Nation soars ahead with space missions

A SQX 1 solid fuel carrier rocket, developed by i-Space, blasts off from Jiuquan on the first orbital mission by China's private space industry. [Photo provided to China Daily]

Private powers

This year marks the 50th anniversary of China's maiden space mission, which placed its first satellite into orbit in April 1970.

During most of the past 50 years, government-run organizations and major State-owned contractors have controlled all the country's space programs, ranging from navigation networks to manned journeys and lunar expeditions.

They include the Chinese Academy of Sciences, China Aerospace Science and Technology Corp and China Aerospace Science and Industry Corp.

However, private enterprises have risen over the past year to become a new force, thanks to government encouragement and support.

In July, i-Space, a Beijing startup founded by a group of rocket researchers, used its own carrier rocket, the SQX 1 Y1, to send two satellites and several experimental payloads into space, marking the first orbital mission by the country's private space industry. The researchers previously worked for State-owned enterprises.

The solid-propellant carrier rocket, the first in the SQX 1 series, blasted off from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in the Gobi desert.

Nearly 15 minutes after ignition, the 25-meter-tall rocket placed two satellites from State-owned organizations into orbit about 300 km above the Earth.

The mission's success is considered by industry observers as a new landmark in the country's space industry.

It showed that after previous failed attempts, a domestic private enterprise had finally succeeded in conducting an orbital launch-a threshold for any serious newcomer in the global space sector that had only been crossed previously by the United States' SpaceX.

Leading private manufacturers in China, including i-Space, Land-Space and OneSpace, which are all based in Beijing, have been going all-out to develop their own carrier rockets, which are currently mainly built by State-owned contractors. Such rockets are in short supply because of surging demand for launch services from the domestic satellite industry.

Photo taken by the rover Yutu 2 on Jan. 11, 2019 shows the Chang'e 4 robotic probe. [Photo/Xinhua]

Executives at these companies are aware that becoming the first private company to launch a carrier rocket into orbit is not only an achievement but also means lucrative contracts.

Two previous attempts at orbital launches, by LandSpace and One-Space respectively, failed in flight.

Industry observer Xing Qiang, founder of Micro-Rocket Union, a nonprofit space research organization in Beijing, said the SQX 1 mission will become a symbol of the Chinese private space sector's technological capability and determination, and will also boost investor confidence in the business.

"In the near future, privately built carrier rockets can play a major role in the construction of low-orbiting satellite systems and space-based internet of things networks," he said. "In addition, the rapid growth of the space-based technology demonstration business will need a great number of launch services by these rockets."

Lan Tianyi, a senior industry analyst in Beijing, said this success will help other private rocket makers build up their confidence and will also focus more public attention on the industry.

In researching and developing the engine, the most important part of a rocket, i-Space and LandSpace made key achievements last year. They designed, manufactured and tested their own methane rocket engine, a cutting-edge technology previously dominated by the US' SpaceX and Blue Origin.

Such engines use liquid methane as a fuel and liquid oxygen as an oxidizer. They are reusable, nontoxic and powerful, and central to recyclable rockets.

Zhang Changwu, founder and CEO of LandSpace, said construction of the first of his company's ZQ 2 liquid-fuel rockets, which will be propelled by methane engines, has started and is expected to be completed before the end of the year. The rocket is likely to be ready for launch next year, he added.