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…..
Development Progress | Deep Blue Aerospace completed the first fairing separation test in China using a non-pyrotechnic connection unlocking mechanism…
On the 2nd September 2023….. Recently, the separation test of the fairing of the “Xingyun-1” liquid recyclable and reusable launch vehicle of Shenlan Aerospace was a complete success. This is the first test in China to use a non-pyrotechnic connection unlocking mechanism to separate the fairing. In order to fully verify the separation state of the fairing under different deviations, Deep Blue Aerospace has carried out many experiments on this round, all of which use the self-developed non-pyrotechnic connection unlocking mechanism. The separation timing of the test is correct, which is basically consistent with the simulation results. No damage occurred.
This round of separation tests was completed at the Deep Blue Aerospace Nantong Rocket Assembly Base, and the fairing was completely recovered after multiple tests.
This round of separation tests was completed at the Deep Blue Aerospace Nantong Rocket Assembly Base, and the fairing was completely recovered after multiple tests.
This round of testing used the same set of connection and unlocking mechanisms to complete multiple separation tests within three days, verifying the reusability and rapid response capabilities of the self-developed non-pyrotechnical connection and unlocking mechanism. This is the first time in domestic fairing separation tests. This round of fairing separation test is one of the phased tests before the first flight of the “Nebula-1” liquid recyclable launch vehicle. The success of this round of test will lay the foundation for the successful first flight of the “Nebula-1” rocket in 2024. Solid foundation.
Why do rockets need to separate their Fairings?
The launch vehicle will encounter harsh environments during flight. The fairing protects the satellite payload from the aerodynamic forces and aerodynamic heat and also reduces the aerodynamic resistance of the launch vehicle during flight. After leaving the atmosphere, the launch vehicle is no longer affected by aerodynamics and throwing away the fairing helps to increase rockets capacity..
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…..
The Thunder-R1 engine is the latest reusable liquid oxygen kerosene rocket engine developed by Deep Blue Aerospace. It will be used in the first sub-stage of Deep Blue Aerospace’s first orbit-level recoverable launch vehicle “Nebulas 1” in a parallel manner. It will carry out technical iterations and upgrades in the future to rapidly improve the thrust performance of the engine to the order of 35-40 tons.
The “Nebula 1” carrier rocket has a take-off thrust of more than 130 tons, a low-Earth orbit carrying capacity of about 2 tons, and has a design goal of 50 reuses in the long run. It is planned to have the ability to launch into orbit by the end of 2023
On May 6, 2022, the “Nebula-M” test rocket independently developed by DeepBlue Aerospace completed a 1-kilometer vertical take-off and landing flight test. It has climbed to a new height and is a solid step closer to the successful realization of orbit and recovery
On 9th July 2022 Recently, Deep Blue Aerospace’s 20-ton “Thunder-R1” reusable engine (Thunder Reusable 1) successfully completed the first round of ignition test. The same engine was used in this test, and a total of 5 ignition tests were carried out. The cumulative ignition working time reached 138 seconds, and the longest single working time reached 90 seconds; the engine worked smoothly, and the startup and shutdown were normal in each test run. It marks the complete success of the first-round test run of the Thunder-R1 engine……
Deep Blue Aerospace’s third-hand “Nebula-M” rocket completes the flight recovery mission On May 6, 2022, the “Nebula-M” No. 1 test rocket independently developed by DeepBlue Aerospace completed a 1-kilometer vertical take-off and landing (VTVL) flight test, and the rocket moved laterally during the process of climbing and falling. , and finally landed to a point less than 0.5 meters from the “bull’s eye” position of the landing site, and the “Nebula-M” test arrow was successfully recovered.
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…..
On May 6, 2022, the “Nebula-M” test rocket independently developed by DeepBlue Aerospace completed a 1-kilometer vertical take-off and landing flight test. It has climbed to a new height and is a solid step closer to the successful realization of orbit and recovery
Deep Blue Aerospace’s third-hand “Nebula-M” rocket completes the flight recovery mission On May 6, 2022, the “Nebula-M” No. 1 test rocket independently developed by DeepBlue Aerospace completed a 1-kilometer vertical take-off and landing (VTVL) flight test, and the rocket moved laterally during the process of climbing and falling. , and finally landed to a point less than 0.5 meters from the “bull’s eye” position of the landing site, and the “Nebula-M” test arrow was successfully recovered.
The arrow body used in this Kilometer-level test is still the “Nebula-M” No. 1 test arrow, which has performed 3 flight missions and 7 ground static ignitions, truly realizing the recyclability and reuse of liquid launch vehicles ; its The equipped “Thunder-5” engine is the first needle-bolt-type liquid oxygen kerosene engine to be manufactured using 3D printing technology in China. The completion of this mission announced that Deep Blue Aerospace has climbed to a new height in the history of China’s reusable and reusable rockets, and has taken a solid step towards the successful realization of orbit and recovery.
