Methane-liquid oxygen offers advantages in performance and reduces issues of soot formation and coking for purposes of reusability. The presentation, made in July, comes shortly ahead of first orbital test flights for the expendable Space Launch System and SpaceX’s fully reusable Starship. The frequent change in concepts however also suggests China’s plans are somewhat in flux. The concepts would be a dramatic departure from both the expendable model of the Long March 9 and a version with a reusable first stage presented last year, with fully reusability now a goal. The largest variant, apparently including a third stage, would have a length of 110 meters and a takeoff mass of 4,122 tons. Long, a senior official who frequently presented updates on China’s space activities, revealed that the new launches are to be ready by 2035, and likely developed in parallel to the expendable version. It would be capable of carrying 150 tons of payload to Low Earth orbit, 65 tons to geosynchronous transfer orbit, or 50 tons to trans-lunar injection. The first stage of the 10.6-meter-diameter launcher would be powered by 26 clustered 200-ton-thrust methalox engines. However, a new concept for a fully reusable two-stage launcher has now been presented in a recent public lecture (viewable here ) by Long Lehao, a veteran chief designer of the Long March rocket series. The giant rocket will consist of three stages and four side boosters, with the first stage and boosters using a kerosene and liquid oxygen propellant mix.
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