[Text/Observer Network Columnist Chen Lan]
At 12 noon on September 26, 2022, a huge roar suddenly came from the mountainside of the beautiful girl in the southern suburbs of Huzhou City, Zhejiang Province. The white smoke rose and the earth shook slightly. The roar lasted for 100 seconds, and then returned to silence.
This is not an accident, nor is it a natural disaster for , it is the roaring sound of rocket engine . It comes from the engine test bench of the young private aerospace company Blue Arrow Aerospace. This is a regular test drive. The engine for the test run will be assembled on the Suzaku-2 Yao-2 rocket (the second product of the Suzaku-2 rocket).
At the Jiuquan satellite launch site thousands of miles away, the Zhuque 2 Yaoyi Rocket is patiently waiting for her debut. One day soon, it will soar into the sky, bringing the dreams and glory of countless people to space. As the first medium-sized liquid rocket of China's private aerospace company, its first launch is of great significance. With the rocket ready to go, China's commercial spacecraft will open a new chapter.
2015 is called the first year of China's commercial aerospace by many people, because Article 24 of the State Council Document No. 60 issued in November last year has a sentence: Encourage private capital to participate in the construction of national space infrastructure. At that time, Musk's cargo dragon spacecraft was already performing the supply mission of International Space Station, and Falcon Nine was about to usher in its first successful recycling. Musk has become a household name in the country and has many fans. Of course, there are also many aspiring people who are inspired by this and want to do something big. This document opened a door for them. The first batch of private rocket companies such as
Blue Arrow Aerospace, Zero One Space , etc. were all established this year. China's private commercial aerospace industry ushered in its first peak period. In the following years, Chinese rocket companies sprung up like mushrooms after a rain with the help of capital: Star Glory , Star River Power , Jiuzhou Cloud Arrow, Deep Blue Aerospace, Starway Exploration, Agile Flying...
From 2015 to the present, China's private rocket companies have been around for almost eight years. Compared with private commercial aerospace companies engaged in the research and development of satellite , rocket companies have greater investment, longer cycles, narrower markets, and higher trial and error iteration costs. These eight years have been full of thorns and ups and downs for Rockets entrepreneurs, and have also harvested flowers and fruits. Now, let's simply replay the disk.
On October 27, 2018, Zhuque 1 became the first arrow to launch in private space orbit, but unfortunately, it failed to enter orbit due to a third-level failure. As one of the first private enterprises to take the lead, Blue Arrow explored the way for latecomers in all aspects such as applying for a launch permit, entering the launch center, pre-firing detection and launch measurement and control, security and confidentiality. This process requires a lot of communication and running-in with relevant departments. But once the process and standards are established, the later generations just need to follow the rules. Therefore, although the first shot of the Blue Arrow failed, it still made important contributions to China's commercial aerospace.
Zero One Space made its first orbital launch on March 27, 2019 after two successful suborbital flights on May 17 and September 7, 2018. Unfortunately, due to the instability of the rocket after the first and second stage separation, the second attempt by domestic private aerospace enterprises to enter orbit failed. This failure has had a huge blow to Zero One Space, and capital confidence has been severely frustrated. It has now transformed into a rocket supporting facilities supplier.
Interstellar Glory also conducted a successful suborbital flight on September 5, 2018. Ten months later, at 13:00 on July 25, 2019, the Hyperbola One rocket of Interstellar Glory was successfully launched in Jiuquan , sending multiple satellites into a 300-kilometer circular orbit. The launch mission was a complete success, achieving a breakthrough in the successful entry of Chinese private rockets into orbit. However, unfortunately, three consecutive failures of Hyperbola No. 1 on February 1, 2021, August 3, 2021, and May 13, 2022, cast a huge shadow on the company's prospects.
