CAS Space, located in Guangzhou, recently launched a tiny rocket-like prototype outside of a Chinese coastal city before landing upright on a sea-based platform. The successful test flight and landing may alter the game for China’s rocket industry.
According to China’s Global Times, CAS Space, which is partially controlled by the Chinese Academy of Sciences, launched a tiny simulated rocket in Haiyang, east China.
According to the Global Times, the rocket prototype weighs around 205 pounds (93 kilograms) and is powered by twin engines, including a turbojet engine that resembles the sort of variable thrust liquid rocket engine utilized during vertical landings. The vehicle sailed no higher than 3,280 feet (1,000 meters) before hovering back down onto the waiting sea platform thanks to reverse engine propulsion. The trial lasted only 10 minutes, but it might ultimately lead to rocket stage reusability, similar to how SpaceX accomplishes it in the United States.
China’s CC Vertical Landing
The business declared that its vertical landing test was a success, with the rocket recovery technology possibly being applied to future rocket models including the Lijian-3 and Lijian-3 heavy-lift launchers, Global Times said.
SpaceX has mastered the art of landing its rockets upright. Following a year of trial and error, the business successfully landed for the first time in 2015. The first stage of the rocket utilizes energy to regulate its fall, landing on four carbon fiber legs. The Falcon 9 rocket now lands on a droneship at sea on a regular basis.
China took a simple action that might transform its aircraft sector.
According to Lian Jie, a senior engineer at CAS, the Chinese rocket landing technology differs from SpaceX’s in that “ours is based on domestic technology, both software and hardware, and we are exploring technology thresholds such as variable thrust management, precision positioning, and stabilizing technology on our own.” So, basically, they came up with it entirely on their own.
In any case, it is a highly sought-after technology since it would allow launch companies to save large sums of money by reusing rocket stages on a frequent basis. The Chinese private space sector is attempting to catch up after the Chinese government cleared the way for commercial rocket firms to operate, innovate, and compete in 2014. The landing test demonstrates China’s new capabilities, but when we could see a Chinese rocket conduct a vertical touchdown after flying to space is unknown.