Chinese start-up Landspace has announced plans to develop a reusable rocket made of stainless steel. According to Landspace CEO Zhang Changwu’s presentation at the Mingyue Lake Aerospace Information Industry International Ecosystem Event held in Chongqing, China, in November, the Zhuque-3 (Vermillion Bird 3) features stainless steel fuel tanks and a Tianque methane-liquid oxygen rocket engine. will use clusters. 21.
The two-stage launcher, if usable, would be capable of carrying a 20-metric tonne payload in low Earth orbit (LEO). Recovery of the first stage’s lower range will provide 16.5 tons of capacity to LEO, and landing back to the launch site will provide 11 tons of capacity to LEO. An image of the rocket shows mesh flaps and deployable landing gear in the first stage.
The announcement comes days after SpaceX completed its second Starship/Super Heavy launch test. Details such as the tentative date of the test launch and the size of the rocket were not disclosed, indicating that the plan is at a very early stage. Development of the missile will present numerous challenges related to the weight and properties of steel, including the complexity of production and fabrication.
The launcher will also face domestic competition once it becomes operational. The second venture, Space Pioneer, plans to launch the Tianlong-3 rocket next year. This rocket will be able to lift 17 tons into LEO or 14 tons into 500-kilometer sun-synchronous orbit.
The appearance of both rockets suggests that China’s commercial launch plans are growing in terms of payload capacity. In the early days of commercial launch companies in China, there were plans to build lightweight, solid-fuel launchers to launch small commercial or scientific satellites.
Other Chinese companies such as iSpace, Galactic Energy, Space Pioneer and Deep Blue Aerospace are currently working on liquid-fueled reusable rockets. Some said they were now targeting contracts to launch batches of satellites for China’s national mega-constellation satellite internet project called Guowang.
Landspace is one of China’s first commercial companies. It was founded in 2015 after the Chinese government opened parts of its space sector to private capital in late 2014. This development is seen as a reaction to events in the US Ground Domain, which is currently preparing to launch its third Zhuque-2 methane-oxygen rocket to the East on December 4. The first Zhuque-2 launch failed in December 2022, followed by the second attempt successfully entering orbit in July.
This launch made the company the first to launch into orbit using a Metalox launch vehicle. It is also the second Chinese commercial firm to be launched into orbit using a liquid-fueled launch vehicle. This follows Space Pioneer’s Tianlong-2 kerolox in April.
The company has established an intelligent production base in Huzhou, Zhejiang Province. It also established a $1.5 billion medium and large-scale liquid rocket assembly and testing facility in Jiaxing, also in Zhejiang.
land area It’s not the only Chinese company launching stainless steel rockets. A much newer Chinese startup, Space Epoch, conducted hot-fire testing as part of its planned stainless steel reusable launcher development earlier this year.
A 4.2 meter diameter stainless steel fuel tank combined with metalox engines designed by Jiuzhou Yunjian was used in the tests. China’s main space contractor is state-owned China Aerospace Science and Technology Corp. (CASC) also said it plans to develop the Long March 9 superheavy aircraft, which will eventually be fully reusable.