Musk's Falcon 9 can turn the page.
At the International Symposium on Human SpaceFlight Prospects and Cooperation in Low Earth Orbit held in Beijing on February 17, Wang Xiaojun, president of the China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology, mentioned in his speech that a new generation of reusable launch vehicles is being developed for low-Earth orbit (LEO) and beyond missions, based on developed technologies, winged space transport systems and fully reusable low-cost two-stage methane-liquid oxygen launchers. The new rocket will be fully recyclable and reusable, similar to a starship, with both the first and second stages being recovered by vertical landing. It's just that LEO's capabilities are weaker than the starship's 100 tons, only 20 tons.
In addition, Wang Xiaojun also introduced the new generation of manned space carrier rocket developed by the Chinese Academy of Sciences in recent years, which is based on the Long March 5 and will provide a two-stage single-core version for LEO and a three-stage triple-core version for tasks other than LEO, with a two-stage version with a LEO capability of 14 tons in reusable mode, an 18-ton capacity in consumption mode, and a three-stage triple-core version with a carrying capacity of 27 tons to the moon transfer orbit. It is scheduled to fly for the first time in five years and be able to carry a new generation of manned Shenzhou spacecraft to the Chinese space station.
At the same time, a variety of recyclable rockets are developed, and only China has such a strong research and development strength, and with these recyclable rockets, Musk's Falcon 9 can only stand on the side.
