China's Space Program Thread II

[siegecrossbow]

Elon wants to love stainless steel and wants validation, but between two iterations of Starship being unable to make orbit, and NASA now talking about cancelling Starship contract for Artemis 3 because I'm guessing their internal data on future payload looks even worse, Elon might not love stainless steel anymore, not as much has his ego want to.

It's one thing to forget Falcon Heavy exist with Starship, it's another to come up with something else to make people forget Starship exist.

Not if Trump cancels them first.

 

[by78]

LandSpace is looking to build a factory to produce Zhuque-3 launch vehicles in Yizhuang Area, Daxing District, Beijing.

 

[jli88]

LandSpace is looking to build a factory to produce Zhuque-3 launch vehicles in Yizhuang Area, Daxing District, Beijing.

Why not build something closer to the launch site JSLC?

 

[Maikeru]

Why not build something closer to the launch site JSLC?

Because hardly anybody wants to live or work there.

 

[by78]

Why not build something closer to the launch site JSLC?

Why not build the launchpad right next to the factory in Beijing?

 

[by78]

The SMILE satellite has completed thermal vacuum testing. However, its launch has been pushed back to 2026.

The Sino-European SMILE satellite will be launched some time between April 8th and May 7th, 2026.

 

[by78]

A bidding document from Hainan Commercial Spaceport. It announces the winning bids for an at-sea recovery ship for reusable launch vehicles. The winners are 708 Institute of CSSC, 701 Institute of CSIC, and Wuhan Tingtao Marine Engineering Corp.

Two bidding announcements from Hainan Commercial Spacort for at-sea recovery ships for reusable rockets.

Hainan Commercial Spaceport has signed a contract with Jiangxi Jiangxin Shipyard for a command and control ship for offshore rocket launch and recovery. The ship has a length of 99m, a beam of 17.60m, and a draft of 5.59m. It has a cruising speed of >12 knots and a range of 8,000 nautical miles.

After its completion, the ship will be used to remotely control launch and recover barges used for at-sea launch of reusable rockets.

The construction of the three ships have begun for Hainan Commercial Spaceport: a command and control ship for off-shore launch and recovery and two reusable rocket recovery ships, one of which is a towed barge and the other a self-propelled ship. The recovery ships will be delivered in 2027. The self-propelled recovery ship has a length of 140m, a beam of 40m, a displacement of 25000 tons, and a 2000sqm landing pad. The towed barge has a length of 110m, a beam of 42m, a displacement of 24000 tons, and also a 2000sqm landing pad.

 

[by78]

Long March 2F Y21 carrying the Shenzhou-21 spacecraft has been moved to the launchpad.

 

[by78]

High-resolution images from the launch of Long March 5 Y9, which successfully inserted Communication Technology Test Satellite No. 20 (通信技术试验卫星二十号) into orbit. This was the 602nd flight of the Long March series.

 

[BoraTas]

Starship most likely is able to make orbit, payload mass though.... I'm just extremely curious to the mass breakdown of starship. Though if company like Landspace is going for full stainless steel construction as well then it may not be that bad after all.

The Starship is two-thirds heavier than the Saturn V yet the Saturn V was capable of 40% higher payload by weight. Even more so by volume... Therefore we could conclude that full reusability and the Starship's use of SS hit the payload by 57% even when we assume the tech remained the same for 60 years.

Elon wants to love stainless steel and wants validation, but between two iterations of Starship being unable to make orbit, and NASA now talking about cancelling Starship contract for Artemis 3 because I'm guessing their internal data on future payload looks even worse, Elon might not love stainless steel anymore, not as much has his ego want to.

It's one thing to forget Falcon Heavy exist with Starship, it's another to come up with something else to make people forget Starship exist.

He has been marketing it as if it was for Mars but everything about the design screams LEO focus. The numbers suggest 15-20 launches will be required for a single moon trip, which is unsustainable. He reportedly wanted SS to cheapen and accelerate the refurbishment of the upper stage. Where is the need though? Non-internet launch demand in the USA is stagnant is actually below that of China. Who needs 5k tonnes of extra annual launch capacity?