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Hyperbola-2 sets a new standard for landing accuracy.
Beijing-based iSpace has taken a significant step toward building its own reusable launch vehicle by successfully conducting a full-scale test of the first stage of the Hyperbola-2 rocket. The test, which took place at the Jiuquan space Center in the Gobi Desert in northern China, lasted less than a minute, but this time was enough to confirm the company's readiness to launch a larger and more powerful Hyperbola-3 rocket in 2025.
In an official statement on iSpace's WeChat account, the test "provided strong technical support for the development of the Hyperbola-3 medium-to-large rocket that we are currently working on." The success of the test was a breakthrough for China's commercial space sector and launched the country's quest to catch up with the world's leading technologies in the field of reusable rockets.
The vertical take-off and landing (VTVL) test showed a landing accuracy of 1.7 meters, and the first stage of the Hyperbola-2 rocket reached an altitude of 178.4 meters before a controlled descent and landing. This flight confirmed the company's overall plan to develop a recoverable first stage and related technologies, including a thrust system, navigation and landing control, as well as buffer and support devices.
Earlier this year, iSpace announced it was skipping plans for Hyperbola-2 and moving straight to the larger and more powerful 69-meter-long Hyperbola-3, planning its first flight in two years. The restored Hyperbola-2 is a smaller-scale rocket with two stages, powered by methane and liquid oxygen, 28 meters long and with a payload capacity of 1.9 tons to low-Earth orbit.
The most powerful vehicle in the Hyperbola-3 family, which includes three models, has a configuration similar to the Falcon Heavy from the American company SpaceX. Hyperbola-3B with a central unit and two side boosters will be able to send up to 8.5 tons of cargo to low Earth orbit in a reusable mode.
iSpace, which in 2019 made history as the first private Chinese company to launch a rocket into orbit, is one of several Chinese companies working on reusable rockets. Competitors such as Galactic Energy and CAS Space have used smaller test samples to test technologies and algorithms for navigation, control, and control during the vertical recovery phase of their rockets.
At the moment, only SpaceX has developed a rocket capable of vertical soft landing and multiple use. Falcon 9 missions included sending Starlink satellites into orbit and delivering astronauts and cargo to the International Space Station.
China's space authorities said Long March launch vehicles remain competitive, but new technologies, including reusable rockets, are being developed to reduce future costs. Chinese scientists have developed sophisticated, smart rocket engines that have helped land a rover on Mars and return samples from the moon, but testing of these technologies on reusable vehicles has so far been limited to smaller prototypes.
Beijing-based iSpace has taken a significant step toward building its own reusable launch vehicle by successfully conducting a full-scale test of the first stage of the Hyperbola-2 rocket. The test, which took place at the Jiuquan space Center in the Gobi Desert in northern China, lasted less than a minute, but this time was enough to confirm the company's readiness to launch a larger and more powerful Hyperbola-3 rocket in 2025.
In an official statement on iSpace's WeChat account, the test "provided strong technical support for the development of the Hyperbola-3 medium-to-large rocket that we are currently working on." The success of the test was a breakthrough for China's commercial space sector and launched the country's quest to catch up with the world's leading technologies in the field of reusable rockets.
The vertical take-off and landing (VTVL) test showed a landing accuracy of 1.7 meters, and the first stage of the Hyperbola-2 rocket reached an altitude of 178.4 meters before a controlled descent and landing. This flight confirmed the company's overall plan to develop a recoverable first stage and related technologies, including a thrust system, navigation and landing control, as well as buffer and support devices.
Earlier this year, iSpace announced it was skipping plans for Hyperbola-2 and moving straight to the larger and more powerful 69-meter-long Hyperbola-3, planning its first flight in two years. The restored Hyperbola-2 is a smaller-scale rocket with two stages, powered by methane and liquid oxygen, 28 meters long and with a payload capacity of 1.9 tons to low-Earth orbit.
The most powerful vehicle in the Hyperbola-3 family, which includes three models, has a configuration similar to the Falcon Heavy from the American company SpaceX. Hyperbola-3B with a central unit and two side boosters will be able to send up to 8.5 tons of cargo to low Earth orbit in a reusable mode.
iSpace, which in 2019 made history as the first private Chinese company to launch a rocket into orbit, is one of several Chinese companies working on reusable rockets. Competitors such as Galactic Energy and CAS Space have used smaller test samples to test technologies and algorithms for navigation, control, and control during the vertical recovery phase of their rockets.
At the moment, only SpaceX has developed a rocket capable of vertical soft landing and multiple use. Falcon 9 missions included sending Starlink satellites into orbit and delivering astronauts and cargo to the International Space Station.
China's space authorities said Long March launch vehicles remain competitive, but new technologies, including reusable rockets, are being developed to reduce future costs. Chinese scientists have developed sophisticated, smart rocket engines that have helped land a rover on Mars and return samples from the moon, but testing of these technologies on reusable vehicles has so far been limited to smaller prototypes.
