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 Nebula-1 rocket of Deep Blue Aerospace has successfully completed the three-machine parallel full-time sequence power system series test. The first stage of the Nebula-1 rocket is about to undergo a VTVL high-altitude vertical recovery flight test]
On July 21, 2024, the Nebula-1 rocket (referred to as “Nebula-1”) independently developed by Deep Blue Aerospace completed the first stage three-machine parallel full-time sequence power system series test at the Deep Blue Jigang Test Base in Jinan City, and achieved complete success.
This test simulated the full working conditions of high-altitude recovery flight and a large range of engine variable thrust test. During the test, the first stage of the “Nebula-1” rocket also carried out verification of the system performance of locking, unlocking, and semi-deployment of landing legs and grid rudders in real vibration and thermal environments. After the test, the entire system including the engine, landing legs and grid rudders was inspected and confirmed to be in good condition.
After the test, 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.
2024 is another year of progress for China, People’s Republic of China China’s space industry, with about 100 orbital launches planned for the whole year. At the same time, many rocket models will have their first flights this year, and the national team’s “Long March” series of rockets will also have their first flights, including the “Long March 6C” (already launched), “Long March 12” and “Long March 8A”. The “Long March 12” is the most special one among them, and it will be the first carrier rocket with a diameter of 3.8 meters among the “Long March” rockets.
China’s most powerful single-core rocket for low-orbit transport…
The Long March 12 (LM-12/CZ-12) is a new generation of carrier rocket developed by the Eighth Academy of China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation. It is a medium-sized cryogenic liquid carrier rocket with a two-stage tandem configuration. The first and second stages are all powered by liquid oxygen-kerosene engines. The rocket was originally the Eighth Academy’s bid for a new generation of manned carrier rockets, and was later renamed XLV20. The original 5CBC configuration (5 cores in parallel for the takeoff stage) was changed to a single core stage configuration.
The first stage of the Long March 12 has four main engines
The first stage of the Long March 12 is equipped with four YF-100K liquid oxygen/kerosene engines, using an oxygen-rich staged combustion cycle, using pump-back swing, supporting bidirectional swing of ±8 degrees, and a thrust adjustment range of 65%~105%. The sea level thrust of a single engine is about 128 tons (1250 kN), and the sea level specific impulse is 301.84 seconds. The second stage is equipped with two YF-115 liquid oxygen/kerosene engines, using an oxygen-rich staged combustion cycle, supporting bidirectional swing of ±4 degrees, a thrust adjustment range of 80%~100%, a vacuum thrust of about 18 tons (180 kN), and a vacuum specific impulse of about 342 seconds.
“Long March 12” joint archery practice (Photo source: Weibo @曹梦-Aerospace
The Long March 12 rocket is 59 meters high, with a first and second stage diameter of 3.8 meters. It can be equipped with optional fairings with diameters of 4.2 meters and 5.2 meters. It has a takeoff mass of 433 tons and a maximum takeoff thrust of about 510 tons (5,000 kilonewtons). The rocket has a carrying capacity of no less than 10 tons in a low-Earth orbit (LEO) at an altitude of 300 kilometers and a carrying capacity of no less than 6 tons in a sun-synchronous orbit (SSO) at an altitude of 700 kilometers.
The Long March XII rocket is the first 3.8-meter-diameter model of the Long March rocket. It will also become China’s single-core-stage carrier rocket with the largest takeoff mass and the strongest low-orbit carrying capacity in service.
The first flight of the YF-100K engine!
On April 28, 2024, the YF-100K liquid oxygen-kerosene engine developed by the Sixth Academy of China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation completed a four-engine parallel ignition test. The total thrust of the engine exceeded 500 tons. This was the first large-thrust liquid oxygen-kerosene engine four-engine parallel ignition test, and the four-engine parallel scheme was fully verified.
YF-100K test run picture
The YF-100K was born with the proposal of China’s manned lunar landing plan and the need to demonstrate the new generation of manned carrier rockets. It is based on the improvement and optimization of the YF-100. This engine is the main power of China’s new generation of manned carrier rocket “Long March 10”. It adopts pump back swing. Compared with the YF-100 in use, it has the advantages of small mass eccentricity, small swing envelope, and easy layout of swing components.
