A Chinese carrier rocket designed for commercial use has made its maiden flight, carrying three satellites into orbit. State media released footage of the successful launch.

Weighing 23 tons, the new Smart Dragon-1 rocket was developed by a unit of the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corp (CASC).

Footage of the launch shows the rocket leaving its launch pad and hurtling towards space.

China hopes that the Smart Dragon will help meet market demand for rockets that can deliver small commercial satellites into orbit.

Last month, Beijing-based iSpace became the first private firm to deliver a satellite into orbit on its rocket.

Like this story? Share it with a friend! </s> Smart Dragon-1 rocket, China's first rocket designed for commercial use, carrying three satellites lifts off from the launch pad at Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in Gansu province, China August 17, 2019. REUTERS/Stringer

BEIJING (Reuters) - A Chinese government space agency successfully launched on Saturday its first rocket meant for commercial use, state television CCTV reported, as firms in the country compete to join a commercial satellite boom.

Smart Dragon-1 rocket, which weighs 23 tonnes and was developed by a unit of China Aerospace Science and Technology Corp (CASC), successfully delivered three satellites into orbit after a launch in Jiuquan, Gansu, CCTV said.

China envisions constellations of commercial satellites that can offer services ranging from high-speed internet for aircraft to tracking coal shipments. Reliable, low-cost and frequent rocket launches will be key for that.

Smart Dragon-1, whose research and development budget came from social capital rather than state funding, is a demonstration of China’s drive to commercialize the rockets sector, where more private rocket firm are allowed to enter the market to compete with each other, CCTV said.

Last month, Beijing-based iSpace became the first private firm to deliver a satellite into orbit on its rocket. Since late last year, two other startups have attempted to launch satellites but have failed. </s> Smart Dragon 1, the newest model in China's carrier rocket family, conducted its maiden flight over the weekend from northwestern China's Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, expanding the nation's launch service portfolio.

SD 1 Y1, the first rocket in the solid-propellant SD 1 series, blasted off at noon on Aug 17 from a large launch vehicle, thundering into blue skies. After several minutes of flight, it successfully placed three satellites, designed and built by three private satellite startups in Beijing, into orbits about 550 kilometers above the Earth.

The mission gave China a fourth carrier rocket alongside China Aerospace Science and Technology Corp's Long March series, China Aerospace Science and Industry Corp's Kuaizhou, and the SQX of privately owned space startup i-Space in Beijing.

Developed by ChinaRocket, a subsidiary of the China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology, the country's leading rocket maker, SD 1 is 19.5 meters tall, has a diameter of 1.2 meters and weighs 23.1 metric tons.

Though SD 1 is China's smallest and lightest carrier rocket, it boasts the highest carrying efficiency of all Chinese solid-propellant rockets, said Gong Min, SD 1's project manager at the academy, which is part of China Aerospace Science and Technology Corp.

He said the rocket can place multiple satellites with a combined weight of 200 kilograms into a sun-synchronous orbit 500 km above the ground.

The academy began developing the rocket in February last year, intending to use it to meet surging demand for launch services from the country's flourishing satellite industry.

It takes only six months to produce one SD 1 rocket, Gong said, adding that its prelaunch preparations are much easier than those for large rockets and take only 24 hours.

He said that to make the rocket more competitive in the market, engineers used a number of innovative methods to speed up design and testing and to control its production cost.

'For instance, we optimized or streamlined designs of several major parts on the rocket, removed unnecessary components and used as much commercial, off-the-shelf products as possible,' he said. 'We also used advanced simulation to replace time-consuming ground tests.'

Tang Yagang, president of China-Rocket, said the SD 1 is reliable and economical and can carry out launches for clients at short notice. It is launched from an off-road mobile vehicle, he said, meaning it could be launched anywhere at anytime－giving it outstanding operational flexibility.

In addition to SD 1, the company is making plans for research on and development of new solid-and liquid-propellant carrier rockets, Tang said.

Li Shaoning, deputy chief engineer at ChinaRocket, said SD 1 is designed to mainly fulfill technology demonstration and satellite replacement tasks.

He said the second SD 1 rocket, scheduled to be launched from the Jiuquan center around the end of this year, will have some modifications compared with the first one.

The company has had orders for seven SD 1 rockets, including the first one, Li said.

