A Private Chinese Space Firm Successfully Launched a Rocket Into Orbit

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It follows one note published on the day (07/25), in the website "QUARTZ", announcing that a private Chinese space firm successfully launched a rocket into orbit.

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A Private Chinese Space Firm Successfully Launched a Rocket Into Orbit

By Echo HuangJuly

Quartz

July 25, 2019

Hyperbola-1.

After two Chinese private companies failed to launch a rocket into orbit, the third attempt has been successful.

Beijing-based Interstellar Glory Space Technology (also known as iSpace) launched a rocket into orbit today (July 25) around 1:10 pm local time from Jiuquan, a state launch facility in the Gobi desert, a company spokesperson told Quartz. That made it the first private Chinese space company to launch a rocket into orbit—an essential step in the commercialization of applications such as transporting satellites.

The three-year-old firm launched a 20-meter-tall (65 feet) rocket called Hyperbola-1. It weighs 31 metric tons (34 tons), and consists of three solid-propellant stages and a fourth liquid-propellant stage. It’s designed to have a payload of 300 kilograms (660 lbs) in low-earth orbit, and 150 kg (330 lbs) in orbits of 700 kilometers (430 miles), according to the company (link in Chinese).

LandSpace and OneSpace, two other private companies, failed to launch a rocket into orbit in October and March, respectively. The failure of those launches is creating uncertainty over China’s private space industry, as multiple companies compete to enter the launch market for small commercial satellites. The government called for private investment in the sector in 2014, but so far no company has been able to launch a rocket into orbit.

It’s unclear how much it cost for iSpace to build the rocket. Chinese state-owned automaker Changan’s passenger car brand Oushang said it would sponsor the launch, but didn’t specify the amount. In OneSpace’s case, the firm’s nine-meter-tall, solid-propellent rocket cost the company $78 million to design, build, and launch. iSpace’s main private backers (link in Chinese) include domestic private-equity firms CDH Investments and Matrix Partners.

iSpace didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.

But private space companies are also getting state support in China. All of the private launches so far, for example, have taken place at Jiuquan—Elon Musk’s SpaceX recently launched a rocket at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center, while its main customer is the US Air Force. What’s different in China is the constraints that come with having state backing. In June, China rolled out a set of rules that restrict what private companies can develop and manufacture. It’s unclear if that may restrict private companies’ capabilities in building larger rockets that could rival state rocket builders.

iSpace Hyperbola-1 launch

Source: Website Quartz - https://qz.com

Comentário: Pois é leitor, olha aí, enquanto continuamos patinhando sem que o governo tome uma decisão firme e definitiva quanto ao apoio ao ‘newspace’ e as startups que podem fazer a diferença nessa área de veículos lançadores, os chineses estão mandando vê, com pouca conversa e mais ação. Cadê o ensaio estrutural do motor S50, anunciado que foi pelo IAE no final de novembro passado de que ocorreria no Laboratório de Ensaios Estruturais no Hangar X-20 do instituto, ao longo do primeiro trimestre de 2019??? O ensaio ocorreu, o desenvolvimento do projeto esta na prazo??? Pois então leitor., temos a tecnologia, temos os profissionais, temos o conhecimento, mas falta atitude de quem pode mudar essa ciranda de descaso que atinge o Programa Espacial há décadas. A empresa chinesa ‘I-Space’, alheia a isso e atuando num universo que lhe é propicio, lançou como sucesso um foguete suborbital modificado para lançar microssatélites em órbita LEO, ou seja, agora os chineses entraram definitivamente neste mercado. Logo leitor , enquanto o projeto do VLM-1 patina e sabe-se lá por quanto tempo (vide o que aconteceu com o SARA e o Motor L75), o que estamos esperando para não seguir o exemplo chinês, ou seja, porque não utilizar a ideia já existente de se utilizar o VSB-30 como foguete base e assim desenvolver um veículo lançador modificado se valendo da motivação, capacidade e dinamismo das startups espaciais brasileiras?  Estamos ficando para trás a passos largos e a verdade é que precisamos de uma posição governamental para ontem e mesmo assim ela chegará com mais de duas décadas de atraso. Aproveito para agradecer ao nosso leitor Rui Botelho pelo envio do vídeo e deste artigo.