Chinese firm prepares to send world’s first methane-fuelled rocket into space
- Known as the Zhuque-2, it’s expected to be launched between December 4 and 15 from the Gobi Desert, according to source
- Its developer, LandSpace, is in a race with US rivals SpaceX and Relativity Space to put a methane-burning rocket into orbit
The rocket – known as the Zhuque-2 and developed by Beijing-based start-up LandSpace – is expected to be launched between December 4 and 15 from the Gobi Desert in Inner Mongolia, the source told the South China Morning Post.
If successful it will be the first methane-burning rocket sent into orbit. LandSpace is in a race with US rivals SpaceX and Relativity Space, which are also hoping to launch methane rockets soon.
Methane is the primary component of natural gas. As a rocket fuel, it is more efficient, easier to produce and more environmentally friendly than traditional fuels such as refined kerosene.
Seen by many as the go-to fuel for next-generation rockets, methane has a higher “specific impulse” than kerosene – meaning how efficiently the engine can turn the propellant into thrust, similar to miles per gallon for a car. A higher specific impulse means less propellant is needed, so it is cheaper to launch.
Methane also has the advantage of being technically easier to produce than it is to refine kerosene. It could also be extracted and made on the moon, Mars and many other places in the solar system. Some scientists have, for instance, proposed that the regolith – rocks and dust on the moon’s surface that contain traces of carbon and hydrogen – be heated to produce methane.
But there are many challenges to building a methane engine, such as the difficulty involved in igniting the fuel – especially in a low-temperature environment such as on a space mission.