Beijing Interstellar Glory Space Technology, also known as iSpace, completed a vertical take-off and landing flight test for its reusable rocket Hyperbola-2 (SQX-2Y) on November 2, marking a new milestone for China's aerospace.

The 17-meter-tall demonstration rocket, designed to test the company's reusable carrier rocket technology, lifted off from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in Gansu Province, northwest China. It was propelled by a methane-liquid oxygen engine that is widely recognized as the most suitable propulsion system for reusable rockets because it creates less pollution and delivers better safety outcomes at a lower cost.

The rocket stage left the ground reaching an altitude of 178.42 meters. After more than 50 seconds, it made a smooth landing at the target site at a speed of 0.025 meters per second.

The test verified technologies related to methane-liquid oxygen power, aerodynamic force, navigation, guidance and other aspects, Qin Liuyue, deputy manager of the rocket startup, said at the 2023 Aviation & Aerospace Daxing Forum on November 16. Beijing's Daxing District is home to the capital's commercial aerospace industry base, making it a perfect place to host such a platform for industry communication.

The rocket is currently undergoing a comprehensive inspection and retesting, and is expected to go through the next launch test at the end of November and to reach an altitude of nearly 400 meters, Qin said.

"The success of the Hyperbola-2 rocket test marks a breakthrough in reusable launch vehicle application by China's commercial aerospace industry. It also encourages the country's aerospace industry to catch up with the world's most advanced level in this regard," he continued.

Private aerospace companies like iSpace are racing to explore space by developing low-cost carrier rockets and satellite broadband and have become an important engine for China's aerospace industry progress.

Constant efforts

China specifically encouraged private enterprises to develop commercial spaceflight in an outline in 2015.

Since then, domestic commercial spaceflight has been growing at a rapid rate of 20 percent every year, with products and services ranging from rocket launches, satellite research and development, as well as satellite applications, according to market consultancy iiMedia Research. The company estimated that the market will reach 2.34 trillion yuan ($326 billion) in 2024.

Established in 2016, iSpace became China's first private company to launch a satellite into orbit when debuting its Hyperbola-1 rocket at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in 2019. However, its upgraded versions experienced failures in 2021 and 2022.

"This stimulated us to work hard to improve our capabilities and improve the launch vehicle," Qin said, adding the company successfully launched a new commercial rocket this April. Since the company's establishment, iSpace has given equal importance to solid rockets and liquid rockets, the two main categories of rocket engines.

Liquid rockets with reused technology are the trend of domestic commercial rockets as they can reduce the cost of each launch, which can better serve the construction of satellite constellations, Qin said.

China submitted its application to the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in September 2020 with plans to construct two low-Earth orbit constellations totaling 12,992 satellites. The projects, dominated by state-owned enterprises, reveal the country's determination to catch up with commercial networks like SpaceX's Starlink and OneWeb satellites.

Different from traditional mobile communication means that rely on ground base stations, these satellite networks break through limitations caused by complicated landscapes and provide high-throughput and low-delay online communication signals.

ITU stipulates that the right to use satellite frequencies and orbital resources follows a "first-come, first-served" principle that results in a "first-come, forever-served" situation, Jin Zhonghe, a professor of aerospace engineering at the School of Aeronautics and Astronautics at Zhejiang University, told Chutian Metropolis Daily.

"Satellite Internet, as a technology-and-capital intensive industry, requires our country to increase our efforts and speed up infrastructure construction in the initial stage of the global space economy," he said. "Commercial space enterprises should also play a role in the competition."

For instance, Guodian Gaoke, a satellite operator in Beijing, has deployed 21 satellites since 2018 for its project to collect data for the Internet of Things in low-Earth orbit. The company plans to have a constellation of 38 satellites in orbit by next year, which will allow it to work with ground base stations to serve 16 functions, including intelligent agriculture and petroleum pipeline management.

Liu Baiqi, founder of private rocket developer Galactic Energy, told Securities Times many ongoing constellation constructions featuring remote sensing, communication, navigational or meteorological monitoring satellites have released great potential for the commercial aerospace industry.

The demands of and changes within the market will stimulate innovation and the upgrade of products, technologies and competitiveness, Zhong Shan, a member of the Chinese Academy of Engineering and the International Academy of Aerospace, said at the forum in Daxing.

"In this way, we can continue to promote the development of the commercial aerospace industry in a virtuous cycle involving market development, product iteration, demand satisfaction and technological innovation," he said.

Backbones

"Consecutive successful launches by domestic private players in recent years have proved their steadily growing capabilities, showing they are quickly catching up with state-owned players, which have a longstanding advantage," Huang Zhicheng, an expert in aerospace science and technology, told Global Times.

Huo Liang, CEO of Deep Blue Aerospace located in Nantong in Jiangsu Province, said in an interview with Securities Times that the secret behind the booming development of the private commercial space industry is the support of China's aerospace industry, which has been advancing for 60 years.

"We stand on the shoulders of giants," he said. "The country's decades of exploration based on traditional aerospace have accumulated experience and technologies that are now taking the lead in the world, cultivating many high-quality professionals, and built a mature industrial chain, which are necessities for the survival of the commercial space industry."

According to a report by Futurespace, the first commercial space industry service platform in China, in April, the number of commercial space enterprises registered and effectively operating in China had reached 433 as of late 2022.

Responding to the great demands from private enterprises, China's first commercial spacecraft launch site is in the final stages of construction in Wenchang, Hainan Province. Construction began in 2022 and the site will be put into use in 2024.

Dong Chenghua from the administration bureau of the Wenchang International Aerospace City told Global Times that the commercial launch site will commence high-frequency launch missions in 2025.

Local governments have released a variety of policies to support private aerospace, Liu said.

For example, a plan unveiled on November 20 by the Shanghai Municipal Government focuses on developing industries engaged in satellite manufacturing, launching, ground system equipment, spatial information applications and services, to strengthen the integrated development of satellite communications, navigation and remote-sensing technologies. The city will build a full-coverage industrial chain that includes rockets, satellites, ground stations and terminals.

"We have received strong support from the government on infrastructure and scientific research projects," Zhang Jingru, Public Affairs Manager at LandSpace, a Beijing-headquartered private rocket enterprise, told Securities Times. Zhang added private companies should further increase their strength to withstand the rigors of the market. 

(Printed Edition Title: The Way to Space)

Copyedited by G.P. Wilson

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