An impressive demonstration by the Chinese startup Deep Blue Aerospace… Which is already counting on future trials with larger models, which will climb higher. However, caution, the Chinese space sector is accustomed to beautiful images of reusable launchers… Few have materialized for the moment.
But it’s spectacular!
What lights up, goes up and down…
Seeing a rocket take off, even a prototype, is always fascinating. But maybe not as much as seeing it stop in the air and then come back down to land! It is this spectacle that the Chinese startup Deep Blue Aerospace offers us, with a test of its Nebula-M1 prototype climbing to an altitude of 1 km from its test site in Tongchuan, in the province of Chaanxi… And therefore returning to pose with impressive control, at its starting point.
The end of the video is slowed down, which made many Internet users wonder about the actual success of the test, but the company ensures for its part that it is a success. On the other hand, Deep Blue Aerospace had already demonstrated its capabilities at 10 and 100 m altitude in 2021, so progress is there!
Luxury demonstration
It was in any case the last flight of Nebula-M1, which is equipped with a small Leiting-5 rocket engine running on kerosene and liquid oxygen (with an electric turboalternator, a bit like a Rocket engine Lab). This version will give way to Nebula-1, which is this time a prototype orbital vehicle, and which will carry out tests at 10 and 100 kilometers altitude, with a more powerful Leiting-20 engine.
An increasingly impressive demonstration, intended for future customers as well as investors: in the highly competitive Chinese market, each company needs to stand out. Deep Blue Aerospace successfully raised $31.5 million this spring…
From jump to orbit, it’s a long way!
Be careful with the announcements, however, because going from one kilometer in altitude to 10, or even 100, is a difficult exercise. We will notice for example on the video of the test that the engine was not turned off / turned on again, which implies a less complex design than for a large-scale test.
On the other hand, there is still a significant technical gap between a “jump” and an orbital launch. The example that everyone has in mind, SpaceX’s GrassHopper test vehicle, was only used for 2 years… To test algorithms and landing techniques, not to make it an orbital vehicle: basically, it did not foreshadow Falcon 9, but helped improve it towards recovery and reuse.
Other Chinese companies are targeting reusable launchers, in particular one of the oldest in “Chinese NewSpace”, LinkSpace, starting this year…
Source : space news
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