• Forum
• SITREP
• Military
• WMD
• Intelligence
• Homeland Security

• Space

• Introduction
• Systems
• Facilities
• Agencies
• Countries
• Hot Documents
• News
• Reports
• Policy
• Budget
• Congress
• Links

• Public Eye

Lijian-2 / ZK-2

Solid carrier rockets are favored for their simple operation, fast response, and efficient launching. However, due to the limitation of manufacturing and transportation conditions, most of them have low carrying capacity. With the continuous improvement of Chinese and foreign research teams, the solid launch vehicle is increasingly strengthening.

According to the two-type solid launch vehicle plan announced by Zhongke Aerospace, the first rocket ZK-1A (ZK-1A) initially planned to make its first flight in September 2021 and will have commercial launch capabilities in 2022. The second-type rocket Zhongke-2 (ZK-2) planned to fly for the first time in December 2022, with commercial launch capability in 2023. With take-off masses of 135 tons and 343 tons respectively, Zhongke No. 1A and Zhongke No. 2 rockets will enter the ranks of the world's largest solid carrier rockets.

The Zhongke-2 rocket uses two identical solid boosters bundled in parallel on the outer side of the 2.65-meter-diameter solid rocket core stage. The total length of the rocket is 39.7 meters, the take-off mass is 343 tons, and the payload capacity is about 3.55 tons carried on a 700-kilometer sun-synchronous orbit. It also uses a large-size fairing, which can meet the needs of large and medium-sized satellites or large numbers of small satellites. These specs would make the ZK 2 the world's largest and mightiest solid-fuel rocket and even more powerful than several liquid-propellant models in China's Long March rocket fleet, such as the Long March 2C and 4B.

CAS Space, a Beijing-based rocket company owned by the Chinese Academy of Sciences, has begun to design what it expects will be the world's most powerful solid-propellant carrier rocket, the company's chairman said 04 June 2021. Yang Yiqiang, a senior rocket scientist and founder of CAS Space, told China Daily in an exclusive interview this week that the ZK 2 rocket was in the research and development stage at laboratories in Beijing and will be ready for its debut flight before the end of 2022, if everything goes according to schedule.

The Zhongke-2 rocket uses the Common Booster Core (CBC) scheme, which is extremely rare in solid carrier rockets. CBC refers to the combination of the same rocket stages to become the first stage of the rocket, which can effectively simplify the design, manufacturing and process control. The Delta IV heavy rocket of the United States, the Angara of Russia and the Falcon heavy rocket of the United States are used This kind of thinking does not require the development of new larger thrust engines, minimizes the research and development cycle and costs, and greatly improves the carrying capacity in a fast and cost-effective manner. However, it is the first time that the CBC scheme has been adopted on solid rockets.

The world's most powerful operational solid-fuel rocket is Arianespace's Vega, jointly developed by the Italian Space Agency and the European Space Agency. With a liftoff weight of 137 tons, the European rocket can put payloads weighing 1.4 tons into a sun-synchronous orbit. "The ZK 2's major clients will be satellite companies that want to build and operate a low-orbit satellite network," Yang said, explaining that the rocket is suitable for deploying such networks, as it can launch a large quantity of small satellites in a single flight.

"The rocket will have better flexibility than large, liquid-propellant rockets ... because it is designed for both land- and sea-based launches, and liquid-fuel rockets are unsuitable for sea-based missions. Moreover, when launched from a land-based facility, solid-propellant rockets are less dependent on ground devices and thus are easier to launch," Yang said.