LandSpace 蓝箭航天 One of sixty Chinese private space Carrier Rocket Companies in China-People’s Republic of China… On the occasion of the centenary of the founding of the party, the first phase of the Jiaxing LandSpace Blue Arrow Aerospace Center, a gathering place for the aerospace industry chain laid out in Zhejiang, was completed and will soon be put into use. Established mass production capacity for medium and large rockets, and completed the first phase of Jiaxing Blue Arrow Space Center
Jiaxing LandSpace Blue Arrow Aerospace Center is located in the Aerospace Industry Park of Jiaxing City, Zhejiang Province. It aims to build a top aerospace industry base in the entire industry chain that integrates design simulation, testing and testing, and intelligent manufacturing.
“It’s not easy to get to this stage.” Now, when Zhou Yuren recalled seeing the complete Suzaku-2 Yaoyi rocket erected in front of him for the first time a few months ago, he can still remember the feeling at that time.
Zhou Yuren, chief technical officer of Blue Arrow Aerospace Technology Co., Ltd., winner of the National May 1st Labor Medal this year, has been engaged in the development of launch vehicles for nearly 30 years. He has won the Shanghai May 1st Labor Medal, the Second Prize of the National Science and Technology Progress Award and other national, provincial and ministerial awards, and enjoys special allowances from the State Council. Going back to two years ago, he may not have imagined that one day he would lead a team to develop a rocket in a private company. “With my character, I usually don’t think about starting a business unless it’s more interesting.”
01. “Old Master” first touches “New Aerospace”
In Zhou Yuren’s eyes, Blue Arrow Aerospace, a young commercial rocket company, and the Suzaku-2 series liquid oxygen methane carrier rockets under development can be defined as “more interesting”.
“If you want to ask how Blue Arrow impresses me, it must first be the self-developed liquid oxygen methane engine.” This means that before the “retirement day” planned for himself, he can personally lead the team to develop China’s first model The liquid oxygen methane launch vehicle with medium-sized and above capacity has been made into a product that can stand on the world stage and have the ability to compete with stronger commercial rockets through technological iteration.
When he first came to Blue Arrow Aerospace, it was at the time when the “Tianque” two types of engines were successfully delivered after major tests. The Suzaku-2 carrier rocket also entered the most critical period of R&D and manufacturing. Troubleshoot and determine status. At this time, it became a top priority to get familiar with the team while quickly grasping the various states of the rocket.
“Different from focusing only on technology before, leading a R&D team in a commercial aerospace company has more things to consider.” Compared with his previous working environment, Blue Arrow Aerospace is clearly an “atypical” rocket company. “In a more market-oriented environment, R&D cycle, cost, team integration, and product iteration are all issues that must be considered.”
The Suzaku-2 launch vehicle was established in September 2017, and the model plan demonstration was completed at the end of December 2017, and it was transferred to the plan design. , The Suzaku-2 Yaoyi rocket has completed the general inspection before leaving the factory and has the conditions for leaving the factory.
“It will take four and a half years to complete the development and launch process of a brand-new rocket from 0 to 1, and the pressure on the delivery schedule is actually very large. When you reach a commercial company, you will find that whether it is time, supply chain or capital, these Resources are limited, and making a satisfactory product with limited resources is a challenge that our entire team needs to accept.”
“The harsher the external conditions, the higher the requirements for the reliability of the product system. This also requires our R&D team to require themselves to higher standards.” In the “atypical” R&D environment, Zhou Yuren became more and more It shows the “strict”, “prudent”, “fine” and “true” of an old Takionaut.
“Zhou is always a person who places great emphasis on technical processes.” Qiu Jingyu, deputy general manager of the Rocket R&D Department, communicates with Zhou Yuren every day about the progress of the model, “During the entire development process, the model team has been under his request. Adhere to a strict quality management program.”
Problems must be analyzed in place, the reasons can be clearly analyzed, and finally passed the verification of the test, this is Zhou Yuren’s basic requirement for the R&D team, “Whether it is technical ability or model management ability, it must pass strict quality management and process management. to keep improving.”
