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Landspace - ZQ-1 / Suzaku No. 1

Zhuque Nantaihu is a three-stage launch vehicle independently developed by Beijing Blue Arrow Space Technology Co., Ltd. The total length of the whole rocket is 19 meters, the diameter of the rocket is 1.35 meters, the take-off weight is 27 tons, and the take-off thrust is 45 tons. With a take-off thrust of 45 tons, it has the characteristics of fast response, flexible launch, mature technology and high cost performance. It mainly provides networking launch services for small, micro-nano and cubic sats.

LandSpace launched its first rocket carrying a small satellite at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, Northwest China's Gansu Province, on 27 October 2018. China’s first private carrier rocket, “Suzaku Nantaihu”, was launched in Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center with a small satellite “Future” and became the first private launch vehicle launched in China. The failure to send a satellite into orbit by LandSpace, seen by some as China's answer to SpaceX, won't dent the growing momentum of the nation's nascent private-sector commercial rocket launches, said analysts.

On August 20, 2018, the first rocket "Zhuque No.1" (ZQ-1), which was developed by the private space company Blue Arrow Aerospace, was assembled in Xi'an and completed the final assembly test on September 13. It was expected to be completed by the end of the year. This launch could make "Suzaku No. 1" the first private rocket to launch satellites in China.

Beijing-based LandSpace launched its first rocket carrying a small satellite for State broadcaster China Media Group at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, Northwest China's Gansu Province. During the flight, the “Suzaku·South Taihu” was successfully separated in the first and second stages, and the fairing was successfully separated. However, due to the abnormality of the third stage during the flight, the satellite failed to enter the orbit.

The proprietary three-stage solid propellant rocket, named ZQ-1 "Suzaku Nantaihu" was a three-stage launch vehicle independently developed by Lanzhou Aerospace Technology Co., Ltd., a high-tech enterprise integrating military and civilian integration in Huzhou City, Zhejiang Province.

The main components of this rocket, ie solid propellant engines for example, are all provided a priori by CASC, builder of Long March rockets. For a start-up founded in 2015, this way of doing things allows Blue Arrow Space Technology to free itself from the heavy and long-term investments in developing a new launcher from scratch. The strategy was purchasing key components off the shelf from a reliable historical player and then assembling them and making a successful first flight. This could create confidence in future prospects and attract others Financial investors subsequently, to be a wise choice for this kind of business. This was the same path chose by Orbital Sciences Corporation in the United States in the early 1990s.

Suzaku One uses a solid fuel propellant, a four-component butyl group, which was a common set of solid rocket propellants, consisting of oxidizing agents such as ammonium nitrate (HMX/RDX), ammonium perchlorate (AP), and aluminum powder (Al). And the binder terminal hydroxyl polybutadiene (HTPB) composition. In the oxidant, ammonium nitrate was once a kind of nitrogen fertilizer, but because of the long-term stacking of this fertilizer, it will cause agglomeration and was prone to explosion hazard. Therefore, it has been replaced by urea with higher nitrogen content and lower risk. The proportion of oxidant in the entire fuel was usually as high as 60-80%.

The combination of ammonium perchlorate AP, aluminum powder and binder was one of the mainstream solid fuels in the aerospace industry, APCP, the famous US space shuttle booster, "Ariane" rocket booster, "Hercules" Rocket boosters and so on have chosen this combination. The binder hydroxyl-terminated polybutadiene (HTPB acts to evenly bond these fuel components together), and only 10-15% of the binder can make the solid fuel form a more stable pellet. HTPB itself was also a high-energy fuel, and it will not waste its weight.

There are a number of rockets that favor the APCP and the four-component fuels of the butyl group. First of all, the most important point was that the fuel has a higher specific impulse, that is, the unit mass of fuel brings more thrust, about 180~270 seconds, leading in solid fuel; Secondly, the fuel has a low molecular weight and low smoke; In addition, this group of fuels can form a relatively stable solids column that does not readily decompose or react under common high and low temperatures, impacts or accelerations.

The take-off mass of "Suzaku No. 1" was 27 tons. This total weight was only 6% of the Long March-2F. After all, it was only used for small loads. The rocket's takeoff thrust was 45 tons, or 440kN, which was equivalent to 7% of the Long March-2F. It can be seen that the small launch vehicle was almost a large rocket with relatively small indicators. In terms of carrying capacity, the “Suzaku No.1” can deploy 4-6 small satellites with a total weight of 200kg or 50 2U cube satellites in a 500km high sun-synchronous orbit; or a total payload of 300kg in a 200km altitude orbit.

The sun-synchronous orbit is an approximate polar orbit, that is, the orbit passes over the north and south poles. The most characteristic of such satellite orbits is that they will pass through the same position at the same time. This feature makes many optical remote sensing satellites and meteorological satellites favor the sun-synchronous orbit. The satellites that select this orbit can be set to pass through an area at the same time during the day to obtain a clear optical image of the area. The "Future" satellite carried by the "Suzaku No. 1" also selects the sun-synchronous orbit, and can use the optical remote sensing camera equipped with it to image the ground. The "Future" satellite has a size of 320mm*295mm*248mm and had a design life of two years.

LandSpace was a leading participant in China's private-sector efforts to launch commercial rockets aimed at a niche market of carrying smaller satellites into space, inspired by the success of Elon Musk's SpaceX. The company applied for more than 50 national patents, and achieved independent design and independent research and development through the independent innovation capability of the R&D team. Blue Arrow Aerospace uses innovative engine products and its own technology to design innovative systems for launch vehicles.The fast development of the industry has seen two Chinese private firms successfully test rockets this year.

The so-called small launch vehicle is a rocket between the Sounding Rocket and the large launch vehicle. Sounding rockets are rockets commonly used to detect sub-orbital space, and their main detection space is lower than satellite orbit. In addition, the sounding rocket does not need to reach the first cosmic speed, that is, it does not need to send the load into the satellite orbit, only need to send it to the sky. Compared with the pioneers of modern launch vehicles for large launch vehicles, small launch vehicles are relatively small in size and weight, and the loads (satellites, spacecraft, scientific instruments, etc.) are relatively small, and the heights that can be reached are relatively low, only Limited to low earth orbit LEO.

According to a January report by spaceworkscommercial.com, there was a need to launch 2,600 mini-sized satellites in the next five years. small launch vehicles are geared toward small loads with low orbits, light weight and light weight, and are highly flexible. For these small loads, if there are no small launch vehicles, these loads can only be caught around the large rockets, and the timing and orbit of the launches are affected by the large satellites. The sounding rocket can be specially equipped with one or several small loads to serve this type of customer. As more and more civil teams join the aerospace field, the number of small payloads was likely to increase dramatically in the future, and the use of small launch vehicles was increasing.

Industry insiders said that if LandSpace could successfully put a satellite into orbit, it would win credibility as being able to deliver a cargo into space and separate itself from rivals by securing more confidence and funds from investors.