The major payload in the mission on Aug 17 was Qiansheng 01A, a 65 kg satellite made by Beijing Qiansheng Exploration Technology for remote sensing and Earth observation operations. It is the first step in Beijing Qiansheng's effort to build and operate a 24-satellite network capable of providing remote sensing and communication services, the company said. </s> BEIJING, Aug 17 (Reuters) - A Chinese government space agency successfully launched on Saturday its first rocket meant for commercial use, state television CCTV reported, as firms in the country compete to join a commercial satellite boom.

Smart Dragon-1 rocket, which weighs 23 tonnes and was developed by a unit of China Aerospace Science and Technology Corp (CASC), successfully delivered three satellites into orbit after a launch in Jiuquan, Gansu, CCTV said.

China envisions constellations of commercial satellites that can offer services ranging from high-speed internet for aircraft to tracking coal shipments. Reliable, low-cost and frequent rocket launches will be key for that.

Smart Dragon-1, whose research and development budget came from social capital rather than state funding, is a demonstration of China's drive to commercialise the rockets sector, where more private rocket firm are allowed to enter the market to compete with each other, CCTV said.

Last month, Beijing-based iSpace became the first private firm to deliver a satellite into orbit on its rocket. Since late last year, two other startups have attempted to launch satellites but have failed. (Reporting by Pei Li and Ryan Woo; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman) </s> Beijing: A Chinese government space agency successfully launched on Saturday its first rocket meant for commercial use, state television CCTV reported, as firms in the country compete to join a commercial satellite boom.

Smart Dragon-1 rocket, which weighs 23 tonnes and was developed by a unit of China Aerospace Science and Technology Corp (CASC), successfully delivered three satellites into orbit after a launch in Jiuquan, Gansu, CCTV said.

China envisions constellations of commercial satellites that can offer services ranging from high-speed internet for aircraft to tracking coal shipments. Reliable, low-cost and frequent rocket launches will be key for that.

Smart Dragon-1, whose research and development budget came from social capital rather than state funding, is a demonstration of China's drive to commercialise the rockets sector, where more private rocket firm are allowed to enter the market to compete with each other, CCTV said.

Last month, Beijing-based iSpace became the first private firm to deliver a satellite into orbit on its rocket. Since late last year, two other startups have attempted to launch satellites but have failed.

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Subscribe to Moneycontrol Pro and gain access to curated markets data, trading recommendations, equity analysis, investment ideas, insights from market gurus and much more. Get Moneycontrol PRO for 1 year at price of 3 months. Use code FREEDOM. </s> A Chinese government space agency successfully launched on Saturday its first rocket meant for commercial use, state television CCTV reported, as firms in the country compete to join a commercial satellite boom. 



Smart Dragon-1 rocket, which weighs 23 tonnes and was developed by a unit of China Aerospace Science and Technology Corp (CASC), successfully delivered three satellites into orbit after a launch in Jiuquan, Gansu, CCTV said.

China envisions constellations of commercial satellites that can offer services ranging from high-speed internet for aircraft to tracking coal shipments. Reliable, low-cost and frequent rocket launches will be key for that.Smart Dragon-1, whose research and development budget came from social capital rather than state funding, is a demonstration of China's drive to commercialize the rockets sector, where more private rocket firm are allowed to enter the market to compete with each other, CCTV said.Last month, Beijing-based iSpace became the first private firm to deliver a satellite into orbit on its rocket. Since late last year, two other startups have attempted to launch satellites but have failed.

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`; document.getElementById("linkPremium").innerHTML = cont; (function (v, i){ }); </s> China's new Jielong-1 (Smart Dragon-1 or SD-1) rocket, which is designed for commercial missions, launched three satellites into orbit for the first time, the Xinhua news agency reported on Saturday

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 17th August, 2019) China's new Jielong-1 (Smart Dragon-1 or SD-1) rocket, which is designed for commercial missions, launched three satellites into orbit for the first time, the Xinhua news agency reported on Saturday.

The rocket was launched from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in Gansu province in the country's northwest at 12.11 local time (07.11 GMT).

The three satellites, developed by three Beijing-based companies, will be used for remote sensing, communications and internet of Things services.

In August 2018, China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC) introduced the design of its new Jielong-1 launch vehicle.

