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China’s state rocket company unveils rendering of a [SpaceX] Starship look-alike

WTF, a rocket shape is a rocket shape. Is this guy serious or something.?
If it has 4 wheels its a copy, if it has wings its a copy, if it submerges its a copy, if it has 4 legs its a copy... The sooner you guyz realize that whole of China is one huge copy.... LOL...
 

Launch like Starship? China considers fully reusable heavy-lift rocket: report​

China is considering developing a fully reusable Long March 9 megarocket variant in the aftermath SpaceX's Starship, a media report suggests.

The Long March 9 would use the same fuel (methane-liquid oxygen, or methalox) as SpaceX's Starship, which is tasked for deep-space missions and NASA's human moon landings. The two designs share heavy-lift capabilities and fuel types, but beyond that their structure is wildly different. For example, Starship can do in-air flips during landing.

The new Long March 9 design was revealed in a Chinese-language public lecture (available here(opens in new tab)) by Long Lehao, a chief designer of the Long March rocket series, according to SpaceNews(opens in new tab). The variant may fly as soon as 2035.

China's government has been working on the Long March 9 for operational use in 2030, in large part to build out China's and Russia's International Lunar Research Station. But the country revealed a concept so different that the new Long March 9 fully reusable variant would be a "dramatic departure" from another version presented last year, which included only a reusable first stage, SpaceNews wrote.

"The frequent change in concepts ... suggests China’s plans are somewhat in flux," the report added.

The two-stage reusable variant of Long March 9 would use 26 methalox engines in the first stage and would have the capacity to carry 150 tons to low Earth orbit, 65 tons to geosynchronous transfer orbit or 50 tons to the moon via trans-lunar injection, SpaceNews said.

China has launched more than 400 missions to date, the bulk of those powered by the Long March rocket family.

The most famous current variant is the Long March 5/5B series, known for launching missions such as China's first interplanetary mission and the Tianhe 1 space station core module. (The core stage of the massive Long March 5B has fallen uncontrolled back to Earth after both of its launches, to international condemnation from space debris trackers.)

The Long March 8 family, which has two missions under its belt so far and is also pursuing reusability like Long March 9, may eventually be able to land like SpaceX's Falcon 9, but it is based on a kerosene fuel mix.

That said, the methalox design proposed for Long March 9 is feasible, SpaceNews said, as the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation has been working on methane engines for a while.


The move would also bring China in line with U.S. companies like SpaceX, Blue Origin and United Launch Alliance, which are all pursuing the methalox mix for increased performance and fewer environmental issues from soot.

SpaceNews noted that Chinese commercial launch companies Landspace and iSpace have also been developing methalox launchers and have potentially been working with the Chinese government, which would produce another potential pathway to methalox use by Chinese missions.

In February, the Chinese government also showcased a potential two-stage methane-liquid oxygen rocket that appears to be closely aligned with Starship's design.
 
If it has 4 wheels its a copy, if it has wings its a copy, if it submerges its a copy, if it has 4 legs its a copy... The sooner you guyz realize that whole of China is one huge copy.... LOL...
lol, looks like China is turning usa into a giant copy of india.
 

China begins testing ‘mini Starship’ rocket engine​


Space Epoch engine test
Space Epoch / mp.weixin.qq.com

2023-01-20
Chinese startup Space Epoch has performed initial ground tests on the Longyun-70, an engine for the company’s upcoming reusable heavy launch vehicle.

The powerplant, built by Beijing-based engine maker Jiuzhou Yunjian, was affixed to a stainless steel propellant tank. According to the company’s press release, the test was successful and the engine was ignited and restarted several times over.

‘Complete success of this test also marks a breakthrough of liquid oxygen-methane fuel use with stainless steel storage tank. It laid a solid foundation for the subsequent rocket flight test, and also contributed to the diversified development and technological innovation of our country’s commercial aerospace,’ the release stated.

The company did not announce when the first test flight of a complete rocket or its scale model is expected.

According to earlier statements, Space Epoch plans to build a 64-meter-tall rocket that could be reused at least 20 times.

Its size and payload capacity are expected to be significantly smaller than that of the SpaceX Starship, which stands at 120 meters tall and is intended to carry up to 100 tons to low Earth orbit.

However, Space Epoch does not shy away from pointing out similarities between their upcoming rocket and the Starship, as well as citing Elon Musk’s venture as a major inspiration.

Fg28XsnVUAABriC


Oh look another season of American simpletons making pathetic claims on basic shapes and concepts of rockets invented 300 years before someone invented the country that invented their country as "their" achievement after "rightfully"stealing it from another country during a war.
^^^ In complete denial as usual ^^^

hmmm...something about the above Chinese rocket model seems very familiar....





StarshipOnPad.png

SpaceX Starship on launchpad in Texas...but this is not a model...

@F-22Raptor
 
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China begins testing ‘mini Starship’ rocket engine​


Space Epoch engine test
Space Epoch / mp.weixin.qq.com

Chinese startup Space Epoch has performed initial ground tests on the Longyun-70, an engine for the company’s upcoming reusable heavy launch vehicle.

The powerplant, built by Beijing-based engine maker Jiuzhou Yunjian, was affixed to a stainless steel propellant tank. According to the company’s press release, the test was successful and the engine was ignited and restarted several times over.