Pictured: “Nebula-M” kilometer-level VTVL vertical recovery flight test
From July to October 2021, the “Nebula-M” test rocket has successively completed the 10-meter and 100-meter VTVL vertical recovery flight tests, achieving two zero breakthroughs in domestic liquid oxygen and kerosene rockets. In May 2022, the same rocket once again refreshed a new test height. Deep Blue Aerospace has become the fastest Chinese commercial aerospace company in the world outside the United States to develop and recycle rockets.
Pictured: “Nebula-M” kilometer-level VTVL vertical recovery flight test
This kilometer-level VTVL vertical recovery flight test marks that Deep Blue Aerospace achieved the same level of test results achieved in 2012-2013 with 8 launch tests in more than a year in only 10 months and 3 launch tests. Deep Blue Aerospace has become the second company in the world to complete all low-altitude engineering tests for vertical recovery and reuse of liquid oxygen and kerosene rockets (the first being SpaceX in the United States).
Kilometer -level VTVL vertical recovery flight test broke many domestic records…
The “Nebula-M” kilometer-level VTVL vertical recovery flight test has four technical highlights:
Significant reduction in flight test costs
Under the premise of realizing the vertical recovery of the full arrow, the cost of re-flying the mission is only about 1% of the cost of the production and manufacturing of the arrow body, including the replacement of some wear and tear parts, the test and maintenance cost of the whole arrow, and the propellant cost;
Longer working time for a single ignition
Compared with the 100-meter-level test, the kilometer-level VTVL vertical recovery flight test has greatly improved the working time of a single ignition of the engine, which is closer to the working time of a single-stage engine of an orbiting rocket. Different from the state of the ground test, this time the stability of the large-scale thrust change and long-range work of the engine is assessed in the real flight environment, which has more authenticity and practical significance in engineering development;
Application of Lateral Guidance Algorithm
In this kilometer-level test, during the vertical takeoff-vertical landing flight process, a lateral guidance algorithm was added, the coordinates of the target point were pre-booked, and the computer on the rocket carried out calculation and planning, issued lateral guidance commands, and guided the rocket to the target coordinates. Transverse, carry out the verification of the rocket’s off-site return and recovery technology, and carry out preliminary technical verification for the off-site return and reuse of the rockets entering orbit, and intercontinental travel, etc.;
Breakthroughs in multiple coefficients of the kilometer-level VTVL vertical recovery flight test
In this kilometer-level VTVL vertical recovery flight test, the flight speed reached 0.2Ma and the flight altitude reached 1 km. This is the vertical recovery flight test with the highest flight altitude, fastest flight speed and longest flight time in China.
Through this flight test, the aerodynamic problems of the rocket body in the vertical recovery process of the rocket, as well as the long-term mechanical heat and vibration environment adaptability, the engine’s long-term and large-scale thrust change ability, and the reusable arrow are further verified. Key core technologies such as body structure and landing buffer device, lateral guidance and attitude control capabilities have laid a solid foundation for the subsequent 10-kilometer-level vertical recovery and orbit-level recovery.
Huo Liang, CEO of Deep Blue
The success of Deep Blue Aerospace’s “Nebula-M” rocket kilometer-level VTVL vertical recovery flight test also announced that the low-altitude recovery stage has come to a successful end, and the “Nebula-M” 1 test rocket has successfully completed its historical mission. In the next stage, Deep Blue Aerospace will use the same full-scale test rocket as the orbiting rocket to continue the high-altitude recovery test stage (similar to the recovery test carried out by SpaceX’s second stage using the full-scale prototype “Falcon 9 R”), It will make rapid breakthroughs towards the height of 10km and 100km, and finally realize the controllable recovery and reuse of the first sub-stage of the orbiting rocket.
Pictured: “Nebula-M” kilometer-level VTVL vertical recovery flight test
In 2021, the Permanent Mission of China to the United Nations (Vienna) submitted a note verbale to the Secretary-General of the United Nations and released information that the satellites launched by the US Starlink plan had approached the Chinese space station twice, and this behavior had a negative impact on the life and health of the astronauts built by the Chinese space station. threaten. For safety reasons, the Chinese space station complex has implemented two “emergency collision avoidance” measures against the relevant US satellites. However, the key to these problems is that the number of satellite launches planned by Starlink far exceeds that of China. As of March 2022, Starlink plans to launch more than 2,000 satellites, and the only way to achieve such a large number of satellite launches is to reduce the launch cost of rockets and increase the frequency of launches to be realized.
Low-cost recyclable rockets have become the only way to develop future launch vehicles. With rapid overhaul, relaunch, successful recovery, and rapid iteration, SpaceX’s Falcon 9 ranks among the world’s rocket echelons. Up to now, SpaceX’s flight data: 95 rocket reuse flights, 118 rocket landings, and the take-off stage of a single carrier rocket can be reused up to 12 times.
