Reusable Rockets Progress, a Hopper Disappears Near Haiyang
A hop test may have failed off the coast of Haiyang as other reusable rockets prepare to launch this year.
A few days ago CASC and SAST performed a second hop test with an unknown result, while this was happening a few engine tests were underway along with progress on other reusable rockets. In addition, the joint Chinese-European SMILE mission now has a likely launch target too.
CASC/SAST hop test vehicle disappears
On January 19th at 11:01 am China Standard Time (03:01 am Universal Coordinated Time) in some quite foggy weather, the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation’s (CASC) and the Shanghai Academy of Spaceflight Technology’s (SAST) hop test vehicle lifted off from its launch pad, on a man-made island in Haiyang (海阳市), for a seventy-five-kilometer altitude hop test. Due to the weather, the vehicle disappeared from view less than a minute later.
So far neither CASC nor SAST have said anything about the test, but rumors have been aplenty. First, a quick overview of what is believed to have been the original plan for the test. To begin three Longyun engines, made by Jiuzhou Yunjian (JZYJ), will power the ascent until two of them are shut down to give the vehicle enough energy, while moving slowly, to reach seventy-five kilometers. Once all three engines are off the descent will be unpowered and guided by four grid fins. Once the test vehicle is a few kilometers above the Yellow Sea’s surface one engine will relight to enable a soft splashdown.
Current rumors, shared by separate individuals and aligning with one another, about the test are that the ascent to seventy-five kilometers as planned, followed by the beginning of unguided descent, then a second burn a few tens of kilometers up to simulate a re-entry or boost back burn that went well, and ending with an unsuccessful splashdown. It has been rumored that either the landing burn was underpowered for a speedy and sudden splashdown or that the initial splashdown went well but was destroyed after being in the ocean for a few moments, in a style similar to Booster 13 for Starship’s sixth test flight.
Despite the rumored loss of the hop test vehicle, the test likely provided a wealth of data for the in-development detail-scarce Long March 12A and other reusable rockets such as the Long March 10 and Long March 9. Previously CASC and SAST conducted a lower altitude test, between ten and twelve kilometers, back in June 2024 at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, but the vehicle kept one engine running throughout and had landing legs to allow for a stable touchdown.
Update (January 26th): A group of local Chinese space enthusiasts interviewed various fishermen who were near the landing location and stated that they saw the landing burn initiated and run smoothly. Based on these observations the enthusiasts believe that the landing failed due to software errors, which will be fixed for a Long March 12A flight with booster landing.
SMILE set for 2026 launch
The Chinese-European SMILE, or Solar wind Magnetosphere Ionosphere Link Explorer, mission has recently been set for a launch in 2026 by the European Space Agency. The European Space Agency expects the spacecraft to be ready for launch atop of a Vega-C rocket by the end of the year, with ESA Director General Josef Ashbacher saying:
“The launch itself is most likely happening next year. We are negotiating right now the launch slot on the Vega-C, but it will be ready as of the end of this year"
SMILE is planned to operate in a high-inclination elliptical orbit, the spacecraft will make quasi-continuous observations of key regions in near-Earth space with both remote-sensing and in-situ instruments. The mission aims to build up a complete understanding of the Sun-Earth connection by measuring the solar wind and its dynamic interaction with Earth’s magnetosphere.
The SMILE spacecraft weighs approximately 2,300 kilograms with the European Space Agency providing the launch services, payload module, and one scientific instrument while the Chinese Academy of Sciences is contributing three instruments as well as the science and mission operations. SMILE is the most recent collaboration mission between the European Space Agency and the Chinese Academy of Sciences.
Back at the end of September 2024 the spacecraft completed development work in China and arrived in the Netherlands in December 2024. In the coming weeks, the satellite platform and payload module will be joined together, along with the various instruments, for final testing ahead of being sent to French Guiana.
Zhuque-3 launch infrastructure spotted
Recently images of launch infrastructure for LandSpace’s in-development partially-reusable Zhuque-3 launch vehicle were shared online. These images showed what appears to be a complete launch tower and a transporter-erector.
Looking at the launch tower, built at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, it appears to feature all of the planned features from LandSpace’s renders. This includes a crane to stack the second-stage and fairing, including payload inside, an arm for providing consumables and propellants, as well as various access platforms for the upper parts of the rocket.
Zhuque-3’s transporter-erector is quite short compared to similar systems, from Space Pioneer and SpaceX, and will likely be used just to transport the rockets first-stage, unless it is extended. The transporter-erector may also not remain at the launch pad during launch attempts.
LandSpace has currently set the maiden launch for Zhuque-3 sometime in June this year. Photos of the nine engines for the first-stage as well as various parts for the rocket were shared late last year, along with two successful hop tests.
iSpace welds 18-meter long propellant tank
Recently Shanghai Tuopu CNC Technology Co Ltd (上海拓璞数控科技股份有限公司) and iSpace shared that they had successfully completed the first large-diamter friction stir weld of a rocket propellant tank for the Hyperbola-3 launch vehicle. This tank is said to have a length of 18 meters and a diameter of 4.2 meters.
Shanghai Tuopu says that they provided iSpace with a full set of friction stir welding equipment, including frame truss panel stringer welding equipment, tube section longitudinal seam welding equipment, base welding equipment, and ring seam welding equipment. This equipment is expected to be put into routine use for manufacturing Hyperbola-3’s propellant tanks and structures.
This year iSpace plans to conduct Hyperbola-3’s maiden flight along with a possible first-stage landing and recovery. Ahead of the first flight and recovery, the company’s Hainan factory and drone ship could be finished, the ship will be essential for a landing attempt this year unless a return-to-launch site landing is opted for instead.
Three rocket engines tested in one day
Xinhua and CGTN reported, on January 19th, that the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation has recently completed three separate rocket engine tests in one day. These tests are reported to have been conducted at the Academy of Aerospace Propulsion Technology’s facility in the Baolongyu area of Xi'an (西安市), in Shaanxi Province (陕西).
The engines tested are said to have been burning liquid oxygen and rocket-grade kerosene with two of the engines generating 120 tons of thrust, the YF-100 series of engine, and one generating 18 tons of thrust, the YF-115 engine. All three tests were to ensure the engines met production requirements ahead of use on various Long March launch vehicles.
The Academy of Aerospace Propulsion Technology noted that the three tests marked a major advancement in China’s testing and verification capabilities for the mass production and delivery of its new-generation launch vehicle engines, which are expected to provide more launches in the coming years.