It was July 2023 when the Zhuque-2 space rocket From Property size managed to reach orbit. The private Chinese startup became the first company to reach orbit with a launch vehicle with rocket engines methane And liquid oxygen They beat the internal competition, but also the western competition, which includes SpaceX (with the Starship Raptors), ULA and Blue Origin (with BE-4 for Vulcan Centaur and New Glenn), Avio (with M10), Relativy Space (with Aeon R.) exists for Terran R), Rocket Lab (with Archimedes for Neutron) and ESA/Arianespace (with Prometheus for Themis).
When it was 12:39 a.m. today, December 9th (Italian time), the Zhuque-2 Y3 space rocketwhich indicates that third litter for this reason Chinese vector. The operation was completed successfully and, unlike the second launch, this time payloads were actually placed into orbit. A new record from Property size which is therefore the first company to employ you Space rocket powered by Methane-oxygen To successfully place satellites into orbit.
The launch took place in the desert areas of northwest China from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center. The payload consisted of three satellites named Honghu, Honghu-2 and TY-33. Property size However, the further development of its range of launch vehicles is only just beginning Zhuque-2 It is certainly an important demonstration. Following the airline's successful launch this evening, the company also presented further information about the model Zhuque-3 which will be further developed and, above all, partially reusable, in line with what is currently happening with SpaceX's Falcon 9s.
After the Zhuque-2 space rocket, we are looking at Zhuque-3
In particular, this version will be made of stainless steel (like Starship) but will have a main structure more similar to a Falcon 9, with landing supports and a non-recovery second stage. Its height will reach i 76.6 meters with a diameter of 4.5 meters and a 5.2 meter long fairing.
They are used for the first stage nine TQ-12B engines Methane-oxygen with 900 tons of thrust, while the second stage will have one single-engine TQ-15B. The performance is intended to ensure the ability to carry 21.3 tons of payload up to 450 km (Low Earth Orbit (LEO)) without recovery, 18.3 tons with recovery from another launch zone and 12.5 tons with landing on the launch pad.
At the base of the first stage there are four supports for vertical landing, which allow the reuse of the first stage with all the advantages in terms of cost efficiency (approximately $2800/kg) and speed of reuse. A vertical take-off (VTVL) test is expected to take place within a month, the company's CEO said. The first flight However, it should happen in the complete configuration 2025.