China Heads Toward the Reusable Rocket Trend Through its Long March 2D

To keep up with the trend toward reusability in the launch industry, China's primary space contractor intends to update a 30-year-old Long March rocket model.

China's Strategy to Fulfill the Plan in Switching Non-Reusable Rockets to Reusable Rockets

According to a report from the official industry newspaper China Space News (via Space News), the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC) and its subsidiary, the Shanghai Academy of Spaceflight Technology (SAST), are looking to significantly change and improve the rocket despite this success.

Dinitrogen tetroxide and unsymmetrical dimethylhydrazine are used as bipropellants in both stages of the Long March 2D, which offers hazards and costs for both launch preparation and downrange stage recovery.

The rocket will eventually be updated to employ kerosene and liquid oxygen engines in place of the hypergolic YF-21C and YF-24C engines now in use, according to CASC.

For its most recent generation of Long March 5-8 series rockets, China produced the YF-100 kerolox engines. Yet, it was not stated in the news article which specific engines would power the kerolox version of the Long March 2D,

In addition, CASC is creating enhanced YF-100K engines that will power its upcoming crewed rocket. The Long March 2D's commander-in-chief, Tan Xuejun, predicted that the engines would also produce additional thrust.

Long March 2D Launch History

Late on August 23, the 63rd Long March 2D rocket launch took place. Insulation tiles began to fall from the payload fairing as the rocket ascent into the sky. It was launched from the cloudy Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center in northern China. The Beijing-3B satellite was successfully launched into a sun-synchronous orbit by the two-stage hypergolic rocket.

All three of China's inland spaceports have seen rocket flights in recent years, giving China access to a level of dependability and flexibility for launches of up to 3,500 and 1,300 kilograms to low Earth orbit and SSO, respectively.

The Long March 2D was first equipped with grid fins in October of last year for the launch of the Chinese H-alpha Solar Explorer as a first step toward reusability.

China's Reusable Rockets

SAST previously said that it was developing a reusable Long March 6 rocket. The China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology, the other major rocket manufacturer for CASC, is working on making the Long March 8 reusable. It has also stated that it will eventually make its super heavy-lift crew and Long March 9 launchers reusable.

In addition, the Hyperbola-2 methalox rocket is being developed by iSpace, another Chinese launch company. In order to execute hop tests, the company recently launched a first stage test article at Jiuquan. The rocket's reusability will be a major focus of the hop tests, which will be conducted in advance of a prospective orbital launch in 2023.

Landspace, a Beijing launch firm with private funding, announced the successful testing of an improved Tianque-12 methane-liquid oxygen engine. This improvement will enable the Zhuque-2 rocket's first stage to be reused.

Landspace Zhuque-2 Rocket

Gas generator engines power the company's Zhuque-2 spacecraft, which can deliver a 6,000-kilogram payload to a 200-kilometer LEO. The mission, which is scheduled to launch soon, will mark the debut of a liquid propellant launch vehicle for China's developing commercial space industry.

Landspace has developed a $1.5 billion medium and large-scale liquid rocket assembly and test plant at Jiaxing, also in Zhejiang Province, as well as an intelligent manufacturing base in Huzhou, Zhejiang Province.

Here's a quick look on Landscape's Zhuque-2 as posted by Andrew Jones on Twitter.

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