Breaking News: China Prepares for Landmark Rocket Launch,Aiming for Reusability; NASA’s SLS Fully Assembled
China’s LandSpace is nearing the inaugural launch of its Zhuque-3 rocket,a vehicle comparable in size and performance to SpaceX’s Falcon 9. The company completed the first phase of launch preparations this week, according to Space News.The Zhuque-3, the largest commercial rocket developed in China to date, features nine first stage engines and a single upper stage engine, differentiating itself from the Falcon 9 by utilizing methane fuel. LandSpace intends to attempt a landing of the first stage booster downrange, a key step toward achieving rocket reusability.
meanwhile, south Korea’s Innospace is preparing for the first flight of its HANBIT-Nano launch vehicle. the 72-foot (22 meter) tall, two-stage hybrid rocket, powered by paraffin and liquid oxygen, will carry small satellites for customers in South Korea, Brazil, and India to an orbit approximately 300 kilometers (186 miles) high. HANBIT-Nano has a payload capacity of about 200 pounds (90 kilograms).
In the United States, SpaceX continues to push the boundaries of rocket reuse. A Falcon 9 launch on October 19 marked the 31st flight of the company’s moast-flown Falcon 9 booster,landing successfully for a planned 32nd flight.SpaceX currently operates over 20 Falcon 9 boosters and is working towards certifying them for up to 40 flights each. The company also recently surpassed 10,000 total Starlink satellites launched into low-Earth orbit, with 10,006 deployed to date and approximately 8,700 currently operational.
