Chinese Space Program

I’d have told you to cheer up and accept that stuff like this will keep happening, blah blah. But this quiet stigmatization is really damaging. People might claim it’s just a joke, yet it fills uninformed people with biased prejudices and undermines the worth of decades of hard work from masses of engineers.
 
Flyaway said:
Long March-10B landing explained:
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Awesome idea! It basically done the same "catching" job as SpaceX Mechazilla "chopsticks", but Chinese concept is simpler and more elegant. Instead of heavy manipulators moving with high precision to catch the rocket, they use cables stretched between trolleys; the control is simplified (each trolley could only move along guiding rail), and the precision requirements are far less strict. All the rocket need to do, is to get within the square, and trolleys would move to catch it no matter where inside the square it would be descending.
 
abheiden said:
Behind those cable attachement points there has to be inside the rocket some serious structuel reinforcements.
Not that it weigh so much as 4 landing legs, but not all of this landing method is profit.
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Those attachement points seems to be integrated into the same frame as control rudders, and this part of the rocket obviously made strong enough (otherwise the rudders would risk to fell away). I rather doubt that cable catchers create more strain on barely moving rocket's structure than rudders during supersonic descent.
 
(this time, without any cuts at all, the previous video was missing 2 min)
Flight timeline
T-9s, ignition
T0, 26/07/10-12:15:50.529, liftoff
T+18s, pitch-over maneuver
~T+85s, Max-Q (maximum dynamic pressure)
T+154.7525s (video shows 154–156s), first-stage engine cutoff, V=1.77 km/s, H=61 km
T+159.7992s, stage separation
T+168.9620s, second-stage ignition
T+(170s), second-stage engine at full thrust
T+212.7199s, fairing jettison
T+252.8268s (253–255s), first-stage grid fin deployment
~T+260s, first stage reaches apogee, V=1.48 km/s, H=110 km
T+365.0524s (367s), first-stage powered deceleration burn (two engines), V=1.78 km/s, H=59 km
T+393.0325s, first-stage powered deceleration burn cutoff (two engines), V=1.26 km/s, H=35 km
T+446.9724s (450s), first-stage landing burn (three engines) , V=0.29 km/s, H=1.5 km
T+457.5525 s (458 s), first-stage fixed engines cutoff
T+477.3347 s (473–475 s), first-stage cable deployment
T+483 s, first-stage center engine cutoff; net-capture recovery; landing point 439 km from launch site; coordinates approx. 16°29.9' N, 113°31.7' E
T+525.8325 s, second-stage first cutoff
T+1767.2524 s, propellant settling prior to second-stage second ignition
T+2922.2200 s, second-stage second ignition
T+2927.6123 s, second-stage second cutoff
T+2932.6125 s, terminal velocity correction cutoff
T+3094.9912 s, spacecraft-rocket separation
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1st stage Trajectory:
 

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The "Notice on Issuing the Guidelines for Reusable Launch Vehicle Research Projects (Third Batch)" has been officially released. Various enterprises and institutions can consult the declaration requirements and guidelines through the appropriate channels and are encouraged to submit their applications actively.
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Open-source the technical data of CZ10B to domestic manufacturers.
 

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According to some rumors, CZ12A will launch on the 5th of next month and try to recover, while ZQ3 will launch on the 13th of next month and try to recover.

Also, the launch of the Mengzhou-1 manned spacecraft might be delayed due to the progress of the launch site.

Snne's statement is based on the stock market, while mine is based on the schedule of the rocket sightseeing tour.
 
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Even having a couple imperfections in the landing/catch this was quite an accomplishment, I'm impressed.
Ya know, that night at the docks scene would make a nice poster ...
 
TheKutKu said:
Long march 3B successfuly returns to flight 5 months after its failure, launching the Shijian 31 satellite to a mid-inclination Medium Earth orbit, similar launch trajectories on CZ-3B have recently been used to launch Early warning TJS satellites, built by SAST like Shijian-31, in Molniya orbit , although the use may be different given the different name, Shijian 31 is officially used for "space environment exploration". The cause of the failure on the previous flight was not disclosed.

View attachment 815540
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Interesting wrinkle on the Molniya orbit on this one.
https://twitter.com/x/status/2079695761277608123
View: https://x.com/COMSPOC_OPS/status/2079695761277608123?s=20
 
Michel Van said:
New image of assembly building for Long March 9
in comperasion to VAB and Gigabay
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Doesn't really compare them though. How does it stack up size-wise?
 
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The launch and landing attempt of the 2nd Zhuque 3 is expected for no earlier than August 10th 23:37 UTC according to NOTAM; it will probably only carry a dummy payload like the first one

Also here are official (left) and unnoficial renders of CALT's upcoming CZ-10C, which is expected to fly next year; the official one has wrong dimensions for both 10B and 10C, it's expected that 10C will launch 22t to LEO in reusable mode, it is in a similar class as Relativity space's Terran R
 

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TheKutKu said:
Zhuque 3 Y2
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"Monday night closes with the second flight of LandSpace’s ZhuQue-3 (ZQ-3), China’s first privately developed reusable orbital rocket, lifting off from Launch Area 96B at Jiuquan with an undisclosed payload at 23:37 UTC. The 66-meter, stainless steel, methane-fueled vehicle was built from the start for recovery, with a nine-engine first stage designed to return to a downrange landing pad. This is the 191st orbital launch attempt of 2026 and LandSpace’s second recovery attempt."

https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2026/08/launch-preview-081026/
 
Typhoons are rampaging this season, which isn't a big deal, what I’m really worried about is the launch mission of Chang’e 7.
 
Chinese rocket explodes less than 90 seconds after liftoff

The state-owned China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC) launched a Long March 7A rocket today (Aug. 10) from the Wenchang Space Launch Site, in the country's Hainan province, just after 8:00 a.m. EDT (1200 GMT; 8:02 p.m. local time). Around 85 seconds into the launch, the rocket exploded, generating a massive fireball and a cloud of smoke and debris while still soaring through Earth's atmosphere.


CASC had not yet released a statement about the incident by the time of this story's publication, but video reposted to social media captured the shock of onlookers the moment that the rocket burst into flames. Based on such views, the mission will almost certainly be deemed a complete failure, with total loss of vehicle and payload.
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