China's Space Program Thread II

[by78]

Eight years, nine engines:
– The 500-ton supplementary combustion circulating liquid oxygen kerosene engine (YF-130). First whole-engine test run completed today.
– The 80-ton open-cycle liquid oxygen methane engine (YF-209), first test run completed today.
– The 25-ton closed expansion cycle liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen engine, tested for the first time in September this year.
– The 85-ton open-cycle liquid oxygen kerosene engine has completed the development and test run of 11 units, and the cumulative test run time exceeds 800s, and it is ready for delivery.
– The first semi-system test of the 220-ton supplementary combustion circulating liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen engine will be completed in 2021.
– 8-ton space pump pressure supplementary combustion cycle conventional engine
– High-thrust high-pressure supplementary combustion cycle conventional engine
– 360-ton supplementary combustion cycle liquid oxygen kerosene engine
– 200-ton full-flow staged combustion cycle Liquid oxygen methane engine

Progress summary and update on the "Eight Years Nine Engines" projects:

– The 200-ton LOX/Methane YF-215: underwent further optimizations in 2022 and the 1st-stage ignition test of was successful; the gas generator ignition test was completed on May 12, 2023.

– The 360-ton LOX/Kerosene YF-135: the first joint ignition test carried out on May 10, 2022; first full-system hot test run carried out on January 3, 2024.

– The 500-ton LOX/Kerosene YF-130: completed the first gas generator-turbopump joint test on August 1, 2016; the first semi-system hot test run was completed on March 5, 2021; and the first full-system hot test run was completed on November 5, 2022.

– The 220-ton LOX/LH2 YF-90: tests completed on oxygen turbine pump and pre-combustion chamber on November 2, 2020; the first engineering prototype was completed on July 25, 2021; the first semi-system hot test run was completed on September 23, 2021; the first engine was assembled in 2022; the second semi-system hot test run was completed on February 2, 2023; and the full-system hot test run was completed on December 17, 2024.

– The 25-ton LOX/LH2 YF-79: completed its first thrust chamber extrusion test (at 60% trust) on December 10, 2021; the first thrust chamber extrusion test (at 100% thrust) was completed on October 17, 2021; the first full-system hot test run was completed on September 5, 2022.

– The 85-ton Lox/Kerosene YF-102: accumulated 2,000 seconds of test runs by the end of 2021 and declared ready for flight; static test firing of the first delivered engine was completed on December 30, 2022; the first use was the launch of Tianlong-2 Y1 on April 2, 2023.

– The 80-ton LOX/Methane YF-209: completed its first full-system hot test run on November 5, 2022; the second full-system test run was completed on November 10, 2022; the first full-system test run of the final prototype was completed on February 14, 2023; the first long-duration test run was completed on February 23, 2023; the engine is now flight ready.

– The 8-ton regenerative cycle engine: the first successful full-system test run was carried out on April 16, 2022.

– The 100-ton YF-58-1 engine: its first full-system test run was carried out in October of 2021; several more full-system test runs carried out subsequently, further improving its performance.

 

[by78]

The Ceres-1 Y4 rocket successfully took off from her launch barge and inserted Tianqi-33, -34, -35, and -36 satellites into orbit. These satellites are part of the Tianqi IoT communications constellation. This mission marks the 16th flight of Ceres-1.

 

[by78]

(Continued from above...)

More images from the sea launch of Ceres-1 Y4, which was carried out at Haiyang Spaceport. The spaceport is aiming to reach a

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.

 

[Deino]

Does anyone have any idea what this is and how old the project is?

 

[Asug]

Wukong's 72nd transformation: Inflict fear. The ability to defeat an enemy by inducing panic fear in them.

 

[by78]

Another day, another launch. A Long March 3B successfully launched the Communication Technology Experimental Satellite No. 12 into orbit. This marks the 554th flight of the Long March series.

 

[by78]

The interior view of Hyperbola-3's liquid oxygen tank, which has just rolled off the production line. It has a diameter of 4.2m.

Exterior images of the finished tank (1st image) and the tank during fabrication.

 

[by78]

Some updates on Long March 9 as well as space-based solar power station (SSPS) given by Mr. Long Lehao (龙乐豪) during his latest talk:
– Long March 9 will first fly in 2032 or later. The first stage will be powered by YF-215 engines (200-ton full-flow staged combustion cycle, LOX/Methane fuel).
– The YF-215 has already passed technical verifications and accumulated some 1,000 seconds of test runs.
– The first stage will definitely be reusable.
– Long March 9 will be used to build SSPS. China will build a 10-megawatt SPSS by 2035 and a gigawatt-level SPSS by 2050. R&D on SSPS is making very promising progress.

An academic paper on China's future orbital solar power station. The paper states the medium-term goal is to begin construction on a megawatt-class orbital solar power station in 2030 and finish by 2035. For this, the only current suitable launch vehicle is the Long March 5. The long-term goal is to finish building a gigawatt-class power station by 2050, and the designated launch vehicle for this endeavor is the fully reusable LOX/Methane two-stage Long March 9. The rocket should have a takeoff thrust exceeding 60,000 kN, a takeoff mass exceeding 4,300 tons, with a fuselage diameter of 10.6 m, a fairing diameter of 10.6 m, a height of 106 m, and a LEO carrying capacity of around 90 tons. The 1st-stage is to be recovered via the chopstick method, and the 2nd-stage is to be recovered by landing vertically (via landing legs) either on a barge at sea or back at the launch site.

 

[taxiya]

Does anyone have any idea what this is and how old the project is?

View attachment 141206

The Chinese characters say it is from from 611 institute (CAC). 611 had a design for the space station crew transport in the mid 1980s. Now they have Haolong cargo trasport. I believe all of them are from the same design origin due to their functions and size being similar. The design seems to have two vertical stablizers on the fuselage which is different from Haolong (two wing tips and one one fuselage). I guess it is likely the 1980 design for crew mission or an interation between that one and Haolong.

 

[by78]

A high-resolution images of the Tokyo Haneda International Airport taken by a Jilin-1 Gaofen-04A on November 25, 2024.