China has made a breakthrough in its quest to develop reusable launch automobiles like SpaceX’s Falcon 9.
Engineers performed the primary hot-fire take a look at of a 130-ton-thrust engine on Saturday (Nov. 26). The take a look at included stopping and reigniting the engine, a course of wanted to manage how and the place rocket phases return to the bottom.
The engine was examined by the Academy of Aerospace Propulsion Know-how in Xi’an, a subsidiary of the China Aerospace Science and Know-how Company (CASC), the nation’s foremost space contractor and maker of the Long March rocket household.
Associated: The latest news about China’s space program
The engine burns a mixture of kerosene and liquid oxygen. It contains elements made utilizing 3D printing, computerized welding and clever meeting, and it is able to adjusting the thrust it produces when firing.
The engine is known as the YF-100N and is a extra superior model of the YF-100 engine, which is utilized in China’s present Lengthy March 5, 6 and seven rockets.
CASC plans to make use of the YF-100N for a brand new technology of launch automobiles, together with a brand new, reusable rocket for launching crew to its new Tiangong space station and ultimately the moon.
CASC plans to have a primary flight take a look at of the brand new rocket round 2026, and says it is going to be capable of launch a pair of the rockets to facilitate a short-term crewed lunar landing mission earlier than the top of the last decade.
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