Special to CosmicTribune.com, June 19, 2024
By Richard Fisher
China has presented evidence that its manned Moon program is real, not just an endless collection of journal articles, power point briefings and curious models.
On June 14 the principal Chinese state owned space conglomerate, the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC), conducted a successful test of a prototype engine configuration for its future 2189-ton Long March-10 space launch vehicle (SLV) that is slated to take Chinese astronauts to the Moon by or before 2030.
The prototype engine configuration consisted of three YF-100K engines that ignited and shut down simultaneously at the test stand of the China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology (CALT) in the Fengtai District of Beijing.
For this prototype configuration test, the three YF-100K engines generated 382 tons of thrust according to CALT, as reported on June 15 by Ling Xin of the South China Morning Post (SCMP).
Next CALT may test the full group of seven YF-100K engines.
For Moon missions the Long March-10 will use a “tricore” configuration of three parallel boosters, each with seven YF-100K engines for a total of 21, that will generate up to 2,678 tons of thrust on lift-off.
The single stack version will be developed into a “taxi” to take astronauts to China’s Space Station, and both the single and tricore versions may eventually feature reusability for the first stages.
For Moon missions the Long March-10 will be able to put 27 tons of payload into Trans Lunar Injection (TLI) or in a trajectory to the Moon.
As this represents a light payload, China will employ two Long March-10 SLVs to transport its astronauts to the Moon.
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