02. Master Yan is also “rebellious”
“Sharp”, “pragmatic” and “reliable”, the young people in the Blue Arrow R&D team will put such labels on Zhou Yuren. “Mr. Zhou’s requirements for everyone are relatively high, and even a little strict.” “He is a bit paternalistic, and he is of a relatively strict type. The requirements for subordinates are very specific, but he will also guide the work by hand. You can also get a detailed response when you go to him for questions.”
For such a consistent evaluation, Zhou Yuren called it “unexpected”. In his ideal state, he even hopes that he can “hide” in daily management. “Rather than being a ‘parent’ or a ‘strict teacher’, I hope that everyone can do their jobs smoothly without me. I hope that in this team, everyone can take the initiative to play their part. technology and ability to come up with and implement some of our new ideas.”
It is not required to follow the rules and encourages to try more technical innovations. In terms of technology, Zhou Yuren does not deny that he has a “rebellious” opposite to his management style.
In Qiu Jingyu’s words, the liquid oxygen methane rocket made by Lanjian is itself a very new rocket, and the challenges brought by the new power system to the rocket as a whole are also multi-faceted, and new ideas are always used to solve new problems. Reaching new goals has also become the norm for Blue Arrow’s R&D engineers.
“Our rockets will continue to pursue simpler systems, greater capacity, lower costs, and higher reliability, which requires engineers to constantly break through the limitations of their own thinking and experience to find ways to achieve their goals.”
In terms of encouraging innovation, the company’s values coincide with Zhou Yuren’s. “Last year, the company gave some budget and set up an innovation laboratory to encourage engineers to apply their new ideas to products.”
At the Blue Arrows, whether individually or as a team, if any new ideas are of value to the Rockets as a whole, there is support. “The atmosphere of innovation in the whole company is very good. In such an environment, we can give full play to some new ideas of the whole team, try some new technology solutions, and make the products produced are relatively good products. In terms of goals, everyone Together we can make this type of rocket.”
Zhou Yuren believes that this kind of relaxed innovation environment is very valuable, and he will encourage young people in the company to think more about things other than models. As long as he feels that these jobs can benefit their professional development and the company’s entire product line, he will encourage them. The team tries. “Because your professional ability has improved, it means that the company’s entire technical ability has improved. This is one of my goals with this team.”
03. Do one thing with a group of people
When commercial aerospace gradually developed, the industry has been calling for commercial rockets with both high reliability and lower cost. However, most traditional rocket propellants cannot meet this goal due to technical limitations or high costs. Rockets fueled by liquid oxygen methane have become the new favorite of many commercial rocket companies around the world because of their good performance, simple maintenance, multiple use and low fuel costs. Some even believe that liquid oxygen methane represents the future development of commercial rockets. power.
However, the road to turning the drawings into reality will eventually face various difficulties, Zhou Yuren said frankly, “Because our current engines are basically self-cooling, and liquid oxygen methane uses methane to cool itself. When methane is in the bottom of the thrust chamber, It is a liquid phase, but after the cooling process, it becomes a gas-liquid two-phase state. The characteristics of the gas-liquid two-phase are very complicated, which is a relatively difficult problem found in our development process. question.”
“The Suzaku-2 rocket is the first dual-low temperature launch vehicle in China, and many technical difficulties need to be solved one by one. It is gratifying that everyone worked hard.” Zhou Yuren said, “Whether it is the engine team, the rocket team, or the assembly team They all sprinted towards a goal with energy, and I was moved by their enthusiasm and the spirit of not giving up on solving problems in their work.”
On weekdays, Zhou Yuren is unsmiling, but he will take everyone’s efforts and growth into consideration, how the designer insists on craftsmanship and production for a qualified part, and how the production department communicates with each other in order to deliver products on time under the epidemic In order to ensure that the product is foolproof, the coordinator and professional person in charge will stick to the test site for a few months… “Now we have realized the stepless adjustment of the low-temperature engine thrust and mixing ratio. This technology is also used for the large-scale thrust adjustment of the engine and the recovery of the launch vehicle. The key. In addition, problems such as the gas-liquid phase in the cooling process have also been satisfactorily resolved.”
