China's iSpace says reusable flight of reusable rocket accomplished

The privately-owned SpaceX wannabe flew its reusable vehicle, in its second test, to 343m and for a minute, before landing it back on the ground.

iSpace 星际荣耀, a Beijing-based private space company, said on Sunday evening that its reusable rocket 双曲线二号 SQX-2Y has accomplished the second vertical takeoff and landing on the day’s afternoon/December 10, after its first test flight and landing on November 2.

[Video released by iSpace on Chinese social media]

iSpace, whose Chinese name is transliterated as Interstellar Glory Space, said in a press release that

On December 10, 2023, at 17:07, Beijing Interstellar Glory Space Technology Co., Ltd. conducted the second flight test mission of the SQX-2Y reusable liquid oxygen-methane verification rocket (code-named SQX-2Y) at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in China. This test achieved a flight height of 343.12m, a flight duration of 63.15s, a target lateral displacement of 50m, a landing precision of about 0.295m, a landing speed of 1.1m/s, a landing attitude angle of about 1.18°, and a roll angle of about 4.4°. The rocket landed smoothly and precisely, safely restoring its state, and the flight test mission was a complete success.

[Screen at Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center congratulating the test flight mission.]

The company said the successful consecutive completion of two vertical takeoff and landing flight missions by the same SQX-2Y test rocket signifies a significant breakthrough in the capability of reusable technology for liquid launch rockets in China's commercial space industry.

[Take-off]

[In Flight]

[landing]

The company said the mission employed the JD-1 reusable deep variable thrust LOX/methane engine (code-named JD-1), capable of rapid reuse flights after inspection, demonstrating the natural advantages of LOX/methane as a propellant in terms of low cost, easy maintenance, and convenient sourcing. In this flight, iSpace successfully addressed the challenges and key technologies that arise from the complex aerodynamic, force, and thermal interferences in the 'last mile' of vertical recovery, as well as the novel requirements of high-precision landing and low-overload touchdown, thus filling a domestic gap in this field.

Prompted by SpaceX’s success and perhaps pressure, China in recent years relaxed its state monopoly over the space industry, giving rise to some private start-ups.

Below is another company that I shared with you last year.