Chinese heavy rocket design returns with clamp bar

At the 15th China International Aerospace Exhibition taking place November 12-17 in Zhuhai City, Guangdong Province, the China Institute of Launch Vehicle Technology (CALT) revealed, The country’s future heavies will have three types of configurations: three-story, two-story and two-story fully reusable. The design of the reused model was displayed at the exhibition.

“We developed a net recovery system for a reusable rocket model and achieved a breakthrough in the past two years by completing a small-scale recovery test at sea,” said Wang Yue, deputy director director of CALT’s aerospace division, said. According to him, reusable rockets play a key role in China’s space efforts and also bring new opportunities for the global development of the space industry.

CALT plans to develop modules that can be used for all three missile configurations in two phases. Modules in the first stage include a shared first stage, a non-reusable second stage and a third stage that operates on hydrogen-oxygen. They will assemble into a basic 10 m diameter heavy rocket, with a carrying capacity of at least 100 tons to low Earth orbit and a carrying capacity of at least 50 tons to lunar transfer orbit. The three-stage rocket, with its high speed and orbital altitude, is suitable for deep space missions such as Mars or asteroid exploration.

In the second phase, CALT will develop a multi-adaptive second stage and build a fully reusable two-stage rocket. This type of rocket is expected to help reduce costs, increase efficiency and scale of space transportation. It will target missions near Earth, supporting satellite networks and building infrastructure.

The modular design allows each missile component to be developed, produced, tested independently and combined according to different mission requirements. The development of common modules ensures that some common components and technologies can be used for different types of missiles, reducing costs and maintenance difficulties.

CALT also noted that the new heavy rockets will integrate many intelligent systems, advanced materials and environmentally friendly technology. “Smart technology will improve reliability and safety by monitoring real-time flight data and predicting potential problems,” Wang said.