In contrast, Xinghe Power, established in February 2018, completed the second round of private entry into China's private entry just two years and nine months after the company was established. On November 7, 2020, the Ceres One solid rocket successfully sent the Apocalypse 11 star into orbit.On December 7, 2021 and August 9, 2022, Ceres One was successfully launched twice in a row, setting a record of three consecutive launches by Chinese private enterprises. It is worth mentioning that most of the satellites carried by these three launches were commercial satellites that were actually put into use, rather than experimental satellites or counterweights that were usually carried by new rocket tests.
At the same time, the national team has also entered the commercial space tide. The Jielong series of Aerospace Science and Technology and the fast boat series solid rockets of Aerospace Science and Technology were both put into use during this period, with a launch frequency far exceeding that of private enterprises. On July 27, 2022, Zhongke Aerospace's Lijian-1 solid rocket shot six stars with one shot, sending six satellites into a predetermined orbit. Zhongke Aerospace is an hybrid ownership enterprise of the Chinese Academy of Sciences system, which is considered to be half a national team. Lijian No. 1 is currently the largest solid rocket in China (takeoff thrust of 200 tons), with a solar synchronous orbit capability of up to 1.5 tons, fully demonstrating the strength of the Chinese Academy of Sciences system. For private enterprises that are also in the solid rocket track, the pressure is immense.
Looking back, the achievements in the past eight years are not very impressive. Private companies (excluding Zhongke Aerospace) only carried out 9 orbital launches, 4 successes and 5 failures. All solid rockets with low-Earth orbit capabilities not exceeding 400 kilograms. This is quite far from the grand goal they set at the beginning, let alone becoming China's SpaceX.
In fact, these rocket companies and their investors are also aware of it. The Solid Rockets are just an entry ticket, a test of proof of ability and winning investor confidence. Nowadays, the mass of many commercial small satellites exceeds the load capacity of solid small rockets. Big Rocket One arrow and multiple stars (such as Falcon Nine launching the Starlink satellite) has a greater cost advantage. The advantage of a small solid rocket lies in its rapid launch capability, which is more suitable for national defense needs. But this is the responsibility of the national team. The two major groups' Long March , Jielong, Kuaizhou, and the Chinese Academy of Sciences are all waiting to get a share of this pie, and it is not the turn of private enterprises.
All rocket companies know that to truly base themselves on the market and reflect value, large and medium-sized liquid rockets must be recyclable in the end. SpaceX has already made a good demonstration in the front. Whether NASA's space station supply order or communication satellite in the international launch market, payload capacity is crucial. Therefore, most of China's private rocket companies have also planned liquid rockets from the beginning. However, compared with solid rockets, the threshold for R&D of liquid rockets (especially their core liquid fuel engines) is very high, and the cycle is very long, requiring long-term support from the capital market.
On the evening of July 5, 2018, Blue Arrow Aerospace held a press conference on Beijing Water Cube , announcing that the Zhuque-2 medium-sized rocket, which uses liquid oxygen methane propellant, has completed the system-wide design work in June, and plans to complete all ground tests the following year, and its first flight in 2020 (now, even if the impact of the epidemic is included, this plan is still too optimistic). At this time, the Blue Arrow's Zhuque-1 small solid rocket has not yet been launched, but its two liquid oxygen methane engines have been started, the test run of the 10-ton engine gas generator has been completed, and the products of the 80-ton engine have been initially installed.
Blue Arrow Choose methane for reasons. It is low price, environmentally friendly, and not easy to accumulate carbon, which is conducive to reuse. SpaceX's Starship and Blue Source's New Glen both use methane. However, the methane rocket has not been launched globally so far, and there is no launch site in China that supports methane storage and recharge. As the leader at the forefront, Blue Arrow must build its own methane rocket launch pad. Once again, Blue Arrow wants to explore the way for those who are latecomers. In fact, this is also a kind of glory.
For the same reason, companies such as Star Glory, Aerospace Propulsion, and Jiuzhou Cloud Arrow also chose liquid oxygen methane. Xinghe Power, Deep Blue Aerospace, Tianbing Technology, Zhongke Aerospace, etc. have chosen more mature liquid oxygen kerosene solutions.
