Photo: CASC

Photo: CASC

China successfully organized and carried out the second static fire test of the Long March-10 carrier rocket, the country’s new-generation manned launch vehicle, in Wenchang Spacecraft Launch Site in South China’s Hainan Province on Friday, marking a phased breakthrough in the prototype development of the Long March 10 series carrier rockets, according to the China Manned Space Agency (CMSA).

At 3 pm on Friday, with the ignition command issued by the test command center, all seven engines of the test rocket’s first-stage ignited simultaneously, completing multiple test procedures as planned. The test lasted for 320 seconds. So far, the two planned static fire tests have been completed. These tests have fully verified the performance of the first-stage seven-engine power system of the rocket and the correctness and reliability of the work procedure design for the recovery phase, the CMSA said in a statement it provided to the Global Times on Friday.

Developed by the China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology under the China’s state-owned space giant China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC,) the Long March-10 is a new-generation manned carrier rocket designed to support the country’s manned lunar exploration, according to the CMSA. 

The Long March-10 carrier rocket series is developed to serve China’s manned lunar exploration missions, including two configurations – the Long March-10 rocket and Long March-10A rocket. The Long March-10 rocket is a type of three-stage rocket with two boosters. It has a diameter of 5 meters and a maximum height of 92.5 meters. It will undertake the launch missions of the manned spacecraft and the lunar lander, according to Xinhua.

The Long March-10A is a type of two-stage reusable rocket, with a diameter of 5 meters and a maximum height of 67 meters. Its first stage can be recycled and reused. It will serve the launch missions of the Mengzhou manned spacecraft and Tianzhou cargo craft in the application and development phase of the country’s space station.

Pang Zhihao, a senior space expert, applauded the new strides marked by the successful test, saying it is a milestone in China’s lunar manned rocket development, and also good news for the goal of launching the country’s first manned lunar landing before 2030. 

Pang added that from the perspective of development progress, significant strides have been made in the Long March 10 series rocket’s development. The latest test represents a pivotal large-scale ground test in this process, successfully validating over 50 critical technologies. These include the multi-engine parallel operation, power system coordination, and adaptability of launch site facilities. This achievement marks a major breakthrough in the key technologies required for China’s manned lunar landing rocket. 

Moreover, from a timeline perspective, the successful static fire test has accelerated the overall progress of China’s manned lunar exploration project. With the goal of achieving the first Chinese manned lunar landing by 2030, the Long March 10 rocket, designated for this mission, has now entered the “sprint phase” following this test, Pang noted. 

“This test’s success has also bolstered confidence in meeting the 2030 target while providing essential technical and temporal assurances. This progress enhances the likelihood of China achieving its first manned lunar landing within the designated timeframe,” Pan said.

Currently, China’s manned lunar exploration project is progressing smoothly. Since mid-June this year, various test activities have been conducted intensively and in parallel, with significant progress achieved in the development of the Mengzhou manned spacecraft, Lanyue lunar lander, and Long March 10 series launch vehicle. The construction of supporting facilities and equipment at the Wenchang Space Launch Site is also advancing steadily. In the future, the Long March 10 series launch vehicle will undergo flight test verifications successively, according to CMSA.

Moreover, the success of this static fire test demonstrates that, with the steady progress of supporting facilities at the Wenchang Spacecraft Launch Site, China has established comprehensive system support capabilities for the manned lunar landing mission. The upcoming flight test validations will be another critical phase in evaluating the rocket’s actual performance, Kang Guohua, a professor of aerospace engineering at Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics and a senior member of the Chinese Society of Astronautics, told the Global Times on Friday.