/sci/ - Science & Math

China’s Landspace aims to build a stainless steel rocket
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https://spacenews.com/chinas-landspace-aims-to-build-a-stainless-steel-rocket/
> HELSINKI — Chinese launch startup Landspace has unveiled plans to develop a reusable stainless steel rocket.
> The Zhuque-3 (Vermillion Bird 3) will use stainless propellant tanks and clusters of Tianque methane-liquid oxygen propellant rocket engines, according to a presentation by Landspace CEO Zhang Changwu at the Mingyue Lake Aerospace Information Industry International Ecosystem Event in Chongqing, China, Nov. 21.
> The two-stage launcher will have a payload capacity of 20 metric tons to low Earth orbit (LEO) when expendable. Recovery of the first stage downrange will allow 16.5 tons to LEO, while a landing back at the launch site will offer a capacity of 11 tons to LEO. A render of the rocket shows grid fins and deployable landing legs on the first stage.
> Details such as a tentative test launch date and the dimensions of the rocket were not stated, suggesting the plan is at a very early stage.
> The launcher, once operational, will also face competition domestically. Fellow startup Space Pioneer is planning to launch its Tianlong-3 rocket next year. That rocket will be capable of lifting 17 tons to LEO, or 14 tons to 500-kilometer sun-synchronous orbit.
> Landspace is not the only Chinese launch firm interested in stainless steel rockets. Another, much newer Chinese startup, Space Epoch, performed hot fire tests earlier this year as part of development of a planned reusable stainless-steel launcher.
> The tests used a 4.2-meter-diameter stainless steel propellant tank combined with methalox engines developed by Jiuzhou Yunjian.

China’s commercial launch firms get space station cargo boost
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https://spacenews.com/chinas-commercial-launch-firms-get-space-station-cargo-boost/
> HELSINKI — China’s human spaceflight agency says the country’s commercial rocket companies could launch low-cost cargo missions in the future.
> The China Manned Space Engineering Office (CMSEO) opened a call for proposals for a low-cost cargo transportation system to supply the Tiangong space station in May this year. Four from a total of 10 submitted proposals meeting requirements were selected to proceed to the detailed design study phase in September.
> Despite submissions from commercial companies, the chosen proposals came from entities belonging to state-owned enterprises.
> “Each of these companies is developing rockets with a carrying capacity of 4 tons to 6 tons [to low Earth orbit],” Lin said. “The overall cost performance is very high.”
> Chinese commercial launch companies developing rockets in this payload capability range or beyond include Landspace (Zhuque-2, already flown), Space Pioneer (Tianlong-3), Galactic Energy (Pallas-1) and Orienspace (Gravity-1).
> Tomas Hrozensky, a senior research fellow at the European Space Policy Institute (ESPI), told SpaceNews earlier this year that the CMSEO program is a clear indication that China is seeking to replicate the approach which yielded NASA a major success.
> Lin also stated that CMSEO had solicited proposals for a lunar rover for the country’s crewed lunar missions. China is aiming to land a pair of astronauts on the moon before 2030.
> More than 40 entities formed 14 joint teams to submit formal intentions, Lin said. Of the submitted proposals, 11 teams have passed the first round review and proceed for further evaluation.