Zhuque-2 (liquid methane launch vehicle)

2023

Putting three satellites into orbit

The Chinese company Landspace was the first in the world to successfully launch satellites on a rocket powered by methane and liquid oxygen. This happened on December 8, 2023.

The launch of the Zhuque-2 launch vehicle was carried out from the Jiuquan cosmodrome at 02:39 msk. The rocket launched three satellites into orbit - HongHu, TianYi-33 and HongHu-2. The Chinese side does not disclose information about the types of spacecraft and the areas in which they are planned to be used.

Landspace first in the world successfully launched satellites on a rocket powered by methane and liquid oxygen

Reaching Landspace could potentially boost investor confidence in methane as a viable rocket fuel, which is thought to be capable of lowering costs and supporting reusable rockets in a more efficient and environmentally friendly way.

In the coming era of commercial cosmonautics, there will be a trend for rockets with high carrying capacity and low cost. The key to industrialization and commercialization of liquid-propellant missiles is the achievement of low cost, large-scale production and supplies, as well as continuous and stable launches, "said Dai Zheng, deputy chief engineer and deputy flight director of the Zhuque-2.

According to him, the company will continue to build commercial launch vehicles with high reliability, low cost and heavy lifting capacity in order to promote China's efforts to build a low-orbit satellite network and support the development of inexpensive ways to deliver cargo to the Chinese space station.

Zhuque-2 has a length of 49.5 meters, a diameter of 3.35 meters and a take-off weight of 220 tons. The first stage is equipped with four Tianque methane-oxygen engines with a thrust of 80 tons each. The rocket can put 1,500 kg of payload into a 500-kilometer solar-synchronous orbit. The upgraded version will be capable of lifting 4000 kg into this orbit. The next Zhuque-2 will use an improved second-stage engine.^[1]

Successful launch

On July 12, 2023, the private Chinese aerospace company LandSpace for the first time in the world successfully launched a rocket with an oxygen-methane engine. Thus, in this area, the PRC was ahead of competitors, including from the United States.

The Zhuque-2 carrier (Zhuque-2) launched from the Jiuquan Cosmodrome in the Gobi Desert in northwestern China on July 12, 2023 at 09:00 Beijing time (at 04:00 Moscow time). The Zhuque-2 is a two-stage rocket that is capable of launching up to 4 tons of payload into solar-synchronous orbit. The height of the carrier is 49.5 m, the diameter is 3.35 m.

China first in the world successfully launched a space rocket with a methane engine

According to Reuters, the use of methane as fuel for space rockets will reduce the negative impact on the environment. In addition, safety will increase and the cost of putting loads into orbit will decrease.

The launch was the second test mission for the Zhuque-2 after an unsuccessful launch attempt in December 2022. LandSpace carried out work to improve the design of the rocket, as well as performed a number of additional ground tests. LandSpace said that after a successful test flight, specialists will continue to optimize the rocket to prepare for commercial launches.

It is said that earlier unsuccessful attempts were made to launch two rockets on methane - the American Terran 1 of Relativity Space and Starship of SpaceX. The development of such media is also underway in Russia. In particular, the Amur-LNG project is being implemented - a reusable two-stage medium-class launch vehicle powered by the RD-0169 methane engine. Liquefied natural gas and liquid oxygen are planned to be used as fuel components. When developing a missile system, promising materials, including composite, as well as 3D printing tools, should be used.^[2]

2022: Crash due to problems with second stage engines

On December 14, 2022, China made the world's first attempt to launch an orbital rocket using liquid methane, a Zhuque-2 carrier created by the Beijing-based Landspace company. The mission ended in failure due to problems with the second stage engines.

The design of the Zhuque-2 provides for the use of a methane-oxygen liquid power plant. The total length of the rocket is 49.5 m, the diameter is 3.5 m. The carrier is able to launch up to 6 tons of payload into a low Earth orbit with an altitude of 200 kilometers or up to 4 tons of load into a solar-synchronous orbit with an altitude of 500 kilometers. Take-off weight is 219 tons, and thrust reaches 268 tons.

Launch of Zhuque-2, launch vehicle on liquid methane

The Zhuque-2 rocket launched from the Jiuquan cosmodrome in the Gobi desert: it was to launch 14 commercial satellites of various purposes into solar-synchronous orbit. The first stage of the carrier worked normally, but after five minutes of flight there was a serious loss of altitude and speed. It is said that there was a failure in the operation of the second stage engines, which is why the launch ended in failure: all spacecraft were lost.

Despite the setback, this mission represents a significant leap for China in terms of building liquid methane missiles. Such media in the future will reduce the cost of launches. In addition, they will open up new opportunities in terms of reusable use. Landspace is already working on a second copy of the Zhuque-2, but it is now not clear how the failure will affect the timing of the new launch attempt: design changes will probably need to be made. Many other companies are working on missiles equipped with methane engines. They include SpaceX with the Starship project, Blue Origin with the New Glenn heavy carrier, Rocket Lab with the Neutron rocket, United Launch Alliance with Vulcan and Reliance Space with the Terran 1 project.^[3]

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