This afternoon (29th), my country's first solid-bundled medium-sized carrier rocket, the Long March 6, was successfully launched at the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center, sending the Pujiang-2 satellite and the Tiankun-2 satellite into the predetermined orbit.
The successful maiden flight of the modified Long March 6 launch vehicle marks the addition of a new member to the family of my country's new generation of launch vehicles, and further improves the type spectrum construction of my country's new generation of launch vehicles.
The new-generation carrier rocket Long March 6 successfully made its first flight
The Long March 6 modified rocket has a total length of about 50 meters and a take-off weight of about 530 tons. It is my country's first solid bundled launch vehicle. The core stage of the rocket uses liquid fuel with a diameter of 3.35 meters. The four boosters use solid fuel with a diameter of 2 Meter.
Hong Gang, commander-in-chief of China Aerospace Science and Technology Group's Eighth March 6th modified carrier rocket: Both the first core and the second core use liquid oxygen kerosene engines, bundled with four 2-meter 2-segment solid boosters, and a 700-kilometer sun-synchronous orbit. The carrying capacity is greater than 4 tons.
As my country's first solid-liquid (body) bundled launch vehicle, the "cross-border" cooperation of solid-liquid engines in my country's launch vehicle field has been realized for the first time.
The successful first flight of the modified Long March 6 launch vehicle has achieved a series of new breakthroughs in my country's launch vehicle solid bundling and other technologies. It can be adjusted to the rocket configuration to meet the requirements of single-satellite launch, multi-satellite launch, constellation networking and network supplementation launch and other different needs.
Hong Gang, commander-in-chief of China Aerospace Science and Technology Group's eighth-long March 6 modified launch vehicle: Through the adjustment of boosters, a rocket series with various configurations can be formed, covering different carrying capacity gradients, to meet the diverse and intensive launch needs of future satellites.
my country's first engineering of segmented solid engine
The Long March No. 6 is my country's first solid bundled launch vehicle. As my country's first "hybrid" new-generation rocket, it has realized the first engineering application of my country's segmented solid motor.
Compared with other rockets in my country, the biggest difference of the Long March 6 is that the main part of the rocket uses a liquid engine, while the booster tied around it uses a solid engine.
The liquid engine has high performance and long working time, and the solid engine has large thrust and simple operation and maintenance. The combination of the advantages of the two achieves higher reliability and better cost performance of the rocket.
Wang Jianru, chief designer of the solid carrier engine series of the Fourth Academy of Aerospace Science and Technology Group: The solid engine is that it needs to put all the propellants in it in advance, and it does not need to be refilled in advance, so it is very convenient to use.
The acceleration of the solid engine is very good, and the rated thrust can be generated in tens of milliseconds from ignition to thrust.
The four boosters bundled on the Long March 6 are solid rockets of 2 meters and 2 sections, with a single thrust of up to 120 tons. Through the first engineering application of this launch, it also means that my country's new generation of launch vehicles can be realized in the future. Solid-carrying power with more segments, greater thrust.
Wang Jianru, chief designer of the solid carrier engine series of the Fourth Academy of Aerospace Science and Technology Group: In the follow-up, we will develop larger heavy-duty launch vehicles (rockets), large-scale launch vehicles, if we need such a thousand-ton solid engine as thrust, its The length may be as long as twenty or thirty meters. I may divide it into 5 sections, and I can achieve a larger thrust.
The successful maiden flight of the modified Long March 6 carrier rocket marks that a rocket powered by a liquid core stage and assisted by a solid bundle has officially entered the field of mainstream launch vehicles in China, filling many gaps in China's aerospace power technology.
Building blocks will become the norm in future rocket development
The Long March 6 modified carrier rocket launched this time not only has special fuel, but also adopts a modular, combined and serialized model for the development of the entire rocket, which can be built like building blocks.
So, what are the benefits of modular building rockets?
How is it achieved?
The Long March 6 modified carrier rocket follows the design concept of the Long March 5 carrier rocket, making the rocket's modular products as versatile as possible, creating a variety of configurations to match the needs of different missions.
Hong Gang, commander-in-chief of China Aerospace Science and Technology Group's eighth-long March 6 modified carrier rocket: Like our current new generation of carrier rockets, the Long March 5 rocket, the Long March 7 rocket and the Long March 8 rocket are all modularized, combined and serialized developed in such a way of development.
(It can) form a polished rod, bundle two solid boosters, and two general-purpose core-level liquid boosters through the combination of different booster modules.
After using modular rocket manufacturing, developers can quickly adjust the rocket configuration for different tasks, minimizing preparation time and reducing rocket launch costs.
Hong Gang, commander-in-chief of the eighth-long March 6 modified launch vehicle of the Aerospace Science and Technology Group: Through the general upgrade module, a series of rockets with various configurations can be formed like building blocks to meet the needs of different carrying capacity. The development is more efficient, the combination is more flexible, and the cost performance Higher, products and technologies are more mature, laying a solid foundation for the innovative development of my country's new generation of launch vehicles.
With "health steward" can be unattended
Not only is the mode of building rockets novel, but the launch mode of the Long March 6 modified carrier rocket is also very intelligent.
The launch was not only unattended, but also equipped with a "health steward" for the rocket.
So how do these smart devices work?
The unattended launch technology of launch vehicles means that after our launch vehicles enter the launch process, the front-end towers are unattended.
Zhang Liang, deputy chief designer of the eighth-long March 6 modified launch vehicle of the Aerospace Science and Technology Group: Simplified the connection and operation of our arrows to realize the front-end unattended technology.
Compared with the conventional launch vehicle launch process, the Long March 6 modified launch vehicle has shortened the unattended time by nearly 3.5 hours, achieving unattended 4 hours before launch.
At the same time, the rocket is also equipped with an intelligent physical examination "doctor".
Xin Gaobo, deputy chief designer of the eighth-long March 6 modified launch vehicle of the Aerospace Science and Technology Group: Our rocket is equipped with a fault diagnosis computer. Within 0.3 seconds after the engine is ignited, an accurate judgment will be made to show whether the engine is working. normal conclusion.
This ensures the safety and reliability of the rocket's ignition and take-off segment.