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.