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Landspace - ZQ-2 / Suzaku No. 2

In addition to the "Suzaku No.1", Blue Arrow Aerospace is still developing the large-scale liquid rocket "Zhu-2" (ZQ-2). The rocket is expected to be 48.8 meters long and has a diameter of 3.35 meters. The total weight is 216 tons. Low earth orbit. The carrying capacity is 4.0 tons. The rocket uses a liquid oxygen-methane engine, which is a fuel with a specific impulse and density ratio between liquid oxygen-liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen-kerosene.

On the evening of 05 July 2018, Beijing Blue Arrow Space Technology Co., Ltd. held a “liquid oxygen methane rocket product strategy conference” held in the Water Cube. At the press conference, Blue Arrow Aerospace announced that the company's self-developed medium-sized liquid oxygen methane carrier rocket, Suzaku No. 2, has completed the whole system design work in June this year. It plans to complete all ground tests in 2019 and fly for the first time in 2020. It will become the largest private carrier rocket in the country.

Beijing Blue Arrow Space Technology Co., Ltd. (“Blue Arrow Space”) announced that its self-developed medium-sized liquid oxygen methane carrier rocket Suzaku No. 2 has completed the whole system design work in June 2019, and planned to complete all the ground in 2019. The test, the first flight in 2020. Blue Arrow Aerospace claimed that the Suzaku No. 2 liquid launch vehicle will be the first medium-sized rocket in China's private commercial rocket field. The product developed by the World Private Rocket Company will have the capacity of Suzaku No. 2 to reach the third place in the world and the first in the country.

The basic type of Zhuque No. 2 is a two-stage liquid launch vehicle with a total takeoff thrust of 268 tons, a 500km altitude sun-synchronous orbit capacity of 2 tons, and a 200km low-Earth orbit capacity of 4 tons - two large SUVs delivered into space at the same time.

The structure of the two-stage arrow of the Suzaku No. 2 liquid oxygen methane launch vehicle, the front and rear ellipsoidal bottoms, the first and second stage engines, and the first and second stage control systems all adopt the same design state, which is 50% less than the conventional rocket. The whole arrow has a total of 3 integrated single machines, which integrates control, measurement, security control, power supply and distribution, and timing control to reduce the electrical cost of the whole arrow by 80%. In terms of launching, the automatic transmission system without towers used by Suzaku II greatly improved the launching efficiency, shortening the launch preparation time to 7 days, and the number of launching vehicles to no more than 20 people.

Suzaku No. 2 did not choose the liquid oxygen kerosene propellant commonly used in liquid fuels in the world. Instead, it directly selected the same methane fuel as the next generation engine that SpaceX and Blue origin are studying. Methane has the advantages of low cost, easy availability, high purity, high specific impulse performance, no need for cleaning after engine test, and can be reused more than 20 times. It is an ideal propellant for commercial rockets. The engine has a ground-type sea level thrust of 67 tons, a ground-type vacuum thrust of 76 tons, and a vacuum type vacuum thrust of 80 tons.

As for engine fuel selection, liquid oxygen methane, which has basically reached a consensus in the world, has undoubtedly become the first choice. Yuan Yu, senior research and development engineer of Blue Arrow Aerospace, said that methane has the advantages of low cost, easy access, high purity, high specific impulse performance, no need for cleaning after engine test, and is an ideal propellant for commercial space rockets.

Based on the Suzaku No. 2, it can be expanded by a simple combination. The top and the first level constitute the three-stage rocket Suzaku No.2, and the low-Earth orbit capacity is 6t. The medium-high-orbit satellite and geosynchronous orbit payload launch mission can be performed; Bundled two sub-levels to form Suzaku No. 2 B. The capacity is close to the Falcon No. 9 of SpaceX Corporation of the United States. It carries out launch missions such as manned launch and cargo spacecraft; bundled four sub-levels to form Suzaku No. 2 C, with capacity exceeding the Falcon 9, it can perform launch missions such as space stations, deep space exploration and moon landing.

The 80-ton liquid-oxygen methane engine "Scorpio" matched with Zhuque No. 2 was chosen with the rocket's “golden thrust range”. After more than 60 years of experience in the world of aerospace, 60-100 tons is the "golden range" of commercial liquid rocket engine thrust. Downward can cover single-shot small rockets, up to medium-sized rockets, large rockets, and the limit can be used for 27 parallel heavy-duty rockets like Falcon 9. Whether it is from the commercial value or the difficulty of development, it is the one with the highest input-output ratio.

The first 80-ton liquid-oxygen methane engine in China, named "Tianque" (TQ-12), completed successfully its trial test on 17 May 2019, Landspace, an emerging private Chinese rocket company, told the Global Times. This marks the first successful test of a liquid rocket engine in China's private aerospace industry, making "Tianque" the third liquid-oxygen methane engine to finish a full system trial test worldwide, following the SpaceX Raptor engine and the BE-4 engine from Blue Origin in the US.

The "Tianque" engine was independently developed by Landspace. The engine was tested four times last week, with the longest test lasting 20 seconds. According to the company, the engine started and shutdown smoothly, keeping within stable parameters and performance of the engine fulfilling design requirements.

The "Tianque" engine is the most powerful double-cylinder liquid rocket engine in China. It is non-toxic and environmentally friendly, giving high performance at low cost. It also operates easily and can be reused. The ground-type engine is designed with a sea level thrust power of 67 tons and a vacuum thrust of 76 tons, and the vacuum engine has a vacuum thrust of 80 tons.

The engine can be equipped to the full range of rockets from small and medium rockets to the large "Zhuque" series of rockets. "This engine can cover a small rocket with a single engine down, and can cover medium-sized rockets and large rockets," said Ge Minghe, general manager of the R&D Department of Landspace. "The business value is large and the development difficulty is moderate, so the input-output ratio is high."

The success of the test demonstrates that private enterprises in China can carry out independent research and design of engines. With Landspace being the first company to complete the test process, Zhang Changwu, CEO of Landspace, said it marks a key technological breakthrough for the company, and also will help promote China's ability to compete in the space industry.

China is now the second country in the world to master large-thrust liquid oxygen methane rocket engine technology after the US, Xing Qiang, an expert from the Small Rocket Studio, told the Global Times. After SpaceX and Blue Origin, Landspace is the third private enterprise in the world to successfully develop a large-thrust liquid oxygen methane rocket engine. In the engine field, this marks the momentous moment China entered the top echelon of the world.