China's Reusable Launch Vehicle Achieves Successful 10-Mile-Level Flight Test

TapTechNews June 24th news, yesterday (June 23rd), the first 10-mile-level vertical takeoff and landing flight test of China's reusable launch vehicle was successfully completed. The rocket was led by the Eighth Research Institute of China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation and adopted the Jiuzhou Yunjian Longyun liquid oxygen methane engine.

This test is the largest-scale vertical takeoff and landing flight test of reusable launch vehicles in China so far, and it is also the first application of the domestically independently developed deeply variable-thrust liquid oxygen methane engine in the 10-mile-level return flight. It is also the recovery test closest to the orbital launch in China so far.

According to the official statement of Jiuzhou Yunjian, the Longyun engine participated in the flight mission assessment for the first time. All parameters were normal during the flight, and the engine successfully completed various actions such as start-up, shutdown, swing, and thrust adjustment. It is expected to carry out the 75-km full-profile flight-recovery test task at the end of the year.

At present, the Longyun engine has completed the thrust increase work in the second stage, and the sea-level thrust of the engine reaches 745kN, the sea-level specific impulse is 293 s, and the engine thrust-to-weight ratio is >100.

In the following, the Longyun engine will cooperate with the private rocket company Jianyuan Technology to carry out the flight at sea and splashdown recovery test in the second half of this year.

TapTechNews note: Jiuzhou Yunjian is a commercial aerospace enterprise that focuses on the development and service of reusable rocket power technology of liquid oxygen methane. The company's intelligent assembly and test base is located in the national-level new industrialized industrial demonstration base in Yuhui District, Bengbu City, Anhui Province.

Jianyuan Technology is the first private enterprise in China to adopt the stainless steel + liquid oxygen methane scheme and use industrial manufacturing and recovery techniques to realize recoverable and fully reusable medium and large-sized launch vehicles.