Chinese rocket companies secure local government support for research from wisepowder's blog

Chinese rocket companies secure local government support for research

Two young Chinese rocket have secured deals with local governments for the establishment of major launch vehicle research and production facilities. The agreements made in September demonstrate ongoing and deepening support of commercial space endeavors by Chinese provincial and local governments.To get more news about china industry research centers, you can visit acem.sjtu.edu.cn official website.

Beijing-based Galactic Energy will construct a base in Jianyang, a county-level city under the administration of Chengdu, a city of 16 million in southwest China. Chengdu is the provincial capital of Sichuan province and already hosts major traditional space sector activity.The facility in Jianyang will be for research, development and production of liquid propellant rocket engines for Galactic Energy’s Pallas series launch vehicles. The base has a planned total investment of about $225 million. A signing ceremony (Chinese) took place Sept. 3.

The partially reusable Pallas-1 will be capable of launching four metric tons to low Earth orbit (LEO) or two tons to Sun-synchronous orbit (SSO). A test flight is currently slated for late 2022.

Galactic Energy is currently preparing to launch its first rocket with the mission expected in early November. The Ceres-1 solid rocket is expected to launch from Jiuquan in the Gobi Desert carrying a single satellite. The mission is understood to be named Jianyang through sponsorship.

Ceres-1 consists of three solid stages using Hydroxyl-terminated polybutadiene fuel and a liquid propellant upper stage. The launcher will be capable of carrying a 350-kilogram payload to low Earth orbit.

Galactic Energy, full name Beijing Xinghe Dongli Space Technology Co. Ltd., was established in February 2018. The firm also raised $21.5 million in late 2019 and around $43 million in total.

Privately-funded rocket and small satellite companies have proliferated since 2014, when the central government opened up segments of the space sector to outside investment. A number of companies have secured arrangements with local governments across China to host their activities.

Other notable developments include a major commercial aerospace base in the city of Wuhan, central China, and the recent establishment of a coastal facility in the eastern province of Shandong for sea launches and launch vehicle and satellite production.