Academician outlines rocket developments

China aims to develop a new series of small, medium, large and heavy-lift Long March carrier rockets by 2030 to meet the demands of its space operations, an expert said.

The capacity of Chinese rockets will reach 140 metric tons for low-Earth orbit, 44 tons for an Earth-Mars transfer orbit, 50 tons for an Earth-Moon transfer orbit and 66 tons for a geosynchronous transfer orbit by 2030, Long Lehao, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering and a chief designer at the China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology, said at Tsinghua University.

One of the new generation of rockets would be the heavy-lift Long March 9, with a core stage having a diameter of 10 meters, along with four boosters with diameters up to 5 meters.

The takeoff weight of the 93-meter Long March 9 would exceed 4,000 metric tons, and its takeoff thrust would be close to 6,000 tons. The rocket would be able to carry a payload of 140 tons into low-Earth orbit, Long said.

Some breakthroughs have been achieved in the technology, Long said, adding that the Long March 9 would have two variants: one with two boosters and the other with no booster. It could be used in manned lunar landings, deep space exploration and building a space-based solar power plant.

China is also developing a reusable space rocket, the Long March 8, which is expected to make its maiden flight around 2021. It will have two stages and two boosters. The first stage and boosters are expected to be retrieved after vertical landings, Long said.

A variant, the Long March 8A will be equipped with two larger boosters and an upper stage.

China has developed more than 10 types of carrier rockets, sending more than 400 spacecraft aloft, including more than 60 commercial satellite launches for more than 20 countries. The accuracy rate of the rockets in delivering payloads to specific orbits is among the world's highest.

Xinhua