Written by Ryan Wu
BEIJING (Reuters) – A small but powerful Chinese rocket that can carry payloads at a competitive cost launched nine satellites into orbit on Saturday, Chinese state media reported. It’s shaping up to be another busy year for commercial launches in China.
Jielong-3, or Smart Dragon-3, was launched from a floating barge off the coast of Yangjiang in southern Guangdong province, marking the second rocket launch in just two months.
Jiange-3, developed by China Rocket Corp., a commercial branch of a state-owned rocket maker, made its maiden flight in December 2022.
President Xi Jinping called for the expansion of strategic industries, including commercial space, which is considered key to building satellite constellations for communications, remote sensing and navigation.
Also on Saturday, Chinese automaker Geely Holding Group launched 11 satellites to boost its ability to provide more precise navigation for self-driving cars.
Last year, China had a record 67 orbital launches, of which 17 commercial launches failed. This is an increase from the 10 commercial launches in China in 2022 (including two failures).
In 2023, China conducted more launches than any other country except the United States, with 116 attempted launches, including just under 100 by Elon Musk’s SpaceX.
Key to building a commercial satellite network will be opening more launch slots, expanding rocket types to accommodate different payload sizes, reducing launch costs, and building more spaceports and ocean launch vehicles. The use of such is China’s ability to increase the number of launch sites.
cost
Jielong-3 can carry a 1,500 kg (3,300 lb) payload into a 500 km sun-synchronous orbit. China Rocket Company has previously announced that the rocket can carry more than 20 satellites at a launch cost of less than $10,000 per kg, which is a globally competitive standard for small lift rockets. .
The cost is similar to other Chinese small rocket launches, including the Long March 11, but the payload size is significantly smaller.
Jiefang-3 is comparable to the powerful Lijian-1, which made its first flight in 2022.
Developed by CAS Space, a commercial spin-off of the Guangzhou-based Chinese Academy of Sciences, Lijian-1 can also send a 1,500kg payload into a 500km sun-synchronous orbit.
Other commercial companies in China’s rocket launch field include Galactic Energy. The company’s Ceres-1 rocket can carry a 300kg payload to a 500km sun-synchronous orbit.
Beijing-based Galactic Energy has conducted seven Ceres 1 launches in 2023, up from four in 2020-2022.
But Galactic Energy suffered its first accident last September, when it lost its Ceres 1 rocket and its payload, forcing the company to apologize to customers.
Also joining the fray is Landspace, whose 2023 Zhuque-2 launch marks the world’s first successful payload delivery on a liquid oxygen methane rocket and a breakthrough in China’s use of low-cost liquid propellants. It became a special event.
In the field of large rockets, Orienspace launched Gravity-1 from a ship off the eastern coast of Shandong province in January.
The rocket will be able to send payloads of up to 6,500 kg into low Earth orbit, making it the most powerful launch vehicle developed by a private Chinese company.
Small rockets can carry payloads of up to 2,000 kg, medium rockets can carry up to 20,000 kg, and heavy rockets can easily carry weights in excess of 20,000 kg. SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy can lift 64,000 kg into orbit, but no such attempt has been made yet.
(Reporting by Ryan Woo; Editing by Jacqueline Wong and Alexandra Hudson)