LandSpace flies ninth ZQ-2 methane rocket mission

(SpaceEnergy) LandSpace’s ZQ-2E Y7 liquid oxygen-methane rocket has completed its ninth ZQ-2-series flight, deploying 10 Qianfan constellation satellites into their planned orbits.

The rocket lifted off at 14:26 Beijing time on 15 September from LandSpace’s liquid oxygen-methane launch complex at the Dongfeng Commercial Space Innovation Test Area.

LandSpace said the flight was the ZQ-2 series’ first mission supporting large-scale satellite-internet constellation deployment. The company said it has established regular commercial launch operations with the upgraded ZQ-2 while continuing engineering verification of its reusable ZQ-3.

LandSpace identifies ZQ-2E as a two-stage liquid oxygen-methane launcher with a launch mass of 264 tonnes and lift-off thrust of 327 tonnes. Its published performance is 6,000kg to a 200km low Earth orbit and 4,000kg to a 500km Sun-synchronous orbit.

The company describes ZQ-2 as the world’s first liquid oxygen-methane launch vehicle to reach orbit and says its propulsion architecture is intended to support commercial operations at lower propellant cost.