The maiden flight of the Long March 12 rocket is also the maiden flight of the YF-100K engine, which will test its performance in actual launches and accumulate flight samples for the main power of the Long March 10 takeoff stage. At the same time, the YF-100K will pave the way for the improvement and upgrading of the new generation of carrier rockets currently in service, such as the Long March 5, whose four boosters are equipped with a total of 8 YF-100 engines. By replacing them with the YF-100K engines with better performance, the rocket will further release its already powerful carrying capacity.
Joint archery training of Long March XII
China’s Hainan commercial space launch site launches first rocket
It is expected that in August 2024, the Long March 12 (Yao-1) carrier rocket will carry out its maiden flight at the No. 2 station of the Hainan Commercial Space Launch Center in China, and China’s new generation of carrier rockets will welcome a new member. At the same time, this is also the first rocket launch of the Hainan Commercial Space Launch Center, which means that China’s first commercial space launch center has officially been put into use.
In addition to launching from Hainan Commercial Aircraft Corporation, the Long March 12 can also be transported by rail to a land launch site to carry out launch missions, which will help the rocket quickly form a batch launch capability, support launches into sun-synchronous orbits and low-Earth orbits, and be used for low-orbit satellite constellation launch missions such as StarNet.
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.
On the Week of 17th June 2024 China Aerospace Science and Technology has completed the joint test of the 85-ton kerosene engine in full flight conditions.
Recently, China Aerospace Science and Technology has completed the joint test of the 85-ton liquid oxygen-kerosene engine and servo matching in the first stage of the Lijian-2 liquid carrier rocket. The test engine is in a two-way swing state, which can meet the control requirements of a 6-degree swing circle. The swing test simulating the full-scale operation of the first stage during the test was successful, verifying the matching of the first-stage engine of the Lijian-2 and the servo system, and obtaining key data such as the dynamic swing characteristics of the engine. At the same time, this test tested the first flight state of the first-stage engine of the Lijian-2.
This test assessed the two-way swing performance of the first-stage engine of the Lijian-2 and verified the working coordination of the servo control system and the engine. In the future, the engine will continue to carry out life test on this basis. Lijian-2 adopts a CBC configuration, with a universal core stage diameter of 3.35 meters, a total length of 53 meters, a take-off weight of 625 tons, and a take-off thrust of 766 tons. The SSO carrying capacity is 8 tons, and the LEO carrying capacity is 12 tons. It is scheduled to fly for the first time in 2025…
[The joint test of the 85-ton liquid oxygen-kerosene engine YF-102 and servo matching flight conditions of the first stage of the Lijian-2 liquid carrier rocket of China Aerospace Science and Technology was successfully completed]
Recently, China Aerospace Science and Technology completed the joint test of the 85-ton liquid oxygen-kerosene engine and servo matching flight conditions of the first stage of the Lijian-2 liquid carrier rocket. The test engine is in a two-way swing state and can meet the 6-degree swing circle control requirements. The swing test simulating the full-scale operation of the first stage during the test process was successful, verifying the matching of the first stage engine of the Lijian-2 with the servo system, and obtaining key data such as the dynamic swing characteristics of the engine. At the same time, this test tested the first flight state of the first stage engine of the Lijian-2.
This test simulated the process of increasing the oxidizer and fuel inlet pressure caused by the flight overload of the first stage engine of the Lijian-2 by changing the engine inlet pressure. The engine thrust and specific impulse met the overall design requirements, the engine parameters were stable, and the performance indicators such as the oxygen self-pressurization met the design requirements.
During the test run, the engine extreme swing angle test, small swing angle joint training, load calibration, pressurized cold swing test, hot test combined swing test, etc. were carried out successively. During the ignition process, various waveform conditions such as square wave, triangle wave, and sine wave were tested. The maximum swing angle of the engine was 6°, and the servo feedback position and command tracking were good. The two-way swing performance of the first-stage engine of Lijian No. 2 was assessed, and the coordination between the servo control system and the engine was verified. Later, the engine will continue to carry out life survey tests on this basis.
Combined with this engine test run, liquid oxygen circuit immersion precooling, small flow precooling and large flow precooling tests were carried out simultaneously to obtain more accurate engine precooling characteristics and verify the correctness of the rocket body precooling scheme. In
addition, the low-order modal characteristics of the first-stage engine were obtained through structural modal tests of the installation process pull rod state and the installation servo mechanism state, providing important data support for the design of the attitude control system on the rocket. Environmental measurement points were added nearby to obtain environmental parameters such as noise.
