Tianlong-3 rises, JD-2 fires repeatedly, and Qianfan sets sail!
China's space sector is picking up speed ahead of its first mega-constellation launch.
The past few weeks in China has seen i-Space repeatedly firing up its methane-oxygen engine, the country’s first mega-constellation launching, along with Space Pioneer pushing forward with Tianlong-3. As it’s been quite busy, let’s get straight into it!
Shanghai’s Qianfan Constellation
On August 5th, it was announced that the Shanghai-backed mega-constellation ‘G60 Starlink’ had been renamed to Qianfan (千帆), literally meaning Thousand Sails in English. This name change came just one day before the first launch from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center, atop of a Long March 6A on August 6th.
The report that revealed the name change also highlighted that by the end of 2025, Qianfan will provide regular coverage of China and some surrounding regions, most likely, the South China Sea, the Yellow Sea, and the Taiwan Strait in between. Worldwide coverage is expected by the end of 2027, but this will also be constrained by regulatory approval just like SpaceX’s Starlink.
For launching the mega-constellation, the necessary satellites will supposedly be launched in groups of either 18, 36, or 54. Few details have been released to illustrate the size and mass of each satellite. With the satellites launching in these fairly sizeable groups, 15,000 satellites are expected to be on orbit by the end of 2030.
Kinetica-2 pushes through more testing
CAS Space has continued to test components of its Kinetica-2 launch vehicle. On July 29th, the company announced it had successfully carried out a load test on the connecting structure of the second-stage’s propellant tanks. CAS Space stated that the 1.8-meter long, and 3.35-meter diameter, structure was tested to 140% of expected flight loads, which is 500 tons in flight.
Announced on August 2nd, CAS Space revealed that they had completed testing and verified the characteristics of its shock absorber system for Kinetica-2’s various pressurized gas cylinders. The company believes that with the system verified, they can push ahead with integrated testing of various structures and systems.
CAS Space also announced on August 3rd that it had broken ground on a new production facility at the Jiuqan Satellite Launch Center. This new production facility has 5,500 square meters of space for testing, manufacturing, and integrating CAS Space’s Kinetica-1 and Kinetica-2 launch vehicles.
The production facility is expected to begin operation next June, likely ahead of the first launch of Kinetica-2. With the new facility, CAS Space believes they will be able to work on various solid and liquid-fueled launch vehicles concurrently.
Tianlong-3 rises for ground equipment testing
Space Pioneer has conducted another hardware test in public view, this test however was for Tianlong-3 ground support equipment. The test was for Tianlong-3’s launch vehicle erector at Haiyang, in China’s Shandong province.
Much to the confusion of those outside of China, a pathfinder was present on the launch vehicle erector during the test. This pathfinder was inert and was used to fit test the launch vehicle erector. The pathfinder also helped test how well the erector could withstand winds with Tianlong-3 present.
The launch vehicle erector, and likely the pathfinder too, will be shipped to the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in the coming months as Space Pioneer builds up its launch pad there. A launch pad at Jiuquan is also needed to complete static fire tests, as the only static fire test so far became dynamic (it took flight).
i-Space repeatedly fires up JD-2
i-Space has fired up its JD-2 engine three times in the past week, with each firing increasing in length.
The first firing occurred on July 29th, and was announced the following day. This test firing had the engine running at 111% of its maximum thrust for 100 seconds. i-Space stated that the engine started smoothly and completed the firing within its set parameters.
i-Space also said that with this latest test, the JD-2 engine has entered the mass production stage, as this firing provided a reference for the thermal environment of Hyperbola-3 during flight which will influence the design of the launch vehicles thermal protection system.
August 1st had the second firing occur, with i-Space announcing its success on August 2nd. The test had a JD-2 firing for 200 seconds to simulate the required burn time for use on Hyperbola-3 with some extra time, possibly to simulate combined burn time with a landing burn.
The third firing occurred on August 4th, with confirmation of the successful firing coming on August 5th. i-Space also confirmed that this was the third test of the same engine, with it now having accumulated 500 seconds of firings within a week. The company’s statement on the three tests via their Weixin/WeChat blog is as follows:
“Recently, the JD-2 engine independently developed by Beijing Interstellar Glory Space Technology Co., Ltd. [i-Space] has completed variable thrust and high operating conditions, long range at 90% rated operating conditions for 200s, and long range at 100% rated operating conditions for 200s three times within a week. During hot test, the cumulative working time is added to 500s.”
(If there are any problems with this translation, feel free to reach out to me).
This test also had further optimizations for the JD-2 engine, such as improved cooling as well as shorter start-up and shutdown times for the engine. i-Space went on to say that the maximum thrust from the JD-2 engine was 93 tons during the three tests, the company also claims that this is the highest thrust of a domestic open-cycle methane-oxygen engine.
According to i-Space, future firings of JD-2 will quickly iterate and improve the engine while maintaining high reliability and high performance. Some of these firings will allegedly push the engines to the extremes of their believed operating conditions.
Galactic Energy begins working on Ceres-2
Reported by Financial World (金融界) toward the end of last month, July 27th, Galactic Energy is supposedly developing a larger solid-fueled launch vehicle, called Ceres-2. Ceres-2 will reportedly be developed with Pallas-1, the company’s partially reusable launch vehicle that is currently in development.
The company’s reasoning for this launch vehicle is to boost payload capacity and lower cost. The company stated that while launch costs generated revenue in the previous years its cost to customers could be improved. Galactic Energy did not say how much revenue it generated beyond a vague ‘tens of millions’.
No details were shared about Ceres-2 beyond that Galactic Energy will utilize technology and experiences from developing Ceres-1 on the new launch vehicle. What happens to Ceres-1 and Pallas-1 after Ceres-2 begins flying was also not touched on, other than that Pallas-1 is still expected to make its debut flight late this year or in early 2025.
The article by Financial World (金融界) also noted that Galactic Energy is hoping to perform 10 more Ceres-1 launches in 2024, depending on the readiness of customers. If these ten additional launches occur, Ceres-1 would make up 13 of the 30 expected private company launches for China’s goal of 100 launches this year.
Two days earlier, July 25th, Galactic Energy shared that they had completed a fairing separation test for Pallas-1. Galactic Energy did not specify the diameter of the fairing, but it is likely 3.35 meters in diameter, as it is the smallest option offered and is the same diameter of both stages. The three fairings available are 3.35, 4.2, and 5.2 meters in diameter.
The test reportedly verified the design of the separation system as well as gathering data about the forces of the fairing pyrotechnics.