China will launch test flights for two new reusable rockets within two years. The country’s main state-owned space industry contractor, The China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC), plans to launch a 13-foot diameter (4-meter) reusable rocket in 2025 and a five-meter-diameter reusable rocket in 2026.
Wang Wei, a deputy to the National People’s Congress, provided the update to China News Service on Monday, March 4, a report from SpaceNews reveals.
China’s growing space arsenal
If all goes according to plan, China’s space agency will soon have proprietary reusable rockets while also being able to rely on new rockets built by the country’s private sector.
NASA has notoriously exceeded the budget with its Space Launch System (SLS) rocket for the Artemis missions. One of the reasons the SLS program has faced criticism is that NASA decided to use antiquated, non-reusable technology – the wheels were set in motion for SLS around the time SpaceX was first testing its reusable technology.
While NASA has specifically invested in the US private sector to leverage its arsenal of innovations, including reusable rocket technology, the space agency’s investment of billions of dollars into the SLS program means it somewhat relies on the private sector – namely SpaceX – for cost-effective rocket launches.
If its test flights are successful, China could possess state-owned rockets before the US. Though the new reports don’t identify the two reusable rockets with names, CASC is developing a new five-meter-diameter crew launch vehicle called Long March 10.
A heavy version of Long March 10, called “Mengzhou,” will use three cores to lift a crew into trans-lunar orbit on their way to the Moon. China aims to achieve this and send the first Chinese astronauts to the Moon by 2030.
Could China’s first reusable rocket fly this year?
The exact designation for those two reusable rockets is under wraps, though China’s state media will provide updates closer to launch.
CASC first aimed to make the Long March 8 a reusable rocket, though those plans now appear to have been abandoned.
The development of two new reusable rockets by CASC could offer China a wide range of reusable technologies in the future. Several private Chinese space firms are also developing reusable rockets; some aim to perform their first test flights this year and next.
Galactic Energy, for example, hopes to fly its reusable Pallas-1 rocket as soon as this year, though the first test flight isn’t expected to end with a recovery. Space Pioneer, the first startup in the world to reach orbit on its first attempt last year, also aims to launch its partially reusable Tianlong-3 rocket next year.
