China's space industry giant tests major component of carrier rocket model

China Aerospace Science and Technology Corp, a State-owned space industry giant, has recently conducted a test on a major component of its next-generation carrier rocket model, the Long March 10, which will play a crucial role in the nation's manned lunar expedition.

China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology, the major rocket maker in the nation and a CASC subsidiary, said in a news release on Wednesday that its engineers carried out a separation test of the Long March 10's payload fairing, the structure on top of a rocket that holds and protects the spacecraft contained inside it.

The Beijing-based academy said that during the test, engineers tested and measured the performance of the fairing's overall design, component-connection devices, separation plan and maximum usable space. The results testified to the fairing's reliability and would be used in other tests on the component, including those pertaining to its structural strength and compatibility with its payloads.

It did not disclose when and where the test took place, only noting that the fairing is a newly developed model with a diameter of 5 meters.

The Long March 10 will be a family of launch vehicles and will mainly be tasked with launching the country's new-generation crewed spacecraft and the lunar landing module. The rocket's baseline type, used for crewed moon landing, is expected to be ready for its maiden flight in the near future.

The moon-mission rocket will consist of a core booster and several side boosters and will be 92.5 meters tall, which is roughly the height of a 32-story residential building. The gigantic vehicle will have a liftoff weight of 2,189 metric tons and a thrust of 2,678 tons.

It will be capable of transporting spacecraft weighing at least 27 tons to an Earth-moon transfer trajectory, according to designers.

The new engine type — YF-100K — will provide the major lifting power for the Long March 10 series.

China's roadmap for its first manned lunar expedition involves two Long March 10 launches from the Wenchang Space Launch Center in Hainan province to transport a landing module and a manned spacecraft to lunar orbit.

After reaching their preset orbital positions, the landing module and the spacecraft carrying astronauts will rendezvous and dock with each other. Two crew members will enter the landing module, which will then undock and descend toward the lunar surface for an engine-assisted soft landing.