China improves Long March-6
rocket for growing commercial launches
Feb. 11
China announced Monday that it is
developing the modified version of the Long March-6
rocket with four additional solid boosters to increase
its carrying capacity.
The improved medium-left carrier
rocket will be sent into space by 2020, according to the
Shanghai Academy of Spaceflight Technology under the
China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation
(CASTC), which designed the rocket.
With a short launch preparation
cycle, the Long March-6 has been mainly used for the
academy's commercial launches. The rocket completed two
space tests in September 2015 and November 2017,
carrying 20 satellites and three satellites,
respectively.
The three-stage rocket is 29.3
meters long, with a launch weight of 103 tonnes. It has
a carrying capacity of one tonne for sun-synchronous
orbit.
Fueled by a liquid propellant made
of liquid oxygen and kerosene, the Long March-6 is
China's first carrier rocket that uses non-toxic and
non-polluting fuel.
Ding Xiufeng, executive manager of
the Long March-6 project, said in response to the
growing demand for commercial launches, they will have
the rockets' market competitiveness enhanced through
technical improvements, so that they can provide easier,
faster and more comprehensive services to users at home
and abroad.
In January, the China Great Wall
Industry Corporation, affiliated with the CASTC, signed
a multiple launch services agreement with Satellogic to
use the Long March-6 and the Long March-2 rockets to
launch 90 satellites for a private Argentine company in
the coming years.
The first 13 satellites will be
delivered later this year. It will be the first time for
the Long March-6 to provide launch services for an
international user.
Australasia Satellite Forum 2019
The Westin Hotel, Sydney, Australia
21 & 22 May 2019
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