At the Moscow Air Show at the end of August, a unique private launch vehicle company was on display at the China Pavilion. The Blue Arrow Aerospace carried their "Suzaku" series of launch vehicle models for the first time abroad, and to the world as "Suzaku 2" Rocket, collect mission load. From the rocket model, the "Suzaku" series of rockets carrying capacity from a few hundred kilograms to several tons, the service range is comparable to China's national team - China Aerospace Group.
The "Suzaku" series rockets are significantly different from other Chinese private rockets. The "Suzaku" rocket uses a methane liquid oxygen engine that uses the same fuel as the top-of-the-line SpaceX's "Falcon" series rockets; while other Chinese private rockets It is a solid fuel engine. The "Suzaku" rocket technology is harder and higher, making it easier to move from small loads to large loads.
Methane liquid oxygen engine is a liquid engine, and liquid engine is the main type of mainstream launch vehicle in the world. Liquid engines use different fuels and can be subdivided into more types such as liquid hydrogen liquid oxygen, liquid oxygen kerosene and dimethyl hydrazine engines. The advantage of the liquid engine is that the thrust is large, the specific impulse is larger, the volume diameter is larger, and the thrust is larger. The disadvantage is that the structure is complicated and the technical difficulty is much.
There are two models of the "Suzaku" series of rockets. The "Suzaku" No. 1 has a weight of 25 tons, a thrust of 45 tons, and a carrying capacity of 300 kilograms in low-earth orbit. It was successfully launched last year, but the satellite failed. "Suzaku" No. 2 weighs 216 tons, has a thrust of 268 tons, and has a carrying capacity of 4 tons of low-Earth orbit. It will fly for the first time next year.
"Suzaku" has two models, the rocket weight and carrying capacity are nearly 10 times different, and the total engine thrust is 5 times different. "Suzaku" No. 1 carrying capacity of 200 kg, and China's other private rocket technology level. The "Suzaku" 2 has a good carrying capacity of 4 tons, and has reached the level of the Chinese national team, the main small and medium-sized launch vehicle of China Aerospace Group.
"Suzaku" No. 2 is not the end point. According to the rocket model of the Blue Arrow Space, the "Suzaku" series of rockets will have a larger model. "Suzaku" No. 2 uses the "Scorpio Engine" developed by Blue Arrow Aerospace. Its ground thrust reaches 68 tons. This time, "Suzaku" No. 2 used four engines of this type, with a total of 268 tons of thrust. In the future, the model will increase the rocket's carrying capacity by increasing the diameter of the rocket and installing more engines.