Chinese Space Program


You can actually see the payload and upper-stage bend before snapping off and the rocket blowing up.
 
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Zhuque-3 rescheduled for around midnight UTC between August 18th-19th according to NOTAM
DSEL confirmed Chang'e 7 is still planned to land on the lunar south pole before the end of the year, so there doesn't seem to be substantial delays caused by the CZ-7A failure.
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https://twitter.com/x/status/2088049989788352724
 
If there are no delays, the ZQ3 will attempt a second recovery attempt around 7:30 AM tomorrow morning (Beijing time).
 
Sferrin said:
Why the foam? I've heard several times it's "for insulation". Just wondering what's different between Chinese rockets, and pretty much everybody else, that requires foam on them.
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Same here. I've been watching those panels fall away from Chinese launch vehicles for years now. What do they do? And why dosnt anyone else use the same idea for...insulation? I don't see what they are insulating from.
 
SUPER=BUG said:
If there are no delays, the ZQ3 will attempt a second recovery attempt around 7:30 AM tomorrow morning (Beijing time).
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Should be getting close. Any idea if it's going to be streamed? (Or where.)
 
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Went back and looked at the first post in this topic to see if it said anything about the kind of content desired for this thread; an the post was a illustration.
So, I'm going to conclude it is okay to show this 2022 book which was acquired last month, July, but only a little has been read so far on account of messy health.
Author turns out to be a fellow who either was or still is an official with India's space program.
And this author thanks author Brian Harvey for use of some illustrations - I have a couple of his earlier books about China.
Wonder how long it will be until the history being shown here now in this thread will be book topics?

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Wouldn't be surprised if the support fin idea originated on model rockets or even fireworks TBH. Even an artificial Christmas tree could take the credit really.
 

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Several of the U.S. systems are/will use regular fins rather than grid, including New Glenn, Neutron, and Terran R. On the other hand the CZ-10B uses a cable system instead of landing legs, which is different.

Obviously everyone is copying SpaceX now that reusability is a proven concept. I think about the only truly unique take is Stoke Space, which will (if successful) use cryogenic cooling as a heat shield for a reusable second stage to minimize refurbishment time.

The only reason the Russians and European have not copied the basic idea is because they lack the resources and were caught at almost the worst possible time in their rocket development cycle. Ariane 6 and Angara delays mean that they are just coming to market with obsolescent technology.
 
Nx4eu said:
I’m assuming we’ll see your comments for the Indian, European, Russian, and Japanese rockets too right? No one is original.
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Except for those who, you know, came up with it. That would be SpaceX in this case.
 
Sferrin said:
Why the foam? I've heard several times it's "for insulation". Just wondering what's different between Chinese rockets, and pretty much everybody else, that requires foam on them.
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I could totally be wrong here, but I thought its just both side choosing different method. Where some countries use spray on insulation foam that remain attach to rocket, the Chinese prefer insulation tile that fall off once the rocket lift off.

I am probably over generalizing this.
 
thanix01 said:
I could totally be wrong here, but I thought its just both side choosing different method. Where some countries use spray on insulation foam that remain attach to rocket, the Chinese prefer insulation tile that fall off once the rocket lift off.

I am probably over generalizing this.
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I wondered that too but wouldn't they be putting the foam over the areas with the cryo? The foam is mostly at the top. In the picture in question it encases the fairing itself with the area containing all the propellant being bare metal:
 

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Sferrin said:
I wondered that too but wouldn't they be putting the foam over the areas with the cryo? The foam is mostly at the top. In the picture in question it encases the fairing itself with the area containing all the propellant being bare metal:
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Protect the payload.

I thought of one possibility. Perhaps it's a measure by the engineers to squeeze out every bit of payload capacity. The insulation material that was originally covering the inside of the fairing was designed to be attached on the outside and shed during launch to reduce weight. Save a few dozen kilograms? Maybe?
 

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