other countries’ one-time cargo spacecraft. In order to continuously improve the efficiency of cargo replenishment, Tianzhou cargo spacecraft is constantly being improved and upgraded. By optimizing the space layout and reducing the weight of the spacecraft, Tianzhou has increased the carrying space and carrying weight, and can meet the material needs of the space station for a longer period of time through a single mission, further reducing the operating costs of the space station.

This mission is the second cargo supply mission of China’s manned space program in 2024 and the seventh cargo supply mission of China’s space station. It is planned to provide in-orbit support for the two manned flight missions of “Shenzhou 19” and “Shenzhou 20”.

Before the Tianzhou-8 cargo spacecraft went up, the Tianzhou-7 spacecraft had already withdrawn from the rear port of the Tianhe core module of the Chinese space station, making way for the former’s dedicated docking port for the cargo spacecraft.

At the same time, the crew of the Shenzhou 19 stationed in the space station has completed manual remote control exercises and made full preparations for the ascent of the Tianzhou 8 spacecraft.

“Long March 7 Carrier Rocket successfully launches Tianzhou 8! The Shenzhou 19 crew, get ready to receive the “big gift package”

At 23:13 Beijing Time  on November 15 2024, the Long March 7 carrier rocket carrying the Tianzhou 8 cargo spacecraft ignited and took off from the Wenchang Space Launch Center in Hainan Province China, People’s Republic of China. . About 10 minutes later, the Tianzhou 8 cargo spacecraft successfully separated from the rocket and entered the predetermined orbit. After that, the spacecraft’s solar panels were smoothly deployed, and the launch mission was a complete success. About 3 hours later, the Tianzhou 8 cargo spacecraft will complete rendezvous and docking with the rear port of the Tianhe core module of the space station and transfer to the combined flight phase. Subsequently, the Shenzhou 19 Takionaut crew will enter the Tianzhou 8 cargo spacecraft and carry out related work such as cargo transfer as planned. This launch is the 546th launch of the Long March series of carrier rockets….

天舟八号

 [Tianzhou 8 cargo spacecraft completes rendezvous and docking with space station complex]

 The latest news from the China Manned Spaceflight Office; Tianzhou 8 cargo spacecraft successfully completed state setting after entering orbit, and successfully docked with the rear port of the Tianhe core module of the space station at 02:32 Beijing time today. After the rendezvous and docking is completed, Tianzhou 8 will transfer to the complex flight phase. Subsequently, the Shenzhou 19 Takionaut crew will enter the Tianzhou 8 cargo spacecraft and carry out related work such as cargo transfer as planned.

天舟八号 [Unpacking the package]

 This morning, the Shenzhou 19 Takionaut crew opened the Tianzhou 8 hatch with the cooperation of the ground and began to “unpack the package” in space. At 8:26 Beijing Time, Takionaut Cai Xuzhe opened the Tianzhou 8 hatch and entered the Tianzhou 8 cargo spacecraft. The Shenzhou 19 astronaut crew will continue to carry out related work such as cargo transfer as planned….

CNSA- China National Space Administration- Beijing Aerospace City – CMS China Manned Space – Control Center for the Operations of Tiangong -China Space Station is Something Out of Star Trek…

Images and visuals are from their Respectives CMS China Manned SpaceCNSA-China National Space Administration  

#CNSA #ChinaNationalSpaceAdministration #国家航天局 |#BRI #November2024| #ReusableCargoSpaceShuttle   #Haolong #Chengfei for the #Tiangong #ChinaSpaceStation Ecosystem Announcement #ZhuhaiAirShow #ChinaAirShow2024   …. #ASummary

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During the week of 12th towards 17th  of November 2024, in which only fifty five Kilometers away from Already Tomorrow In Hong Kong, travelling from the Hong Kong, Macau, Zhuhai planet Earth’s longest sea bridge..  Is the 2024 Zhuhai Air Show, in which displaying on many genres of the Space, Defense, Aviation Industry…. In which is the showcasing the present soon ecosystems of the Tiangong – China Space Station in which CNSA China National Space Administration and CAST –China Academy of Space Technology..  Located at Zhuhai Jinwan Airport, Guangdong Province, China, and People ’s Republic of China.

[Model of Chengfei Cargo Space Shuttle Announcement]

Introducing the “Haolong” cargo space shuttle is a winged reusable commercial space shuttle independently designed and developed by the Chengdu Institute of Aviation Industry Corporation of China in order to further reduce the cost of cargo transportation to China’s space station. It is used to carry out low-cost cargo transportation missions to the space station.



