China tests engine for new crewed moon rocket (photo)

[beijingwalker]

China tests engine for new crewed moon rocket (photo)​

By Andrew Jones
June. 29 2022

The tests mark the latest progress in the country's human spaceflight plans.

A hot-fire test of the third stage engine for China's next-generation crewed launch vehicle, which is designed to be capable of sending astronauts to the moon. (Image credit: CASC)

China has successfully conducted a hot-fire test of a new engine that will help power a next-generation rocket capable of launching astronauts to the moon.

"The long-distance and multiple ignition tests of the engine have been successfully completed, indicating that it is ready to enter the next stage of prototype sample development," the state-run media outlet Xinhua reported this month(opens in new tab).

The test examined the engine's key technologies, components and performance, the reliability of the ignition system and a real-time fault diagnosis system, according to officials with the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC), the country's state-owned main space contractor, which is developing the liquid hydrogen-liquid oxygen rocket engine.

China released a space white paper earlier this year outlining key tasks for the next five years (2021-2025) that included language indicating that the first liftoff of a new crew launch vehicle would take place before the end of the period.

The first version to be tested will be a two-stage rocket capable of sending a next-generation crew spacecraft to China's Tiangong space station.

The larger, three-stage version — which will include the new engine — will be able to send a larger variant of the next-gen crew spacecraft to the moon, potentially before the end of the decade.

China tests engine for new crewed moon rocket (photo)

The tests mark the latest progress in the country's human spaceflight plans.

www.space.com

 

[beijingwalker]

Three-Stage Engine of China's New Manned Carrier Rocket to Enter Prototype Development​

Jun 17, 2022

China’s space programme has moved a step closer to crewed lunar and interplanetary missions with the completion of a prototype super heavy-lift rocket engine, according to state media.

The 220-tonne engine will power the next generation Long March 9 rocket

The China National Space Agency plans to land people on the moon by 2030 and there are ambitions for a return to Mars

The 220-tonne engine is intended to power the next generation Long March 9 (CZ-9) carrier rocket, expected to enter service before 2030. The CZ-9 will be a three-stage rocket with boosters, with the new engine forming its core and second stage, according to China Space News.

“It is one of the most important symbols of a nation becoming a space power,” the report said.

The China National Space Agency (CNSA) plans to land people on the moon by 2030 and announced plans in June to set up a joint lunar station with Russia around 2035.

But China’s rocket capability has been a bottleneck to its ambitions for bigger missions into deeper space. The CZ-5 – the most powerful Chinese rocket in operation – has a payload of 25 tonnes to lower Earth orbit (LEO). In contrast the CZ-9, will have a capacity of 150 tonnes to the LEO.

The new supplement combustion cycle hydrogen-oxygen engine has been in development for at least four years. Its key specifications – including engine thrust, vacuum specific impulse and thrust-to-weight ratio – have set records for China’s rocket engines, although the China Space News report did not give details.

Once the CZ-9 enters service, it is expected to power a crewed lunar landing and eventually a mission to retrieve samples from Mars.