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Private enterprises in Zhejiang began mass production of rockets, which sparked a lively discussion about whether China had given birth to its own SpaceX. Once the brilliant achievements of space exploration and manned spaceflight seemed to be associated only with the national team, now China's private space industry is changing this stereotype.
What is remarkable is that although China's private rocket project started late, its development speed is like a rocket soaring into the sky. On July 12, 2023, Zhejiang's Blue Arrow Aerospace successfully launched the "Suzaku 2", the first Yeyang methane rocket in human history to be successfully put into orbit. This is not only a victory for the Zhejiang team, but also an important milestone for China's private aerospace industry. This was followed by the feat of "killing three birds with one stone" last month, and are now stepping up the development of a new rocket that is more powerful and less expensive. According to the plan, there will be three launches this year, six next year, and 12 the year after, with the goal of achieving commercial mass production and even doubling every year.
However, the success story behind the Suzaku series of rockets has not been without its challenges. On October 27, 2018, after more than 400 days of research and development, Blue Arrow Aerospace launched the "Suzaku No. 1". Although the attempt was not entirely successful – the rocket made an anomaly just 15 seconds from orbit – the 402-second flight was an important step for China's private space industry.
The scientific research team was not discouraged, but designed the "Suzaku II" fueled by liquid oxygen methane. This rocket has low cost, high efficiency and high stability, and is considered an ideal choice for reusable rockets. Since there was no precedent in the world at that time, Chinese scientists could only "cross the river by feeling the stones". On December 14, 2022, the first launch attempt of "Central District 2" was carried out, but it was ultimately unsuccessful due to an anomaly in the second stage engine. After numerous improvements and ground tests, a major breakthrough was finally made on July 12, 2023.
In the fierce competition with international space giants such as Elon Musk's SpaceX and Bezos' Blue Origin, China's private aerospace not only won the world's first successful launch of liquid oxygen methane rockets, but also demonstrated its ambition and strength. It is worth noting that it took SpaceX nine years to move from the first launch of the Falcon 9 main rocket to the development of a liquid oxygen methane engine, while it took only seven years for Chinese private companies to make the leap from scratch.