China News Service, Beijing, January 19 (Reporter Ma Shuaisha) The reporter learned from Blue Arrow Aerospace that at 16:00 on January 19, the company's independently developed reusable vertical take-off and landing recovery verification rocket (hereinafter referred to as "VTVL-1") "Test Arrow") was ignited and launched into space at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in China, verifying the key technology of the one-stage vertical return of the Zhuque-3 large liquid oxygen methane reusable rocket.
The take-off weight of this test is about 50.3 tons, the flight time is about 60 seconds, the flight altitude is about 350 meters, the landing position accuracy is about 2.4 meters, and the landing speed is 0.75 meters per second. The rocket lands smoothly, the landing point is accurate, and the condition is good. The test mission has been achieved A complete success.
The VTVL-1 test rocket is a single-stage liquid oxygen methane rocket with a body diameter of 3.35 meters and a length of 18.3 meters. The recovery leg has an unfolded diameter of 11.6 meters. It is equipped with an improved 80-ton liquid oxygen methane engine of the same type as the Suzaku-2 rocket. It has a maximum takeoff thrust of 80 tons, is capable of secondary ignition in the air, and is equipped with 3 sets of landing buffer legs.
Different from the small-tonnage principle prototypes used by domestic private aerospace companies in the early years, the VTVL-1 test arrow is an engineering prototype built with a full-size engine.
Its main engine is an improved version of the Tianque-12 engine that has been proven in flight. The thrust, performance and reliability have been further improved. In response to the needs of reusable rockets, it has added multiple starts in the air and depth variable thrust functions.
In the future, this type of engine will be used in subsequent batches of Zhuque-2 rockets and Zhuque-3 launch vehicles.
The main structure of the entire arrow is made of high-strength stainless steel, which is the same material system as the Zhuque-3 rocket. It is technically connected and has accumulated experience data in manufacturing, pre-launch filling, low-temperature heat transfer and reuse maintenance for the Zhuque-3 rocket, laying a solid foundation for Technical basis for first flight.
In the future, the VTVL-1 test rocket will conduct a 10-kilometer flight test based on the successful experience of the first phase of the 100-meter flight test to further verify the key technologies of the reusable rocket's vertical return.
The Zhuque-3 rocket is a reusable liquid oxygen methane launch vehicle with a body diameter of 4.5 meters, a fairing diameter of 5.2 meters, a total rocket length of 76.6 meters, a take-off mass of approximately 660 tons, and a take-off thrust of approximately 900 tons. The power system is adopted by Blue Arrow Aerospace The independently developed Tianque series liquid oxygen methane engine.
The first stage of the Zhuque-3 rocket is designed to be reused no less than 20 times. The low-orbit carrying capacity for one-time missions can reach 21.3 tons, and the recovery mission in the air zone is 18.3 tons. It can support satellite Internet network launches and large communication satellites. Mission requirements for geosynchronous transfer orbit launches and various types of spacecraft launches.
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