October 18th to 20th,The Zhuque-3 Yaoyi launch vehicle successfully completed the first phase of its first flight mission at the Dongfeng Commercial Aerospace Innovation Test Zone - fueling joint training and static ignition test.Next, the rocket will conduct a vertical state operation drill as planned, and then return to the technical area for inspection and maintenance, making full preparations for the formal launch into orbit and the recovery of the first sub-stage.
It is understood that the first flight test mission of the Zhuque-3 carrier rocket is carried out in two stages:The first phase focuses on joint refueling training and static ignition testing, and after completion, it will return to the technical area for inspection and maintenance; the second phase will take the achievement of launch into orbit as the core goal, and simultaneously try to recover the first sub-stage.
The Zhuque-3 launch vehicle project was officially approved in August 2023 and was independently developed by Blue Arrow Aerospace. It is a high-capacity, low-cost, reusable liquid launch vehicle that meets the needs of large-scale constellation networking.The first and second stages of the arrow have a diameter of 4.5 meters, a fairing diameter of 5.2 meters, a total arrow length of about 66.1 meters, a take-off mass of about 570 tons, and a take-off thrust of more than 750 tons.
This type of rocket uses stainless steel as the main structural material of the rocket body. The first sub-stage is equipped with nine Tianque-12A liquid oxygen methane engines, and is equipped with devices such as grid rudders and landing legs for sub-stage recovery. It can achieve autonomous high-precision return, soft landing and reuse after performing an orbital launch mission.
