China Successfully Completes Engine Trials for Large Rocket Intended for Moon Exploration Mission

BEIJING – China successfully completed engine trials for a large rocket intended as exploration mission to the moon . The test run was carried out in Tongchuan in the northwestern province of Shaanxi on April 24, 2023.

This test station is the largest in Asia and is designed to handle testing of very high thrust engines. The facility was built into a hillside, allowing the hot exhaust rockets to be directed safely to the remote valley floor below.

The test bed is designed to support a basic thrust of 700 tonnes. The engine being tested is Asia’s largest with liquid propellant.

China has developed an engine capable of propelling 500 tons as part of its plans to build a super-heavy transport rocket for future moon missions.

China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC) said it is currently developing a new large Long March 9 and Long March 10 series launch vehicle. These rockets are for space exploration, manned moon missions, and space infrastructure development.

China is also working on a new rover that will start exploring the moon’s south pole around 2026. The Chang’e 7 mission is part of a new phase of China’s recently approved lunar exploration that will target the south pole and far side of the moon.

Chang’e 7 will consist of an orbiter, lander, rover and a small flight detector that can move into a dark crater for evidence of water ice. This mission will also be supported by a new communications relay satellite.

The mission rover will be built atop the Yutu and Yutu 2 solar-powered rovers weighing about 140 kilograms from the Chang’e 3 and Chang’e 4 moon landing missions. “The Chang’e 7 rover is slightly larger than the Chang’e 4 in scale,” said Chang’e 7 Deputy Chief Designer Tang Yuhua, of the Lunar Exploration and Space Engineering Center of China, told CCTV.

(wib)