Launch of Zhuque-2 Y-3: China revolutionizes rocketry

Private Chinese company LandSpace launched its third rocket, the Zhuque-2 Y-3, on Saturday at 7:39 a.m. local time from Launch Pad No. 96 of the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in the Gobi Desert (Inner Mongolia). This is the first methane project in the history of astronautics, where the launch vehicle successfully managed to launch satellites into orbit.

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This event is a true revolution in rocket science, because methane (although it is a greenhouse gas) is economical (50-90% cheaper than those currently used), safer and more environmentally friendly fuel for reusable rockets. For example, heptyl, which is still used in a mixture with nitrogen tetroxide, is an extremely toxic substance. Kerosene burned with liquid oxygen is much less toxic. And yet, in comparison with them, spent methane exhaust contains a minimum of harmful substances.



At the end of the three-stage experiment, the company's management announced that the three rockets it launched had reached a synchronous orbit 460 km (285 miles) from Earth. Moreover, the last two launches turned out to be effective.

The Zhuque-2 Y-3 delivered a pair of test satellites from Chinese startup Spacety, weighing 50 kg each, as well as one satellite from Hongqing. Let us remind you: in China, private business has been investing in space activities since 2014, when the country’s government gave the appropriate permission.

First flight

On December 14, 2022, LandSpace carried out the debut flight of the Zhuque-2 Y-1, which was unable to enter its intended orbit due to the early shutdown of four stage II vernier (maneuvering) engines after the main engines worked normally. This was the world's first attempt to launch a methane-powered launch vehicle into orbit, which ended in failure.

The launch vehicle malfunctioned in the last minutes of insertion into orbit. The final report stated that the problem was the outer casing of the low-pressure liquid oxygen pump, which failed during the operation to shut down the main engine because it was subjected to a powerful dynamic impact.

The result was a ruptured connection on the liquid oxygen inlet pipe, which had not been properly secured in case of an emergency. As part of efforts to correct design deficiencies, LandSpace personnel conducted a series of ground tests prior to the second flight to verify the effectiveness of the work done.

The spacecraft was equipped with a small payload, which was lost due to failure to reach orbital speed. The rocket accelerated to only 5 km/s, while a stable orbit requires about 7 km/s.

Subsequent flights

On July 12 of this year, LandSpace became the only organization to date that has prepared a successful flight of the Y-2 rocket, operating on methane and liquid oxygen. Scientists from China are ahead of American competitors, including Elon Musk's SpaceX and Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin. The second flight did not include any payload and was purely a demonstration flight. Finally, on December 9, the Zhuque-2 Y-3 ascended into space for the third time, and the rocket again reached orbit normally.

The LandSpace administration promised customers at least three to four launches next year and at least six in 2025. LandSpace CEO Zhang Changwu officially announced that the model is now going into serial production and in the near future, with favorable developments, the number of annual flights can be increased to 15.

Non-standard approach

Engine development proceeded relatively quickly. A full test launch was carried out in May 2019 at the LandSpace engine test site in Huzhou, Zhejiang province. Initially, the engine was intended to be simplified and quickly assembled, since LandSpace plans to produce up to one and a half dozen products per year.

We are talking about a medium-sized launch vehicle with a height of 49,5 m, a diameter of 3,35 m and a launch mass (excluding payload) of 216 tons. At the moment, the rocket is capable of launching up to 1,5 tons of payload into a 500-kilometer orbit, and subsequent modifications will increase the payload capacity to 4 tons. It will be capable of launching 200 tons into a low Earth orbit of 6 km. The composition of the manufacturing material is not advertised. It is only known that the body includes the maximum possible number of finished parts, mainly from a variety of composites, ceramics and light and durable metal alloys.

The first stage of the rocket is powered by four TQ-12 liquid methane engines, forming a single unit. They operate on the principle of a gas generator cycle. At start, the engines develop a thrust of 2680 kN. Each of them has an outlet nozzle diameter of 1,5 m and operates on a mixture of oxygen and methane in a ratio of 3,5: 1.

The trick of the model is that the second stage is also equipped with a TQ-12 engine, reinforced by four TQ-11 vernier engines. Before the completion of the second stage, TQ-11 is turned on, which plays the role of an accelerating stage after the main engine is turned off. They perform a smooth launch into orbit.

Future plans for LandSpace

It was initially expected that the third launch would be marked by the appearance of the TQ-15A power module, where the vernier engines are absent; however, something apparently went wrong with the designers, and the implementation of the know-how had to be postponed.

In general, the company is going to finalize Zhuque-2. The concept of an extended version with upgraded engines, tanks and an enlarged cargo compartment fairing, called ZQ-2A, is ready. This missile is also planned to have 3-core and 5-core types, respectively labeled ZQ-2B and ZQ-2C. Based on the TQ-12A's 9% increase in thrust (to 2921,2 kN) per core, the 3-core type would have a thrust of 8,7 mN and the 5-core type would have 14,6 mN of thrust.

After completing this project, LandSpace plans to move on to the creation and implementation of a reusable stainless steel rocket, the Zhuque-3. It will be capable of carrying 11-20 tons of useful mass, depending on the configuration and purpose. However, it is not yet known when LandSpace will switch to a reusable version.