Beijing rocket firm sets record for thrust

Space Pioneer, a Beijing-based private company, has conducted a major test of its new TL 3 carrier rocket, setting a domestic record for the biggest engine thrust by any Chinese privately developed rocket.

During a first-stage ignition test at an offshore platform in Haiyang in Shandong province on Monday, nine TH-12 liquid oxygen-kerosene engines burned for 30 seconds, creating a combined thrust of about 840 metric tons, the company said.

The test was aimed at verifying the overall design and sub-system compatibility of the TL 3's first core stage. It set a new record for engine thrust generated by a privately developed Chinese rocket, according to Space Pioneer. The company said it also marked the country's first sea-based engine ignition test.

The previous record was held by LandSpace, another Beijing-based private enterprise. Its nine TQ-12A liquid oxygen-methane engines created a thrust of 769 tons during an ignition test in June at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in the Inner Mongolia autonomous region.

Designers said the TL 3 will stand 72 meters tall with a diameter of 3.8 meters. With a liftoff weight of nearly 600 tons and thrust of 840 tons, it will be able to send satellites weighing 17 tons to a sun-synchronous orbit at 500 kilometers or spacecraft weighing 22 tons to low-Earth orbit.

They said the TL 3 will be comparable to SpaceX's Falcon 9 in carrying capacity and capable of deploying as many as 36 satellites in a single flight.

"Research and development of the TL 3 started in March 2023.Today's test checked the rocket's actual flight status and testified to its operational reliability. Its success means we have passed the major technical test before launch," Kang Yonglai, founder and chairman of Space Pioneer, told China Daily in an exclusive interview.

"The TL 3 is fit for deploying satellites into mid- and high-altitude orbits or sending large amounts of cargo to China's Tiangong space station. We plan to make the model's maiden flight before the end of this year at its own service tower at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center," Kang said.

Space Pioneer has built a manufacturing complex in Zhangjiagang, Jiangsu province, designed to produce as many as 30 TL 3 rockets, Kang said.

The company has emerged as a leader in China's private space sector. In April 2023, it became the first private Chinese firm to reach orbit with a liquid-fuel rocket, the TL 2, launched from the Jiuquan center. That mission marked the first time any privately developed liquid-propellant rocket in the world succeeded in its first orbital attempt.

Before the TL 2, all liquid-propellant rockets developed by private enterprises — including SpaceX and Virgin Orbit of the United States and LandSpace of China — had failed in their first attempts.