‘Complete success of this test also marks a breakthrough of liquid oxygen-methane fuel use with stainless steel storage tank. It laid a solid foundation for the subsequent rocket flight test, and also contributed to the diversified development and technological innovation of our country’s commercial aerospace,’ the release stated.

The company did not announce when the first test flight of a complete rocket or its scale model is expected.

According to earlier statements, Space Epoch plans to build a 64-meter-tall rocket that could be reused at least 20 times.

Its size and payload capacity are expected to be significantly smaller than that of the SpaceX Starship, which stands at 120 meters tall and is intended to carry up to 100 tons to low Earth orbit.

However, Space Epoch does not shy away from pointing out similarities between their upcoming rocket and the Starship, as well as citing Elon Musk’s venture as a major inspiration.


Fg28XsnVUAABriC


hmmm...something about this Chinese rocket model seems very familiar....





View attachment 912242
SpaceX Starship on launchpad in Texas...but this is not a model...

@F-22Raptor

We’re getting really close to a full WDR and 33 engine static fire test. If all goes well, we’re looking at launch in the next 6-8 weeks.
 
China's first aerospace industrial base starts operation

29c243ab00304475948f836bc75e1730.jpeg

Space capsule model on display at China's first commercial aerospace industrial base, namely "CAS Space Industrial Base," in Guangzhou City, south China's Guangdong Province. /China Media Group

Hmm...wait this seems familiar.....


tos4yexe7iba1.png




@F-22Raptor
 
Ah another proud day for China's homegrown innovation.:china:


Screenshot of a presentation from China's main state-owned rocket manufacturer, CALT.'s main state-owned rocket manufacturer, CALT.

Enlarge / Screenshot of a presentation from China's main state-owned rocket manufacturer, CALT.
Weibo/CALT

This weekend, China celebrated its sixth "National Space Day" in Nanjing, a capital city in one of the country's eastern provinces. As part of the festivities, Chinese space officials highlighted the Chang'e-5 mission's recent return of lunar samples, some of which were on display, and announced the name of China's first Mars rover, Zhurong, which is scheduled to land on the red planet in May.

A booth operated by China's main state-owned rocket manufacturer, the China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology, also spotlighted the potential for suborbital point-to-point transportation. This is a concept in which a vehicle launches from Earth, flies into suborbital space, and touches down halfway around the world in less than an hour.

The promotional video, captured and shared on the Chinese social network Weibo, shows two different concepts for achieving suborbital passenger flights about two decades from now. What is interesting about the video (which I've mirrored on YouTube) is that the first concept looks strikingly like SpaceX's Starship vehicle. It shows a large vehicle capable of vertical takeoff and vertical landing.

SpaceX version

CALT version

The concept is notable not only for its appearance to Starship—the vehicle's exterior is shiny, like the stainless steel structure of Starship, and the first and second stages are similarly seamless—but in its function as well. Although Starship has primarily been promoted as a vehicle to take humans to the Moon and Mars, SpaceX has also developed a point-to-point concept.

SpaceX first unveiled this "Earth to Earth" concept in September 2017. A video released at the time showed a suborbital flight time on Starship from New York City to Shanghai of just 39 minutes and advertised the capability of "anywhere on Earth in less than an hour."

The second point-to-point concept in the Chinese video showed a horizontal takeoff, horizontal landing vehicle that used some sort of electromagnetic catapult.



Both of these systems are part of China's previously announced plans to develop global point-to-point transportation by 2045. Under the country's long-term planning goals, Chinese industry would begin delivering cargo around the globe via suborbital flight by 2035 and passengers by 2045.

This would not be the first time that the Chinese space program has drawn inspiration from SpaceX. The country tracked SpaceX from the very beginning, particularly with an interest in SpaceX's plans to reuse rocket first stages. During the company's very first launch in 2006, as reported in the book Liftoff, a Chinese spy boat was in the small patch of ocean where the Falcon 1 rocket's first stage was due to reenter.

More recently, in 2019, the Chinese Long March 2C rocket tested "grid fins" like those used by the first stage of the Falcon 9 rocket to steer itself through the atmosphere during the reentry process. China intends to develop the Long March 8 rocket to land on a sea platform like the Falcon 9 booster did, and semi-private Chinese firms such as LinkSpace and Galactic Energy appear to be mimicking SpaceX launch technology.

It's not clear whether China would also develop a Starship-like vehicle for interplanetary transport. For now, the country plans to develop a more conventional super heavy lifter known as the Long March 9 rocket, as well as a triple-core booster that resembles SpaceX's Falcon Heavy rocket.
Imitation is the best form of flattery. 😏🤭
Anyway, i dont see anything wrong there. No crime in Imitation or taking a clue from the very best. Afterall, Spacex is now a leader in Space launches and space innovation/rockets. In fact this year alone they will be launching more rockets to space than any other country's space agency on earth, their reusable launch rockets has not been able to be replicated by any other country to thiq day, their manned space capsule and suits are all world leading and advanced, they have one of the heaviest active rocket launcher in the world(Falcon heavy) and Starship will dwarve everything else mankind has ever built as a rocket launcher and it's also reusable and this is all by a private space company. Not even talking about the mass/weight launch in space(something they have been a leader for a few years now). In short they have achieved so much and they are just getting started to be honest. Can't imagine how far ahead rhey will be in 5 years from now when Starship is operational and running full speed and space X will be launching over a 100/150 rockets yearly casually by then. Truly exciting times we live in. 😊
 

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