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China’s first full-scale reusable rocket test fuels iSpace Hyperbola-3 ambitions

  • Result is a ‘breakthrough’ for Chinese commercial space sector, the trailblazing company said
  • According to iSpace, the successful test of its smaller Hyperbola-2 shows it is on track for a 2025 launch of its bigger rocket

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Beijing-based company iSpace has taken the lead in China’s push to develop reusable rockets, with its latest test at the Jiuquan satellite launch centre in the Gobi Desert on Thursday. Photo: X/ @CNSpaceflight
Ling Xinin Ohio
In a first for the Chinese space sector, Beijing-based company iSpace has moved a step closer towards building its own reusable launch vehicle, with a successful full-scale test of the first stage of its Hyperbola-2 rocket.

The “hop test” at the Jiuquan satellite launch centre in northern China’s Gobi Desert on Thursday lasted a little under one minute but was enough to verify that the company is on track to fly its bigger Hyperbola-3 reusable rocket in 2025, iSpace said.

In a statement on its official WeChat account, iSpace said the test “provided strong technical support for the development of the medium/large-scale reusable launch vehicle Hyperbola-3 we are currently working on”.

“The success marked a breakthrough for China’s commercial space sector … It also sounded the charge for China’s space industry to catch up with the world’s most advanced levels in reusable rocket technologies.”

The vertical take-off/vertical landing (VTVL) test achieved a landing accuracy of 1.7 metres (5ft 7in), with the first stage of the Hyperbola-2 reaching a height of 178.4 metres before making a well-controlled descent and touchdown, according to the statement.

The flight verified the company’s overall scheme for developing a recoverable first stage and related technologies, including thrust system, landing navigation and guidance, as well as buffering and supporting facilities, iSpace said.

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