Many new developments!
Success stories in the development of my country's launch vehicle engines
◎Our reporter Fu Yifei
The reporter learned from the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation on January 11 that positive progress has been made in the key technology research of the high-thrust supplementary combustion cycle hydrogen-oxygen engine intended to serve the heavy-duty carrier rocket.
During the National Two Sessions in 2018, the Sixth Academy of Aerospace Science and Technology Group announced that in the future, my country's heavy-duty carrier rocket will use supplementary combustion cycle hydrogen-oxygen engines.
Compared with the gas generator cycle mode used in the first-stage hydrogen-oxygen engine of the Long March 5 series rocket core, the supplementary combustion cycle can fully release the chemical energy of all propellants and improve the performance of the engine.
At present, the key technical research of the high-thrust supplementary combustion cycle oxyhydrogen engine has completed a series of most representative and milestones such as pre-chamber thermal test, hydrogen turbo pump and pre-chamber linkage test, oxygen turbo pump and pre-chamber linkage test, etc. The thermal test indicates that China has broken through the high-thrust supplementary combustion cycle oxyhydrogen engine system technology, high-pressure large-flow pre-chamber, high-efficiency multi-stage turbo pump and other key technologies of core components, laying a solid technical foundation for engineering development.
It is reported that the performance indicators of the high-thrust supplementary combustion cycle hydrogen-oxygen engine will reach the international advanced level, which can better meet the power needs of my country's future rockets and major space missions.
The development of this type of engine can fill the gaps in the type spectrum and technology of hydrogen-oxygen engines in my country, and has a huge traction effect on many basic disciplines and industrial fields.
At the same time, the multiple rocket engines developed by the Aerospace Science and Technology Group have made new progress.
On January 8, the large-thrust oxyhydrogen engine of the Long March 5B carrier rocket developed by the Sixth Institute successfully completed a model reliability test, further verifying the capability of the high-thrust oxyhydrogen engine, laying a foundation for the Long March 5B carrier rocket to perform the space station mission basis.
The test time is 500 seconds, which is consistent with the flight time of the engine on the rocket.
This is the fourth 500-second test run for this engine, which is equivalent to 4 times the normal flight time, which greatly improves the life margin of the engine.
The Long March 5B carrier rocket will carry out the launch mission of the various compartments of the space station, of which the core module will be launched first this spring.
This test run is one of the special tasks to increase the reliability of the high-thrust hydrogen-oxygen engine according to the overall project arrangement, and to improve the reliability of the engine during the mission construction phase of the entire space station.
This engine is planned to be carried out 4 more times, accumulating 8 times of 500-second test runs to verify its reliability.
In terms of solid rocket engines, the first 3.2-meter three-segment large solid rocket booster engine developed by the Fourth Academy of Aerospace Science and Technology Group will complete the first interview in Xi’an on December 30, 2020. The engine thrust reached 260 tons, and the ignition time exceeded 130 seconds.
This is the segmented solid rocket motor with the largest thrust, largest diameter, largest charge and longest ignition time in my country so far.
This type of engine can be applied to multiple rockets later.
The solid engine tested this time has adopted a three-stage design.
This segmented design can adjust the charge to achieve the coverage of different thrusts, which can meet the needs of the launch vehicle to carry different loads in the future.
The liquid engine has the characteristics of strong controllability and long ignition time, while the solid engine has the advantages of simple structure, flexibility and instant thrust.
The rocket based on the combination of the two advantages has become a new design idea.