At 16:00 on January 19, the Zhuque-3 VTVL-1 reusable vertical take-off and recovery verification rocket independently developed by Blue Arrow Aerospace was ignited and lifted off at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center. The flight time of this test is about 60 seconds, the flight height is about 350m, the landing position accuracy is about 2.4m, the landing speed is about 0.75m/s, the landing attitude angle is about 0.14°, and the roll angle is about 4.4°.
The rocket landed smoothly, landed accurately, and was in good condition. The test mission was a complete success.
The take-off mass of the VTVL-1 test arrow is about 50.3 tons, and the maximum take-off mass of the entire arrow can reach 68 tons. It is currently the largest vertical take-off and landing test arrow in China.
Blue Arrow Aerospace stated that this mission verified the correctness of the overall plan for vertical recovery of the first sub-stage of the reusable liquid oxygen methane rocket, the correctness of the large-scale variable thrust liquid oxygen methane power system plan, the matching of the rocket control system and engine thrust characteristics, the correctness of the rocket landing section guidance and control plan, the working performance of the rocket soft landing buffer mechanism, and the correctness of the reusable rocket launch, recovery and post-processing processes. It successfully obtained core test data of the key technologies of the Zhuque-3 reusable liquid oxygen methane rocket.
The VTVL-1 test rocket is a full-scale engineering prototype of the Blue Arrow Aerospace reusable rocket. It uses the same stainless steel material system as the Zhuque-3, a full-size high-thrust liquid oxygen methane engine, and also applies a number of key technologies of the Suzaku-3 reusable rocket such as high-precision vertical recovery guidance control, landing buffer mechanism, and ground integrated test and launch control system, laying a solid technical foundation for the first flight of the Suzaku-3 in 2025.
The details are as follows:
1. Rocket body material
The main structure of the entire arrow is made of high-strength stainless steel, which verifies the manufacturing process of the Zhuque No. 3 rocket body in advance.
Compared with aluminum alloy, the material of traditional arrow body structure,Stainless steel has low cost and good welding process, which can significantly reduce the manufacturing cost of medium and large liquid rockets.
Blue Arrow Aerospace is the first in China to explore the heat transfer characteristics of high-strength stainless steel rocket bodies during the low-temperature filling process of liquid oxygen and methane, and has also accumulated sufficient test data for the repeated use and maintenance of the stainless steel rocket body structure.
2. Engine
In response to the demand for recovery and reuse of rockets, based on the Zhuque-2 rocket Tianque 12,The engine has added multiple starts and depth variable thrust functions, further improving thrust and reliability.
At present, the cumulative ground test verification time of this series of engines has beenHas exceeded 100,000 seconds, will also be applied to subsequent batches of Zhuque 2 and Zhuque 3.
3. Vertical take-off and landing
useLow-altitude guidance, thrust control, soft landing shutdown strategy, which can accurately control the rocket’s flight speed and altitude to achieve soft landing requirements.
This mission verified the adaptability of the vertical return control algorithm under the real thrust characteristics of the Zhuque-3 full-scale engine, and provided verification data of key technologies for the Zhuque-3 reusable rocket.
4. Landing legs
haveLanding leg design with two levels of buffering function, which can meet the requirements of Zhuque No. 3 reusable sub-level40 tonsCushioning requirements for landing mass.
In this mission, the test arrow was recovered and landed in good condition, fully verifying the cushioning performance and stability of the landing leg.
5. Ground control
Ground measurement and launch control adopts master control mode for the first time, through electronic instructions and programmed execution, the command and dispatch, feedback and confirmation work during the test and launch process are realized through the master control software.
This model can streamline command positions and reduce the chance of human error in the traditional password exchange information process.
Since October 2022, Blue Arrow Aerospace has been fully promoting the demonstration and development of large-scale liquid oxygen methane reusable rockets, and has clarified the development route of the next-generation reusable rocket Zhuque-3.
In order to verify the key technology of vertical return of the first stage of Zhuque-3, Blue Arrow Aerospace established a project to develop the VTVL-1 test rocket, and built a VTVL-1 test launch and recovery site at the Blue Arrow Aerospace liquid oxygen methane rocket launch station at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center.
Zhuque 3 (ZQ-3) is Blue Arrow Aerospace's next-generation reusable liquid oxygen methane launch vehicle and China's first stainless steel liquid launch vehicle.
The diameter of the rocket body is 4.5m, the diameter of the fairing is 5.2m, the total length of the rocket is 76.6m, the take-off mass is about 660t, the take-off thrust is about 900t, and it uses the Tianque series liquid oxygen methane engine independently developed by Blue Arrow Aerospace.
The first sub-stage of Zhuque-3 is designed to be reused no less than 20 times. The low-orbit carrying capacity for one-time missions can reach 21.3 tons, and the recovery mission in the navigation area is 18.3 tons., can be used for high-density launch of my country's satellite Internet network, GTO orbit launch of large communication satellites, and launch of various types of spacecraft.
Blue Arrow Aerospace’s Zhuque-3 is not my country’s only privately-operated reusable rocket. Just on December 0 last year, also at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, Interstellar Glory Company’s Hyperbolic 2 reusable liquid oxygen methane verification rocket (SQX-2Y) successfully completed its second flight test.
This mission achieved the first reusable flight of a reusable rocket in China and verified the rapid reuse capability of the first full-scale liquid oxygen methane rocket in China to successfully complete a vertical take-off and landing recovery mission.