iSpace Completes China’s First Reusable Rocket Test

SINGAPORE—China’s iSpace has completed the country’s first test of a reusable rocket, performing a 50-sec. "hop" with the first stage of its Hyperbola-2 (SQX-2Y) launch vehicle.

SQX-2Y stands 17 m (56 ft.) in height and has a diameter of 3.35 m. It is powered by the domestically developed Focus-1 (JD-1) variable-thrust engine, which runs on methane and liquid oxygen.

ISpace says SQX-2Y reached an altitude of 178.4 m before landing with a precision of 1.68 m, flying at a speed of 0.025m/s with a pitch angle of 0.18 deg. and a roll angle of 4 deg. The entire process, which took place on Nov. 2 at China's Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, lasted 50.82 seconds.

The company said the test was performed to validate the continuously variable methane-liquid oxygen engine, the vertical soft-landing navigation, guidance and control, as well as the full process of preparing, launching, recovering and post-processing of such rockets. These results will be used to further technical development of the Hyperbola-3 (SQX-3) medium-heavy reusable rocket on track for first launch in 2025.

The original Hyperbola-2 design envisaged a two-stage, 28-m-tall rocket aimed to put 1.9 metric tons of cargo into low Earth orbit (LEO), but in July iSpace expressed its intention to skip further development of SQX-2Y and move straight to SQX-3.

SQX-3 is a 69-m-tall rocket that will have the capability to launch payloads of up to 8.5 metric tons into LEO. The company is targeting as many as 25 missions annually by 2030.