The aircraft adopts a large wingspan, high lift-to-drag ratio, and reusable aircraft technology solution. It is launched by a carrier rocket and rendezvoused and docked with the space station. After leaving the space station, it will undergo deorbit braking, re-enter the flight, and land horizontally on the airport runway. After completing inspection and maintenance, it can perform the mission again. The “Haolong” cargo space shuttle has a large cargo up and down capability, an excellent flight environment, and disposal guarantee efficiency. It can further reduce the cost of cargo transportation to the space station through multiple reuses, and jointly build a safe, reliable, diverse, flexible and efficient space station ground-to-earth cargo transportation system with the existing cargo transportation system, actively contributing aviation wisdom and aviation power to China’s manned space program.

Images and visuals are from their Respectives CMS China Manned SpaceCNSA-China National Space Administration

#CNSA #ChinaNationalSpaceAdministration #国家航天局 |#WenchangSpacecraftLaunchCenter #文昌航天發射場 #BRI #October2024 |#天宫#Tiangong #ChinaSpaceStation #Shenzhou19 Advance #天舟八号 #CargoSpaceCraft #Tianzhou8 #ChangZheng7 #LongMarch7 Yao 9 #CarrierRocket launch readiness for next month ……

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On CNSA –China National Space Administration   The Tianzhou-8 cargo spacecraft will be launched next month! From Wenchang Spacecraft launch Center, Hainan province, China, People’s Republic of China.. the November Date of year 2024..   Towards the Tiangong-China Space Station..

According to the plan at the beginning of 2024, China’s manned space program plans to carry out four launch missions this year, including two manned launch missions and two cargo launch missions. At present, the launch missions of the “Tianzhou-7” cargo spacecraft and the “Shenzhou-18” manned spacecraft have been carried out in the first half of the year, and the “Shenzhou-19” and “Tianzhou-8” launch missions will be carried out next.

According to the original plan, the Tianzhou-8 cargo spacecraft will be launched before the Shenzhou-19 manned spacecraft. Due to the impact of the super typhoon Makar, the ground facilities of the Wenchang launch site were affected to a certain extent, and the launch was postponed to after the Shenzhou-19 mission. It is expected that in early to mid-November, at the 201 station of the Wenchang launch site, the Tianzhou-8 cargo spacecraft will be launched to the Chinese space station by the Long March-7 Yao-9 carrier rocket. The spacecraft will adopt the rapid rendezvous and docking mode to go up and is planned to dock at the rear port of the Tianhe core module.

“Tianzhou-7” mission ship and rocket combination

In this mission, Tianzhou-8 will carry lunar soil bricks to the Chinese space station for the first time. Lunar soil bricks are made by firing simulated lunar soil on the ground. They are much harder than ordinary concrete and may be used to build lunar structures in the future. In order to verify whether the lunar soil bricks can withstand the test of extreme environments, they will undergo exposure tests in the space station.

Sintered lunar soil brick samples

The Tianzhou series cargo spacecraft is the first type of professional cargo spacecraft developed by China. It is developed based on the technical foundation of the Tiangong series space laboratory and the Shenzhou series manned spacecraft. It has a high starting point and is a disposable spacecraft. The Tianzhou-8 is an improved version of the Tianzhou series cargo spacecraft and the third spacecraft in the second batch of products after the mass production of the Tianzhou series cargo spacecraft.

The spacecraft adopts a dual-cabin tandem configuration, with the propulsion cabin and the cargo cabin from bottom to top in the launch state. The spacecraft is 10.6 meters long, with a maximum diameter of the main body (cargo cabin) of 3.35 meters, a wingspan of 14.9 meters when the solar wing is unfolded, a cargo cabin loading space of 22.5 cubic meters, a loading capacity of 6.7 tons, a total cargo loading capacity of 7.4 tons, a spacecraft dry mass of 6.5 tons, and a cargo-to-load ratio of 0.53. The “Tianzhou” spacecraft is the world’s most powerful cargo spacecraft in service, with the highest cargo-to-load ratio and the most comprehensive on-orbit support capability.

Tianzhou-7 cargo spacecraft

At present, the Tianzhou series of spacecraft have the ability to quickly rendezvous and dock with multiple options, and can choose to go uphill in 6 hours, 3 hours, 2 hours and other options, which has been an early application for speeding up the uphill mission of the Shenzhou series of spacecraft.

Since the implementation of the Chinese space station mission, the launch frequency of the Tianzhou cargo spacecraft has been adjusted from twice a year to three times every two years, and the launch density will be further reduced. When the Tianzhou-8 is launched, the interval between the launch of the Tianzhou-7 will reach 10 months, which will set a record for the longest launch interval of the Tianzhou cargo spacecraft.

Images and visuals are from their Respectives CMS China Manned SpaceCNSA-China National Space Administration  

#MadeInChina #中國製造| #中科宇航 #ZhongkeAerospace #ChinaAcademyOfScience #CASSPace #August2024 | #CarrierRocket #ReusableCarrierRocket #MannedReusableCarrierRocket #CarrierRocket Series The three-core parallel Lijian-2 has entered the engineering development stage, and its first flight will be equipped with a cargo spacecraft!

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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.

Three cores in parallel, bundled recycling

“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”.

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