On the week of 23rd July 2024 CNSA _China National Space Administration -China – People’s Republic of China at a China Academy Of Launch Vehicle Technology Engine Testing complex.. of the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation Sixth Academy…. China’s new generation of manned carrier rocket three-stage liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen engine long-range high-model test was a complete success … for the长征十号 Chang Zheng- Long March
Recently, the new generation of manned carrier rocket three-stage liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen engine completed a long-range test in a high-altitude simulated environment on China’s newly built vertical high-altitude simulation test bench, verifying the feasibility of long-range operation of China’s largest nozzle area ratio liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen engine. The test was a complete success.
The success of this long-range high-model test indicates that China’s liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen engine high-altitude simulation test capability has reached the level of thousands of seconds, which has greatly improved China’s liquid rocket engine high-model test capability and will strongly support the smooth implementation of China’s manned lunar exploration project. (China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation Sixth Academy…
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 Takionaut and cargo transportation tasks….
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.
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.
On the 30th May 2024 in CNSA _China National Space Administration -China – People’s Republic of China 2012 hours Hong Kong –Beijing Time China- People’s Republic of China launch the Chang Zheng Long March 3B carrier rocket successfully launched the Pakistan multi-mission communications satellite….. Satellite at the Xichang Satellite Launch Center, Sichuan Province
At 20:12 on May 30, the Long March 3B carrier rocket ignited and took off from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center, and then successfully sent the Pakistan multi-mission communications satellite into the predetermined orbit. The launch mission was a complete success. The Pakistan multi-mission communications satellite was developed by the Fifth Academy of China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation and uses the Dongfanghong-4 enhanced communications satellite platform.
Pakistan’s multi-mission communications satellite ① Dongfanghong-4 enhanced communications satellite platform ② Equipped with 9 antennas and 48 C, Ku, Ka, L and other multi-band transponders ③ Take-off weight 5,400 kg ④ Fixed in geosynchronous orbit 38.2 degrees east longitude ⑤ Service life 15 years
The satellite has a service life of 15 years and will be stationed above the equator at 38.2 degrees east longitude in the geosynchronous orbit, covering Pakistan and surrounding areas. After in-orbit operation, the satellite will provide users in the region with a variety of services such as television, radio, regional enhanced communications, high-throughput broadband, and satellite-based enhanced navigation. The Long March 3B carrier rocket was developed by the First Academy of China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation. This launch is the 524th launch of the Long March series of carrier rockets…
On the day of 12TH May 2024 Hours Hong- Kong SAR – Beijing time CNSA –China National Space Administration , China, People’s Republic of China At 0743 Hong Kong SAR- Beijing Time , the Chang Zheng -Long March 4C Yao 50 carrier rocket carrying Experimental Satellite Number 23 .. From The the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, Inner Mongolia, China, People’s Republic of China..
The test satellite No. 23 was launched into space. The satellite successfully entered the predetermined orbit and the launch mission was a complete success. The satellite is mainly used for space environment detection Satellite No. 3 was put into the predetermined orbit and the launch mission was a complete success. The rockets and satellites used to carry out this mission were developed by the Eighth Academy of China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation. This mission is the 522nd launch of the Long March series of launch vehicles.
