Key Highlights:
- In an effort to increase its ability to launch satellites and retrieve rocket stages, China is creating a specifically constructed ship for launching rockets into space from the oceans.
- China has already executed two maritime launches of Long March 11 solid rockets from the Yellow Sea, the most recent of which occurred in September 2020.
- The ship will help China increase the rate at which it can launch from the sea, relieving pressure on the country’s four primary launch facilities.
China to launch from sea
In an effort to increase its ability to launch satellites and retrieve rocket stages, China is creating a specifically constructed ship for launching rockets into space from the oceans.
The 533-foot (162.5-meter) long and 131-foot (40-meter) wide “Future-type rocket launching vessel” is being built for use with the new China Oriental Spaceport in Haiyang, Shandong province on China’s eastern coast.
The new vessel is scheduled to start service in 2022. According to the spaceport’s social media channel, it will include integrated launch support equipment and will be capable of launching the Long March 11, bigger commercial “Smart Dragon” rockets, and, in the future, liquid propellant rockets.
The vessel might potentially be utilized for first-stage recovery in the future, similar to how SpaceX’s autonomous spaceport drone ships offer a landing platform for Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy rocket first stages.
China has already executed two maritime launches of Long March 11 solid rockets from the Yellow Sea, the most recent of which occurred in September 2020. With these missions, China became just the third country, after the United States and Russia, to conduct a sea launch.
China’s top space contractor indicated at the start of the year that it planned two to three Long March 11 sea launches, but none have occurred thus far. It is unclear whether the reported delays are connected to plans for a new ship.
The ship will help China increase the rate at which it can launch from the sea, relieving pressure on the country’s four primary launch facilities.
National record for orbital launches
So far in 2021, China has launched 41 times, setting a new national record for orbital launches in a calendar year, surpassing the United States, which has 39 launches to date, including Rocket Lab flights from New Zealand.
With the emergence of new commercial enterprises and the development of big constellation plans, as well as preparations for major space station missions, the sea launch option will give additional pathways to orbit.
Other benefits await China if it launches from the sea. The launch site’s adaptability makes it easy to select a flight route that avoids flying over other nations and ensures wasted rocket stages and other debris fall into the sea rather than on land. Debris from launches from China’s interior locations falls to the ground rather than the sea and occasionally lands near inhabited areas.
A moveable sea platform enables launches closer to the equator as well. The increased rotating speed of the Earth towards the equator means that less fuel is needed to attain orbit.
The China Oriental Seaport (also known as the “China Eastern Seaport”) project is directed by the China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology (CALT), the major rocket manufacturer under China’s massive state-owned space contractor, CASC, in collaboration with the Haiyang municipal government.
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