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China’s ‘Blue Book’ Disclosed! Seaborne Rockets To Boost Dragon’s Ambitious Plan To Send 140 Spacecraft In 2022

The China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation disclosed its space ambitions in the annual ‘blue book’ last month. After its busiest year so far, the country’s leading space contractor is eying more than 50 launches to send at least 140 spacecraft in 2022.

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Following the successful launch of the new-generation Long March-8 carrier rocket, which successfully delivered 22 commercial satellites into preset orbits in one go, its developer China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology (CALT said) that other types of rockets will be launched this year for more commercial spaceflights.

The Long March-11 and the Smart Dragon-3 are two of these planned rockets, with the latter set for lift-off in September 2022. Both are solid-propellant rockets that can be launched from the sea.

Jiang Jie, the chief designer at CALT, recently revealed that the academy has produced three types of rockets that can service commercial spaceflights: two from the Long March family and one from the Smart Dragon family.




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Long March 11 (via Twitter)

Long March-8 is China’s new-generation medium-sized carrier rocket. It is developed as a new member of the Long March family through modular combination, making it more cost-effective, advanced, and versatile.

The new rocket is expected to cater to the rising demand from commercial satellite firms both at home and abroad, due to its ability to undertake low-and medium-orbit launch missions.

In late February, China’s Long March-8 put 22 satellites into orbit, breaking the country’s record for the most satellites launched by a single rocket. The rocket flew for the 409th time on this mission and put satellites into orbit to perform an array of commercial functions.

Two New Rockets

The Long March-11 is the Long March family’s first solid-fueled rocket. It can be launched from land or sea. It is primarily used to facilitate the rapid development of constellations and the launch of tiny satellites as a supplement.

It took off for the first time in September 2015 from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in the Gobi Desert of northwest China. The first sea launch was conducted in June 2019. It has four to five launch missions this year, perhaps two of which are for commercial purposes.

The rocket was developed with the purpose of providing a quick-reaction launch vehicle that is simple to operate, cost-effective, can be stored for long periods of time, and can be launched reliably on short notice.

It is most likely based on the DF-31 missile, as it has a diameter of 2 m. A launch tube installed on a road mobility vehicle is used to cold-launch the vehicle. Pioneered by the Soviets, in the cold launch method, the missile/rocket is expelled by gas and the engine is ignited after the missile clears the silo.

On the other hand, CALT’s Jielong-3, also known as the Smart Dragon-3 (SD-3), is a commercial rocket. The solid-fuel launch vehicle can carry up to 20 satellites at a time. It also has facilities for both land-based and sea-based launches.

The SD-3 is set to take to the skies for the first time in September 2022. For this year, two to three missions have been planned for the rocket model. According to Jiang, the rocket will be involved in at least five missions every year after 2023.




File Image: China-Tengyun spaceplane via Twitter

The Smart Dragon 3, which is also a four-stage solid-propellant rocket, will be the largest and most powerful in the Smart Dragon fleet, according to Li Hong, the academy’s former president.

The rocket, which has a diameter of 2.64 meters and a liftoff weight of 140 metric tons, will be able to launch numerous satellites weighing a total of 1.5 tons into a sun-synchronous orbit at a 500-kilometer altitude. It can be launched from land or from the sea, China Daily had previously reported.

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