LinkSpace

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Link Space Aerospace Technology Inc.
LinkSpace
Company typePrivate
IndustryAerospace
Founded2014
FounderHu Zhenyu, Yan Chengyi, and Wu Xiaofei
Headquarters
Beijing Edit this on Wikidata
Websitelinkspace.com.cn

LinkSpace[1] (Chinese: 翎客航天[2][3]; pinyin: Líng-kè Hángtiān; lit. 'LINK Aerospace') or Link Space Aerospace Technology Inc. is a Chinese private space launch company based in Beijing. It is led by CEO Hu Zhenyu,[4] and founded as the first private rocket firm in China.[5] The company was founded in 2014, by Hu Zhenyu, a graduate of South China University of Technology; Yan Chengyi, a graduate of Tsinghua University; and Wu Xiaofei, a manufacturing expert. The company is registered in Shenzhen.[6]

Rockets[edit]

Test rockets[edit]

In 2013, before the official registration of the company, Hu's team was testing the KC-SA-TOP suborbital rocket with 50 kg (110 lb) payloads in Horqin Left Rear Banner, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region.[5][6]

Reusable Rocket Landing[edit]

LinkSpace launched a new prototype for a reusable rocket in Eastern China. The launch took place on April 2, 2019.[7]

VTVL prototypes[edit]

LinkSpace has built flying vertical-takeoff/vertical-landing (VTVL) prototype test rockets, to develop its reusable rocket technology. By July 2016, it achieved hover flight with a single-engine thrust-vectored rocket. By September 2017, it had built three hovering rockets, tested in Shandong Province.[4]

On 19 April 2019, the VTVL prototype test rocket RLV-T5 flew to a height of 40 m (131 ft) and landed safely after thirty seconds of flight.[8] RLV-T5, also known as NewLine Baby, is 8.1 m (27 ft) in length, weighs 1.5 t (1,100 lbs) and has five liquid engines.[9]

On 10 August 2019 the company reported a test flight reaching a height of 300 meters.[10]

On 5 May 2022, the company announced that it had conducted a static fire test of its RLV-T6 test vehicle in preparation for a 100 km (62 mi) altitude test flight in late 2022, but in September it was expected to be launched no earlier than mid-2023.[11] The rocket will launch from Lenghu, in Qinghai Province.[12]

New Line 1[edit]

The New Line 1 (Xin Gan Xian 1; Chinese: 新干线一号; pinyin: xīn gàn xiàn 1) is a two-stage rocket under development to launch microsats and nanosats, with a reusable first stage. It is to be a liquid-fuelled rocket, with a diameter of 1.8 m (5.9 ft), height of 20 m (66 ft). It would have a lift-off mass of 33 t (32 long tons; 36 short tons) and take-off thrust of 400 kN (90,000 lbf), allowing a payload of 200 kg (440 lb) to be lifted into a Sun synchronous orbit (SSO) of 249–550 km (155–342 mi) high.[13]

The first stage would have four liquid engines, fueled by kerolox (liquid oxygen and kerosene), each producing 100 kN (22,000 lbf) of thrust.[14] It is projected to have an initial launch cost of $4.5 million, dropping to $2.25 million using a reused first stage.[13] As of the end of 2017, the main rocket engine has been tested over 200 times, and first launch was planned for 2020.[15]

Future New Line rockets[edit]

Future development of a reusable second stage, in addition to the reusable first stage, is anticipated for in a future vehicle, such as New Line 3.[4]

Services[edit]

LinkSpace is planning to also be a transport and rocket services company, providing rocket parts, and transportation. As part of the transportation, it will not just send payloads into orbit, or on suborbital jaunts; it also plans to send packages from one point on Earth to another point. This is similar to SpaceX's plan for suborbital rocket passenger transport anywhere around the world with Starship.[16]

Marketplace[edit]

LinkSpace is in competition with several other Chinese space rocket startups, being LandSpace, Galactic Energy, ExPace, i-Space, OneSpace and Deep Blue Aerospace.[17] With rocket reusability and point-to-point transport, it is similar to SpaceX.[16]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "重磅！中国成功测试可回收火箭[视频]" (in Chinese). DWNews. 9 January 2018.
  2. ^ "Linkspace".
  3. ^ Henri Kenhamn (2017). "LandSpace : le futur SpaceX chinois" (in French). East Pendulum.
  4. ^ a b c "In the Footsteps of SpaceX: Chinese Company Eyes Development of a Reusable Launch Vehicle". AstroWatch.net. 17 September 2017.
  5. ^ a b "21-yr-old man sets up China's first private rocket firm". ANSA. People's Daily Online. 31 July 2014.
  6. ^ a b "China's first private rocket firm aims for market". Space Daily. XNA. 19 August 2014.
  7. ^ Tone, Sixth (2 April 2019). "Reusable Rocket Landing One Small Step for China's Space Startups". #SixthTone. Retrieved 2023-10-17.
  8. ^ "China's LinkSpace successfully launches reusable rocket to a new height". www.ecns.cn. Retrieved 2019-04-22.
  9. ^ "LinkSpace successfully launches reusable rocket prototype". Room, The Space Journal. Retrieved 2019-04-22.
  10. ^ LinkSpace on Twitter: On August 10, LinkSpace’s third rocket free flight test was successful in Mangai, Qinghai province. The flight time is 50 seconds, the height of flight is 300.4 meters.
  11. ^ China Spaceflight [@CNSpaceflight] (September 28, 2022). "Five engines on display in their rocket assembly/test facility in Jiangyin, Jiangsu. But it seems the rocket has been covered by a layer of dust. It's also mentioned in the interview that the 100km test flight has been postponed to NET mid-2023。" (Tweet). Retrieved 29 September 2022 – via Twitter.
  12. ^ Jones, Andrew (6 May 2022). "LinkSpace returns: Chinese startup plans rocket launch and landing this year". Space.com. Retrieved 1 June 2022.
  13. ^ a b "China's Link Space Unveiled Design for a Reusable Rocket". Futurism. 2017.
  14. ^ "Breaking SpaceX: China's LinkSpace Reveals Rockets That Are Reusable". Wall Street Pit. 26 September 2017.
  15. ^ Jeffrey Lin; P.W. Singer (18 December 2017). "China could become a major space power by 2050". Popular Science.
  16. ^ a b Rich Smith (8 October 2017). "Is This Chinese Company the Next SpaceX?". Motley Fool.
  17. ^ Doug Messier (20 December 2017). "EXPACE Raises US$182 Million for Small Satellite Launchers". Parabolic Arc.

External links[edit]

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