The reusable launch vehicle, developed by the Commercial Rocket Company Limited (CSC) of the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC), recently completed the trial run of its second-stage power system. The test was a complete success, marking a new breakthrough in China’s commercial space industry’s reusable launch vehicle engine technology.
China has been actively developing space propulsion technology in recent years, and the latest achievement is successful ground ignition tests of a 130-tonne liquid oxygen and kerosene engine that will power the country’s reusable carrier rockets.
The test reportedly used the YF-102V engine, the vacuum version of the YF-102 series. The engine demonstrated excellent performance during the test, effectively evaluating multiple starts, multiple ignitions, large-scale changes in air inlet parameters, and long-term adaptation to precooling.
According to the Sixth Academy of Aerospace Science and Technology, the engine took two and a half years to develop and was developed by the Shaanxi Commercial Spacecraft Engine Co., Ltd. The scientific research team succeeded in accelerating technological breakthroughs through the “low cost + rapid iteration” innovation model and overcame more than ten technical difficulties. The engine is now ready for delivery and is expected to make its first commercial flight this year.