It was reported that the rocket would be the first in a series of small-sized Jielong launch vehicles and will be capable of carrying up to 150 kilograms (330 Pounds) of payload to a 700-kilometer (435-mile) high sun-synchronous orbit.

Despite its small size, the solid-fuel rocket Jielong is capable of putting several satellites into orbit at once. The rocket has a length of 19.5 meters (64 feet), diameter of 1.2 meters, and combination weight of 23.1 tonnes. </s> China’s first privately-built space rocket has failed to make it to orbit after something “abnormal” happened during the third stage of lift-off from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center on Saturday.

Beijing-based ‘LandSpace’ was the first private company in China to build a three-stage rocket. They said the first and second stage of its Zhuque-1 (ZQ-1) rocket launch went off without a hitch, but something went terribly wrong in the third and final stage.

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“If the launch mission can go well, the ZQ-1 will become China's first private carrier rocket that can send satellites into space,” said LandSpace CEO Zhang Changwu ahead of the groundbreaking launch, which followed nine months of development.

Video footage of the disastrous rocket launch shows the 19-meter-tall (62 ft) spacecraft lifting off into clear blue skies. It was reportedly carrying a satellite for the Chinese state broadcaster CCTV, with a takeoff weight of 27 tons and a thrust of 45 tons. It cost a reported $14 million to develop.

LandSpace said in a Weibo post about the launch failure that “the first and second levels worked normally, the fairing separated normally, and the third level was abnormal.” They did not elaborate further on the details of the incident.

“We are convinced that ‘direct carrier rockets’ is the right decision [for the company],” the statement continued. “Today, LandSpace is the first company in China to obtain a Chinese private carrier rocket launch license. It is the first private company in China to erect a three-stage launch vehicle.”

“In the future, LandSpace will continue to move forward.”

While this venture failed, the next attempt shouldn’t be far behind. China currently has more than 60 private commercial space companies vying to reach the first milestone.

This week wasn’t all bad for Chinese space projects, however. The Chinese company Shanghai ManWei Technology launched the world’s first space gene bank into orbit on Thursday. The bank holds genetic material from eight Chinese citizens which will be stored in space for thousands of years.

Think your friends would be interested? Share this story! </s> China’s attempt to launch a privately developed carrier rocket into space was a failure. According to Reuters, the rocket developed by Beijing-based Landscape failed to reach orbit after lifting off at 4 a.m. Eastern on Saturday, Oct. 27, from Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center. The Zhuque-1, or ZQ-1, which was designed to be capable of carrying a satellite into space, was the first three-stage rocket built by a private company in China.

Landscape said in statement posted on its official WeChat account that the spacecraft failed to reach orbit because of an issue with the third stage. It said that the problem with the rocket occurred soon after the second stage separation. The company nonetheless said that it still considers the mission completed. “Before Zhuque carrier rocket was launched, its mission was already completed,” the company said without providing further details.

Landscape was founded in 2015 and aimed to become the first Chinese private company to launch a satellite into orbit. The company claims to be the first private licensed company in China to launch a carrier rocket.

Citing Chinese media, Fox News said that the spacecraft was carrying a satellite named “Future,” which was built for state broadcaster China Central Television. The lost payload was intended to be used for a science outreach series.

It was Landscape’s first attempt to build a rocket, and despite the incident, the company said that it will continue to build rockets. “We still believe that building rockets is the right strategy for the company. We are the first Chinese private company to build a three-stage carrier rocket. That’s already a great achievement,” the company said in a statement, according to China.org. “We will carry on with our dream for the vast space.”

Space News said that the 27-metric ton rocket is 19 meters tall and spans 1.3 meters in diameter. It cost around $14 million to develop and received funding from private sector and partly-state-owned backers.

It may still be a long way to go before private companies in China can compete with space companies in the United States. Elon Musk, the CEO of SpaceX, is in fact already setting his eyes on sending a spacecraft to planet Mars. His company has under its belt a number of successful missions to the International Space Station and has successfully reused rockets.

Earlier this year, SpaceX also made history when it launched Musk’s cherry-red Tesla Roadster into space on a course to the asteroid belt.
China announces the successful first launch of the Smart Dragon-1 [fr; de] carrier rocket.