SpaceX, the first private company to transport astronauts into space, faces a strong competitor from China. Beijing-based Space Pioneer successfully launched its rocket Tianlong-2 Y1, manufactured by a private company, into space.
The rocket was launched from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northern China. As part of its first mission, it also placed a satellite 500 kilometers above the earth’s surface. The satellite is in the “observation satellite” category, which includes satellites used for meteorological or military purposes. There are no details about its intended use.
This is how Space Pioneer’s rocket launched:
Features of the rocket:
Tianlong-2 Y1 has a total length of 32.8 meters and a width of 3.35 meters. The rocket can take off with a payload of 153 tons, and can place satellites weighing 1.5 tons into orbit up to 500 kilometers high. It can also carry 2-ton satellites into low orbit.
The rocket features a solid propellant rocket engine. The engine runs on solid fuel, not liquid oxygen, as we saw in SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rockets.
Space Pioneer is not the first Chinese private company to launch rockets into space. Previously, i-Space and Galactic Energy companies also launched their own rockets into space.
27882
