Chinese private company launches first methane-liquid oxygen space rocket into orbit

The first rocket launch attempt of the Zhuqu-2 in December 2022, had failed and this recent launch was the second attempt by Beijing-based firm LandSpace. LandSpase firm is one of the earliest companies in China’s commercial space sector to launch the Zhuque-2.

The rocket launch success beat out US rivals in developing what may become the next generation of launch vehicles, which are considered to be less polluting, cheaper, safer and a suitable propellant for a reusable rocket.

This news of LandSpace’s successful launch places China ahead of space rivals such as Jeff Bezos’s Blue Origin and Elon Musk’s SpaceX in the race to develop space vehicles fuelled by methane came on the same day that China reported plans to send two rockets to the moon by the year 2030.

One of the two planned rockets will carry the spacecraft that will land on the moon’s surface and the other will transport the astronauts.

Both the rockets will enter the moon’s orbit and after a successful docking the Chinese astronauts will enter the lunar lander to descend onto the moon’s surface.

The twin-rocket plan would overcome China’s longstanding technological hurdle of developing a heavy-duty rocket strong enough to send both astronauts and a moon lander probe into space.

According to Zhang Hailian the deputy chief engineer at the China Manned Space, after Chinese astronauts have completed their scientific tasks and collected samples from the moon, the lander will transport the astronauts back to the orbiting spacecraft, on which they will then return to Earth.

In 2020, China brought back samples from the moon on an uncrewed mission, making China the third nation to have retrieved lunar samples from the moon, after the United States and the Soviet Union.

The Chinese company also became only the second private Chinese company to ever launch a liquid-propellent rocket. In April 2023, Beijing Tianbing Technology successfully launched a kerosene-oxygen rocket, taking another step towards developing rockets that can be refueled and reused.

LandSpace was one of the earliest and best-funded entrants since 2014 when the government allowed private investment in the industry.