This was reported by CGTN, according to Ukrinform.

Private Chinese company LandSpace’s Zhuque-2 rocket was launched from the new launch pad of the Jiuquan Cosmodrome in the Gobi Desert in northwest China at 9:00 am Beijing (4:00 am Kyiv) and successfully reached its target point. orbit of the earth.

The Zhuque-2 has a two-stage configuration. It has a diameter of 3.35 meters, a height of 49.5 meters, a take-off weight of 219 tons and a take-off thrust of 268 tons. This carrier can launch 4 to 6 tons of payload into Earth orbit.

The rocket uses liquid methane as fuel and liquid oxygen as oxidizer. Methane has long been viewed as an alternative to kerosene as a fuel in rocket engines because methane makes launches cheaper and is better suited for reusable engine technologies.

Developments in this direction for space rockets are also carried out by industry leaders such as SpaceX and Blue Origin, but it was the Chinese who succeeded in launching such a vehicle into space for the first time.

This is the second test flight of Zhuque-2 after a failed attempt in December last year. According to the development company, its task was to control the operation of all rocket systems for the transition to the second stage – the construction of reusable space launch vehicles.

As Ukrinform reported, a new experimental satellite was launched into space in China on July 9 from the Jiuquan Cosmodrome in the northwest of the country. It was delivered to Earth orbit by a Long March-2C launch vehicle.