China presented the design of a fully reusable super-heavy rocket “Changzheng-9”. This was announced on Twitter by reporter Toby Lee, who specializes in the Chinese space program.
In his message, he added a photo from the International Conference on Deep Space Research held in Hefei, China, on April 22-27. The photo shows a booth signed by the Deep Space Exploration Laboratory DSEL, established by the China National Space Administration (CNSA).
“The Chinese Space Agency has released a design for a fully reusable Long March 9 variant. The agency says test flights are scheduled for 2033. Whatever they say about the design similarity to SpaceX’s Starship, I’m glad the CNSA is fully committed to reuse. [обеих ступеней]. Unlike almost everyone else,” Lee wrote.
The rocket pictured at right really looks a lot like Starship, which recently exploded in a flight test. First of all, the similarity is provided by the four aerodynamic rudders of the upper stage, with which the Starship controls the trajectory during the descent into the atmosphere. The aerodynamic control surfaces at the top of the lower deck are also visible. Despite the obvious similarity, the rocket may not be a “clone” of the Starship and may have a completely different design, simply repeating the position of the rudders.
The Long March 9 is a super-heavy Chinese rocket that should put more than 130 tons of payload into low Earth orbit. It was supposed to be disposable according to the original plans, but gradually significant changes were made to the design.
You can find out more about Starship’s features and missions here: material “socialbites.ca”.