On the 14th June 2024 CNSA _China National Space Administration -China – People’s Republic of China at a China Academy Of Launch Vehicle Technology Engine Testing complex.. On June 14, the Long March 10 series rockets used for manned lunar landing and other missions successfully completed the test of the first-stage rocket power system. During the test, the engine started normally, worked stably, shut down at a fixed time, and all parameters were tested normally. This test is the first system-level large-scale ground test of the Long March 10 series of launch vehicles. The matching of the first-stage booster delivery system and the engine, the propellant filling process, the multi-machine parallel power transmission and environmental characteristics and other technologies were fully verified.
The Long March 10 rocket is a three-and-a-half-stage rocket developed for the manned lunar exploration project. The total length of the rocket is 92.5 meters, the takeoff weight is about 2,189 tons, the takeoff thrust is about 2,678 tons, and the Earth-Moon transfer orbit carrying capacity is not less than 27 tons. In the future, it will be used to launch a new generation of manned spacecraft and lunar landers. In addition, the Long March 10 has also designed another booster-free configuration that can perform space station astronaut and cargo transportation tasks….
The engine is the power source of the rocket, and its development process is very complicated. Test run is an important link in the engine development process, and there are dozens of types. In layman’s terms, engine test run is the process of igniting the engine and verifying the rationality of its design scheme and process reliability. This is an indispensable and important part of the development and delivery of a type 1 engine. It will run through all stages before and after engine development. Each stage of test run has different meanings, and the ignition time varies from a few seconds to hundreds of seconds.
It is reported that the engine used in this test run uses advanced liquid oxygen kerosene as fuel, which is improved and iterated from the high-thrust liquid oxygen kerosene engine used by the new generation of launch vehicles such as the Long March 5. The thrust reaches 130 tons. The R&D team of the Sixth Academy of Aerospace Science and Technology Group adheres to the concept of digital design, and has successively overcome key technical problems such as engine start-up and shutdown sequence, engine wide-range continuously variable thrust, and engine long life and high reliability.
In addition, the continuous success of the test run has fully verified the reliability of a number of new carrying process technologies. The engine production of this test run adopts the concept of intelligent manufacturing, and actively applies new materials, new processes, and new technologies. The inner wall of the thrust chamber of the core component adopts a new protective coating, key assemblies adopt automatic welding technology, and a large number of components adopt 3D printing technology.
During the preparation of the engine test run, the participants in the research and test conducted tests and verifications on each subsystem of the test through comprehensive means such as digital modelling, simulation calculation, and system debugging. The successful test run shows that the test area has greatly improved the multi-station parallel test run capability and test efficiency by optimizing the workflow.
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…..
Recently on the Month of April 2024, Blue Arrow Aerospace successfully completed the engine test run assessment of the largest niobium alloy nozzle in China at the Huzhou Hot Test Center. After the test, the product structure and surface coating were intact. The engine worked for 380 seconds under rated working conditions and high working conditions. The structural reliability, thermal protection reliability, and process reliability of the niobium alloy nozzle passed the assessment! This niobium alloy nozzle has a diameter of about 1.6m and a height of about 1.3m. The size is much larger than the existing domestic products of the same type. It is equipped with the Tianque 15A (TQ-15A) vacuum liquid oxygen methane engine with the highest thrust in China.
The test run of the largest niobium alloy nozzle in China successfully welcomed the flight of the Suzaku rocket
🔷 Recently, Blue Arrow Aerospace successfully completed the engine test run assessment of the largest niobium alloy nozzle in the country at the Huzhou Thermal Test Center. After the test, the product structure and surface coating were intact. The engine worked for 380 seconds under rated working conditions and high working conditions. The structural reliability, thermal protection reliability, and process reliability of the niobium alloy nozzle passed the assessment!
🔷This niobium alloy nozzle has a diameter of about 1.6m and a height of about 1.3m. The size is much larger than the existing domestic products of the same type. It is equipped with the Tianque 15A (TQ-15A), the vacuum liquid oxygen methane engine with the highest thrust in China, with a vacuum thrust of 836kN. , vacuum specific impulse 3320m/s.
🔷The Blue Arrow aerospace engine team has begun to develop a niobium alloy nozzle with a larger area ratio. The outlet diameter will reach 2.5m, which will continue to improve the vacuum specific impulse of the rocket’s secondary main engine.