Blue Arrow has turned all his strength toward liquid rocket development since the first shot of Zhuque 1 failed in October 2018. To this end, the first private rocket engine test drive was specially built on Huzhou , and the 80-ton TQ-12 engine system was completed in May of the following year.In 2020, the Blue Arrow Space Center was also built on Jiaxing . By laying out rocket assembly, testing and supporting capabilities, it is planned to gradually achieve mass production of rocket products. Over the past three years, many of Blue Arrow's engines have been continuously optimized and improved, and a large number of test runs have been carried out, including long-range test runs, variable thrust test runs, secondary start test runs, swing test runs, etc., with a total of more than 50,000 seconds, providing guarantees for the first shot of Zhuque 2 this year and laying a solid foundation for future development.
The second most recent progress to Blue Arrow is Jiuzhou Yun Arrow, a private aerospace company that is positioned as a professional engine supplier. Its 80-ton Longyun engine and 10-ton Lingyun engine have both completed system-level test runs, long-range test runs and multiple start test runs. The newly established rocket company "Rocket Pat" Darwin II Rocket's first and second stages will use these two engines and is scheduled to be launched for the first time in 2023.
Other companies follow closely behind. The engines that have completed the full system test run include the 15-ton methane engine of Star Glory, the 50-ton kerosene engine of Star Power, the Deep Blue Aerospace Thunder R1 20-ton kerosene engine, and the Tianhuo No. 11 30-ton kerosene engine of Tianbing Technology. It is worth noting that there are two 100-ton engines: the Focus No. 2 methane of Interstellar Glory and the Tianhuo No. 12 kerosene engine of Tianbing Technology. The former completed the gas generator test drive at the beginning of this month, and the latter also completed the semi-system test drive this month, and plans to be equipped with the "Tianlong-2" medium-sized arrow for the first flight next year.
The following table lists the development progress of China Aerospace private enterprises' major liquidity development (incomplete list):
Although the Blue Arrow has only launched once so far, it has been very low-key in recent years. But its Suzaku No. 2 has always been a target of much attention. This is not only because it is one of the earliest, most professional, fastest-progressive and most comprehensive private rocket companies in China, but also because it has been at the forefront and explores the way for the entire industry. The carrying capacity of Zhuque 2 is comparable to that of the national team's Long March 2 and Long March 4, but it is more environmentally friendly and cheap. Once successful, it may change the domestic launch market structure in one fell swoop and have a significant impact on the future development of China's commercial aerospace.
Domestic aerospace enthusiasts have also been looking forward to the Vermilion Bird II for a long time. It is expected that it will become the world's first methane rocket to successfully enter orbit before Musk's starship's first orbital flight and the first launch of the American Relativity Space Company Human-One. From the appearance of satellite photos of the newly built Blue Arrow Space Launch Center in Jiuquan at the beginning of the year to the recent appearance of the Zhuque-2 rocket and launch pad in the official video of the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, every move has caused heated discussions and widespread dissemination on the Internet. Regardless of whether we can become the world's number one, we wish the lucky star of Suzaku No. 2 to shine brightly and success in one fell swoop.
The launch of Zhuque 2 will open a new chapter in China's commercial space. Private rocket companies that survived the big waves of the first eight years will start the competition for liquid rockets. The Hyperbola III of Interstellar Glory, the Zhishen Star 1 of Galaxy Power, the Darwin II of the newcomer Rockets and the Tianlong II of Tianbing Technology are all under development. They are both strong opponents of Suzaku No. 2. The second peak period for China's commercial space flight may be coming soon. Who will win in this new track? Who will be alone? Who will become a dark horse that emerges? Will the country have better policies? Will capital remain enthusiastic? There is unlimited imagination space here.
In the future, the test drive table on Huzhou Beauty Mountain may become an industrial ruin and be preserved forever. This history of commercial space it witnesses in China will also become a beautiful legend.
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