Powerful Chinese space rocket engine passes ‘milestone’ test

  • Aerospace developer says the world-leading YF-130 outperformed China’s YF-100 workhorse by four times
  • The liquid oxygen-kerosene machine will be a major component in realising the country’s lunar and Mars ambitions

Ling Xinin Beijing
The engine is put through its paces at China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation’s No 6 Institute on Saturday. Photo: China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation
A Chinese aerospace company has declared its test of the country’s largest-thrust liquid rocket engine a success, calling the results a milestone in China’s ambitions to land astronauts and build a base on the moon.

The whole-system test of the 500 tonne-thrust, dual-nozzle liquid oxygen-kerosene engine – the most powerful of its kind in the world – was conducted on Saturday by the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation’s No 6 Institute, the main developer of liquid fuel rocket engines in the country.

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