Reusable rocket models being developed

China Aerospace Science and Technology Corp, the country's leading space contractor, is working to develop two reusable rocket models, a top rocket scientist said.

Jiang Jie, a senior researcher at the China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology, a CASC subsidiary in Beijing and the country's major rocket maker, said that reusable launch vehicles represent the only path toward achieving heavy-lift, low-cost and high-efficiency access to outer space.

"Currently, CASC is actively advancing the research and development of two models of reusable rockets with different technical characteristics. The major difference between them lies in the recovery methods: one of them adopts ground-based recovery, and that means its first-stage booster will make a vertical landing on a designated site and then stand on its landing legs; the other uses sea-based net-assisted recovery, meaning the first-stage booster will be captured by a special net on the recovery ship," said Jiang, who is also a deputy to the National People's Congress, the nation's top legislative body, and an academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

She made the remarks on the sidelines of the fourth session of the 14th National People's Congress, which opened in Beijing on Thursday.

According to her, the State-owned conglomerate has been going all out to accelerate breakthroughs in key technologies, striving to achieve the successful recovery and reuse of reusable boosters at an early date.

"Having and operating reusable rockets will not only substantially strengthen China's capability and efficiency in reaching orbit, but will also serve to verify sophisticated technologies and accumulate engineering experience for the development of next-generation heavy-lift vehicles," Jiang said.

Last month, China conducted a milestone launch-and-recovery test, in which the first-stage booster of a prototype Long March 10 rocket was launched into space, and it then flew back to Earth by its engines and grid fins before gently splashing down at a designated area in the South China Sea.

The test marked the first successful attempt by a Chinese rocket to return to Earth safely, making it a historic feat in China's efforts to build reusable rockets. Currently, only the United States has operational reusable rockets.

Jiang said that in coming months, CASC will carry out the first net-recovery test of the Long March 10 first-stage booster.

Besides CASC, a number of private enterprises such as Land-Space and Space Pioneer are racing to build their own reusable rockets, eyeing lucrative orders from State-owned satellite operators, which have announced ambitious plans for massive satellite networks.