• Source: Zhuque-2

      • Zhuque-2 (Chinese: 朱雀二号; pinyin: Zhūquè èr hào; lit. 'Vermilion Bird-2', ZQ-2) is a Chinese medium-class orbital launch vehicle developed by LandSpace. It is a liquid-fuelled rocket powered by liquid oxygen and liquid methane (methalox) and was the first methane-fueled rocket to reach orbit.


      Design


      Zhuque-2 has a liftoff weight of 216 tonnes and uses 4 TQ-12 methalox engines in the first stage, each with a thrust of 67 tonnes-force (660 kN). The second stage uses one vacuum-optimized TQ-12 with a thrust of 80 tonnes-force (780 kN) in combination with a TQ-11 engine (8 tonnes-force (78 kN) thrust), which acts as a vernier thruster.
      Zhuque-2 is capable of lifting 6,000 kg of payload into a 200 km low Earth orbit and 4,000 kg of payload into a 500 km Sun-synchronous orbit.


      History


      In May 2019, LandSpace performed test firings of its liquid-methane and liquid-oxygen fuelled TQ-12 rocket engine at its test facility at Huzhou, Zhejiang province. LandSpace's head of research and development, Ge Minghe, says that the engine has a thrust of 80 tonnes-force. The Huzhou facility will be able to produce about 15 ZQ-2 rockets and 200 TQ-12 engines starting in 2022, according to CEO, Zhang Changwu.
      On 14 December 2022, LandSpace conducted the debut flight of Zhuque-2, but failed to reach orbit due to an early shutdown of its second-stage vernier engines after the second-stage main engines apparently completed a successful burn. It was the world's first orbital launch attempt by a methane-fueled launch vehicle.
      In March 2023, LandSpace confirmed that the second Zhuque-2 launch vehicle had completed assembly and was undergoing preparations for a launch attempt in the coming months.
      On 12 July 2023, Zhuque-2 became the first methane-fueled launch vehicle to reach orbit after a successful second flight.


      = 2E

      =
      An enhanced version of the rocket, the Zhuque-2E, successfully placed two satellites into orbit on 27 November 2024. The new version of the rocket differs from the initial variant by featuring a common bulkhead tank structure, a new TQ-15A liquid oxygen and methane engine with thrust vectoring capabilities on the second stage, and a new niobium alloy nozzle extension on the enhanced TQ-15A engine.


      Launches




      See also



      Comparison of orbital launcher families
      Comparison of orbital launch systems
      Expendable launch system
      Lists of rockets


      References

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