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The new engine, capable of generating a thrust of 70 metric tons, has successfully completed ignition and vertical takeoff and landing tests, confirms Zhao Shuang, marketing director at ExPace. This company is a subsidiary of China Aerospace Science and Industry Corp (CASIC), a state-owned enterprise involved in space technology.
Reusable engines, such as the one being developed by ExPace, offer several advantages over traditional single-use rocket engines, including lower costs and reduced environmental impact.
"The new rocket is poised for its inaugural flight soon if progress continues as planned," Zhao, who also serves as deputy manager of CASIC's Kuaizhou 1A rocket team, remarked during a recent event at a rocket assembly facility in Wuhan.
CASIC has outlined plans for significant activity this year, aiming for up to 10 launches using its Kuaizhou carrier rocket family. "This year, the Kuaizhou 1A and Kuaizhou 11 rockets are expected to execute between eight and ten missions, deploying over 30 satellites into orbit," Zhao explained. She added that two Kuaizhou 1A launches have already occurred this year, with additional Kuaizhou 11 missions planned.
The Kuaizhou 1A rocket, measuring 20 meters in height and 1.4 meters in diameter, has a track record of 26 launches, delivering 56 satellites into space since its first mission in 2017 from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in China's Gobi Desert.
Meanwhile, the larger Kuaizhou 11, standing 25 meters tall with a 2.2-meter diameter, can carry payloads of up to 1.5 tons into low-Earth orbit. Despite an initial launch failure in 2020, a subsequent mission in 2022 was successful, demonstrating the rocket's capabilities.
Initiated in 2009, the Kuaizhou project aims to provide a cost-effective and rapidly deployable option in the commercial space sector, contrasting with the predominantly liquid-fueled Long March rocket family.
Based on a Xinhua News Agency article
Related Links
ExPace Technology Corporation
Rocket Science News at Space-Travel.Com
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