On August 28, China’s leading commercial launcher developer and launch service provider, LandSpace Technology Corporation Ltd. (LandSpace), announced during MAKS-2019, The company is seeking and accepting payloads from around the world for the inaugural launch of its proprietary launcher ZhuQue-2 (ZQ-2), powered by a LOX / LCH4 liquid-fuel rocket engine. LandSpace President Zhang Long said: “As China’s first midsize launcher with LOX / LCH4 liquid fuel, the ZQ-2 is widely recognized as an environmentally friendly, affordable and reusable solution designed to provide launch services and orbital deployment of small and medium satellites “. The LCH4 helps improve engine reusability as it is widely available and inexpensive and prevents carbon deposits when fuel is burning in the engine.
The 49.5ºm and 3.35ºm diameter ZQ-2 launcher produces 268ºt of takeoff thrust with 216ºt of mass. The ZQ-2 is designed to provide 2nd t payloads (top stage supports 4 th payloads) in synchronous orbit in the sun at an orbit height of 500ºkm to meet the launch requirements of most small and medium-sized ones. commercial market satellites. The ZQ-2 offers a number of standard LV-S / C interfaces, including full-size armband band separation systems, low shock separation systems, and cube satellite distributors (PODs), as well as unique orbit deployment of large payload, sharing small satellites and deploying orbiting cube satellites, among other launch options. Besides that,
Zhang Long indicated that the ZQ-2 launchers were designed as a universal and cost-effective solution. The company plans to improve reusability and expand payload capacity in the future. The ZQ-2 liquid launcher series, designed based on the design concept of “one fuel combination, one universal launcher body diameter and two engine thrust levels”, offers launch capacity ranging from tons to tens of tons in different combinations to provide customers with a wide range of liquid fuel solutions that can put satellites into low, medium and high orbits.
The LOX / LCH4 fuel combination is widely recognized by global commercial launcher companies as the fuel choice for low-cost launchers. US commercial aerospace companies Space X and Blue Origin have successfully developed LOX / LCH4 engines and selected LOX / LCH4 as the fuel of their next-generation rocket. The ZQ-2 is China’s first low-cost launcher with the LOX / LCH4 liquid fuel combination. In the next era of low-cost, reusable commercial launch vehicles, the ZQ-2 will provide global customers with cost-effective launch services.