“Developing a launch vehicle is a systematic project, and every link is very important. On the whole, I am very confident in both the team and the product.”
04. “Satisfaction” means that everyone is satisfied with the product
When it comes to the “tasks” he has given himself, Zhou Yuren believes that leading the team to continuously improve their professional capabilities is one thing, and the other is forming a set of development standard processes and norms that suit him. “Standards and norms are things that I attach more importance to. These are the basic skills that must be done. Now, through the development of Suzaku-2, we can say that we have laid the foundation, and the foundation is solid, so that we have the conditions to overtake on the corners. “
When asked, “Is the ultimate goal to make the product smoothly?”, Zhou Yuren corrected us, not to make it, but to do it well, “to satisfy ourselves”, in order to satisfy the team and the market. “If your goal is only to make something, then the evaluation of this thing is only done, and it is definitely not the result I expected. Only when you show the result that everyone is satisfied can you say that you have done something. thing.”
Zhou Yuren believes that there are three stages in doing things: do one thing – accomplish one thing – accomplish one thing satisfactorily. What he seeks is this “consummation”.
“Now, both the country and the market have expectations for commercial rocket companies, and they are all looking at when you can make low-cost, high-reliability commercial rockets. For us, the final product developed should be able to Comparing with the main products in the commercial market, it has stronger commercial competitiveness, and I think it is a complete success.”
In Zhou Yuren’s definition of “completeness”, the completion of the flight test of the Suzaku-2 Yao-1 rocket is just the beginning, “We have done one thing now – the development of the Suzaku-2 has been completed, and it is only a matter of time. There is still one last step to go—the successful completion of the first flight test, and a more satisfactory result will be obtained in the end, and there is still a lot of work to be done in the future.” “Compared with our more ambitious plan, it is only a small step away from the The goal is still far away, and everyone needs to work together. In the future, we will continue to iterate and optimize the overall plan, improve the engine function and overall performance, reduce structural weight, etc., so that the Suzaku-2 rocket will become a more concise, reliable and low-cost rocket.”
“Being able to exert one’s ability in this industry, to be able to do one thing, and feel that it is not in vain, or that we have come to the world to live, and we do not say that we are worthy of anyone, but at least we can be worthy of ourselves, and feel that it is fine.” Zhou Yuren Say.
“Have you chosen aerospace, do you plan to do it for the rest of your life?”
“right.”
According to Blue Arrow Aerospace, the Suzaku-2 launch vehicle was approved in September 2017, and the model plan demonstration was completed by the end of December 2017, and it was transferred to the plan design. In the first stage, in January 2022, the Suzaku-2 Yaoyi rocket will complete the general inspection before leaving the factory and meet the conditions for leaving the factory.
I wish you great success!
The Blue Arrow Aerospace Suzaku-2 launch vehicle is expected to fly for the first time this year. It is China’s first liquid oxygen methane launch vehicle with a medium capacity or above. I hope the first flight will go smoothly
“It’s not easy to get to this stage.” Now, when Zhou Yuren recalled seeing the complete Suzaku-2 Yaoyi rocket erected in front of him for the first time a few months ago, he can still remember the feeling at that time.
Today, we invite Zhou Yuren, CTO of Blue Arrow Aerospace Technology Co., Ltd., who just won the National May 1st Labor Medal, to talk about his journey as a “typical” engineer in an “atypical” rocket company”
LandSpace 蓝箭航天 One of sixty Chinese private space Carrier Rocket Companies in China-People’s Republic of China.. , LandSpace Blue Arrow Aerospace … located in Beijing (Zhonghang International Plaza, No. 13 Ronghua South Road, Yizhuang Economic and Technological Development Zone, Beijing as their main head office in Land Space’s headquarter, Beijing R&D Center is located in Beijing Economic and Technological Development Zone in E-town… in which they also have numerous branches in Xian Research and Development Center.. also Located Huzhou Intelligent Manufacturing center in providing testing as assemblies of the components together …
Images and visuals are from Weibo