On April 16, 2022 From the construction of space infrastructure to the completion and opening of the Beidou global satellite navigation system, from the successful conclusion of the “three-step” lunar exploration project to the “Tianwen-1” crossing the Earth-Moon system to start the Mars exploration journey… Countless brilliant achievements are in It continues to prove that China is making progress towards becoming a “space power”.
As a commercial aerospace enterprise, Deep Blue Aerospace actively responded to the country’s strategic deployment of the aerospace industry, anchored the goal of rocket recycling and reuse, and never wavered or changed the direction of research and development.
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…..
On October 13 Wednesday 2021, the Deep Blue Aerospace “Nebula-M” test arrow 1 completed the 100-meter vertical take-off and landing (VTVL) flight test at the Tongchuan Test Base in Shaanxi Province, achieving all test assessment targets and the test mission was a complete success.
This test is a VTVL flight test completed by the same launch rocket in a short period of time after Deep Blue Aerospace completed the 10-meter VTVL flight test at the end of July, creating the first 100-meter liquid oxygen kerosene rocket recovery and reuse flight record in China. It demonstrates Deep Blue Aerospace’s responsiveness and organizational capabilities for rapid maintenance of the rocket body and rapid organization of re-flight. At the same time, it has accumulated valuable data and engineering experience for continuing to organize high-altitude and orbital-level vertical recovery tests.
Testing of the Reusable Carrier Rocket completed the 100-meter vertical take-off and landing (VTVL) at the Tongchuan Test Base in Shaanxi Province , The flight test reached all the test assessment targets, and the test mission was a complete success. This test is a VTVL flight test completed by the same launch rocket in a short period of time after Deep Blue Aerospace completed the 10-meter VTVL flight test at the end of July, creating the first 100-meter liquid oxygen kerosene rocket recovery and reuse flight record in China. It demonstrates Deep Blue Aerospace’s responsiveness and organizational capabilities for rapid maintenance of the rocket body and rapid organization of re-flight. At the same time, it has accumulated valuable data and engineering experience for continuing to organize high-altitude and orbital-level vertical recovery tests. Video source: Deep Blue Aerospace
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江苏深蓝航天有限公司 Deep Blue Limited – 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…..
In July 2021, Coordinating of the Deep Blue Aerospace Test Base in Tongchuan, Shaanxi. With the roar of the engine, the Deep Blue Aerospace “Xingyun-M” No. 1 test rocket completed its first vertical take-off and vertical landing (VTVL). Flight, the vertical recovery flight test of the carrier rocket called “Grasshopper Jump”, was a complete success.
This test marked a major breakthrough in Deep Blue Aerospace’s “recycling and reuse” rocket technology: it became the first company in China to successfully use pumping engines to complete the vertical recovery flight test of liquid rockets, marking China’s exploration of liquid rocket reuse technology in which is an important step……
Just last week, Deep Blue Aerospace Co., Ltd., a private enterprise of our country, successfully completed all test preparations for the Nebula-M Liquid Recovery No. 1 test rocket at the Tongchuan Engine Test Base in Shaanxi, and the last large-scale test before the rocket launch will be carried out as planned. Static ignition, this Nebula-M1 test arrow has completed all-arrow launching and training before all test preparations.
The static ignition of the Nebula-M1 rocket is the last important test before the recoverable launch test. The test is mainly for the rocket engine, the rocket control system, the rocket electrical system, the rocket booster delivery system, and the ground measurement and launch control system. Tests and assessments are carried out under the working conditions of the engine. In addition to ensuring that the rocket does not fly off the ground through the ground facilities, the static ignition procedure will also fully simulate the entire operation process of the rocket’s vertical recovery flight.
The Nebula-M1 test arrow developed by Deep Blue Aviation Co., Ltd. has a height of 7.3m. The rocket is equipped with a Thunder-5 electric pump liquid oxygen kerosene engine independently developed by Deep Blue Aerospace Co., Ltd., and the company’s independently developed Thunder-5 engine vacuum The thrust is up to 50kN, and the engine pump speed can be adjusted by a hundred kW motor, which can achieve 50%-110% thrust adjustment.
Recently, Deep Blue Aerospace Co., Ltd. successfully organized and completed the commercial aerospace test base in Tongchuan, Shaanxi. The Nebula-M liquid reusable test arrow No. 1 conducted the first 10s static ignition test. The first static ignition test focused on the Thunder-5 electric test. The working coordination of the pump variable thrust engine and the other systems of the Nebula-M1 rocket. At the same time, the Nebula-M full rocket has accepted the assessment of the real power and thermal environment. The scientific research team analysed the engine, control, electrical, and All systems such as pressure conveying, ground measurement, transmission and control are in normal operation and have reached the test assessment target. At the same time, the first 10s static ignition test was a complete success.
Images and visuals are from Weibo also their Respectives
