Lift-off for China’s Long March grid-fin tech in space race for reusable rockets
- Chinese scientists say they have developed controls to help steer spent boosters crashing back to Earth
China says it has successfully tested new fins on its Long March rockets to help guide spent boosters away from populated areas, possibly paving the way for development of reusable technology like SpaceX’s Falcon 9.
China successfully launched a Long March 2C rocket on Friday using grid-fin technology to guide its spent booster to a landing spot in Guizhou province in the country’s southwest, state-run Science and Technology Daily reported on Sunday, citing China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC), a key contractor for the Chinese space programme.
The report said China was the second country to master the technology, after the United States.
Grid fins are aerodynamic control surfaces that are folded during the launch but deployed in flight. In the more sophisticated applications such as the Falcon 9, the fins manipulate the direction of the rocket during re-entry.
Shanghai-based online news outlet The Paper reported that the 2C’s grid fins were developed by a team of about a dozen engineers, all under the age of 35.