Three People Injured During Rocket Fuel Tank Test in China

Three people injured during rocket fuel tank test in China. “Use of cryogenic liquid nitrogen”. The South China Morning Post (SCMP) in Hong Kong reported on the 31st that three people were injured during a rocket fuel tank test in Shanghai, China, amid the increasingly fierce competition between the United States and China to develop space technology.

According to reports, on the afternoon of the 29th, Chinese private space company Lanzen Aerospace (Landspace) conducted a rocket fuel tank test at an outdoor facility at the Shanghai Spaceflight Precision Machinery Laboratory, also known as the ‘800 Laboratory’, which resulted in damage to some windows and loss of employees. He said three people suffered minor abrasions.

However, Lanzen Aerospace and local authorities said there was no explosion. Residents of Yushu Road near Songjiang District, where the experiment was conducted, quickly posted on Chinese social media Weibo the experience of their windows shaking with a “bang” sound around 7:30 p.m. that day.

“The windows shook violently and the sound of fire trucks was heard in the street,” one resident wrote. Another resident wrote: “It felt like an earthquake or a huge thunderstorm.” According to a video posted on Weibo, three Lanzen Aerospace employees were treated for head and hand injuries at Songjiang Central Hospital.

The company stated that the experiment was conducted under control and that there were no abnormalities during the process. He then explained, “As expected, the propellant tank ruptured at a pressure of 650,000 pascals.” An employee of the company told SCMP that cryogenic liquid nitrogen was used in the pressure tests to set the tank’s limits.

He explained, “It is very important to evaluate the performance of the tank that will contain the cryogenic propellant before the actual launch.” The employee said that this experiment is for an improved model of Rocket Juche No. 2, and that the current payload will be increased.

Previously, Lanzhen Aerospace succeeded in launching three satellites in December last year using the world’s first rocket ‘Zuche 2 Y-3’ powered by liquid oxygen and methane, China’s official Xinhua News Agency reported.

The company succeeded in launching the Juche No. 2 rocket in July last year, becoming the world’s first company to successfully launch a liquid methane rocket, beating American companies such as Elon Musk’s SpaceX and Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin.

High-performance, low-cost methane propulsion engines emit fewer pollutants and are safer than existing rockets using solid fuel or liquid hydrogen, making them particularly suitable for the development of reusable rockets. Accordingly, it is evaluated as a next-generation rocket engineering technology.

Lanzen Aerospace is also developing a reusable stainless steel Juche 3, which has a larger diameter and launch weight than SpaceX’s flagship rocket, the Falcon 9. The rocket’s first flight is scheduled for next year.

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