On August 19, Chinese private enterprise Blue Arrow Aerospace successfully returned a reusable launch vehicle to the ground for the first time. The Suzaku-3 rocket took off early in the morning, separated from the reentry stage in less than two minutes, and landed softly on the launch pad 390 kilometers away from the launch site. The second stage of the rocket also completed its mission-putting the satellite into orbit. In a few minutes, the idyll ended—on Earth Stairs engulfed in fire.
Image source: Social NetworkX
Sources revealed that the fire started near the bottom of the stage and that remnants of liquid methane and liquid oxygen, the components of the rocket propellant, were likely ignited. The fire damaged carbon fiber elements of the landing struts (the struts themselves are made of stainless steel) before one of the struts fractured and the 66-meter-long first stage side collapsed.
The destruction of the return stage, which was already on the ground, does not deny that all landing procedures and its ending – a safe soft descent to the ground and fixation on the stand – were carried out in the best possible way, which shows the success of the developers in creating a reusable first stage. The subsequent fire and destruction of the stage were merely incidents and would not be repeated in the future.
Two minutes early. Image source: CCTV
The company will try to launch the Suzaku-3 rocket again before the end of the year. It became the second project in China’s space history to demonstrate the ability to return the first stage to Earth for reuse. Earlier this year, Chinese state-owned enterprise CALT returned to the first phase. Therefore, China may have two independent launch vehicles that are partially reusable, which will reduce launch costs in the future and allow more frequent launches.
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