China successfully launches the world's first methane-powered rocket Zhuque-2'
China became the first country to successfully launch a new methane-powered carrier rocket into space on 12 July 2023, overtaking Elon Musk's SpaceX. Zhuque-2 is the world's first rocket to successfully deliver test payloads into Sun-synchronous orbit (SSO).
Chinese private aerospace company Landspace's Zhuque-2 carrier rocket was launched from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in Beijing, China's Gobi Desert, Xinhua news agency reported.
This was the second flight mission of the Zhuque-2 carrier rocket, after the unsuccessful launch on December 14 last year. With the successful launch, LandSpace is now at the forefront of the liquid oxygen methane rocket technology race.
Earlier this year, two other liquid oxygen methane rockets - Terran 1 from Relativity Space in the US and SpaceX's Starship - failed on their first attempt to reach orbit.
Methane-powered rocket
Methane-powered engines are known for high performance and low operating costs. These are particularly well suited for companies aiming to build reusable rockets.
The Zhuque-2 is a two-stage liquid-propellant carrier rocket and is 49.5 m tall with a diameter of 3.35 m. It has a payload capacity of six tonnes for low earth orbit and four tonnes for SSO. Earlier in April, another Chinese private aerospace company Space Pioneer successfully launched the liquid-propelled Tianlong-2.
