Long March 9

Wenchang Satellite Launch Center expansion is planned to support a new-generation crew launch vehicle and the super heavy-lift Long March 9 rocket.

The planned Long March 9 super heavy-lift rocket will provide the lifting capability for ILRS missions and its design has been changed to make it reusable.

Long Lehao is the chief designer of China's Long March rocket series and in 2021-06-01 advocated using the in-development Long March 9 super heavy-lift rocket to send space-based solar power infrastructure into geostationary orbit.

The current Long March 9 design is planned as a three-stage, 108-meter-high, 10-meter-diameter rocket with a mass of 4,180 metric tons.

The planned Long March 9 is intended to deliver 150,000 kg to low Earth orbit, 50,000 kg to lunar transfer orbit, or 35,000 kg to Mars transfer orbit.

The Long March 9 project originally planned an expendable rocket capable of delivering 100 metric tons or more to low Earth orbit.

Liu Bing, director of the general design department at CALT, confirmed the new reusable-first-stage direction for Long March 9 in an interview with China Central Television on 2022-11-07.

CALT manufactures the kerosene-liquid oxygen Long March 5 and Long March 7 rockets and is developing the kerolox super heavy-lift Long March 9.

The China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology is developing the Long March 8 for reusability and plans for its super heavy-lift crew rocket and the Long March 9 to eventually be made reusable.

The Long March 9 will have a payload capacity of around 140,000 kg to low Earth orbit and will launch elements for the International Lunar Research Station (ILRS) jointly planned by China and Russia.

A reusable first-stage version of Long March 9 presented in 2021 would use 16 clustered 360-ton-thrust kerosene-liquid oxygen engines and no side boosters, with 120-ton-thrust hydrolox engines for the second and third stages.

The fully reusable Long March 9 concept would be capable of carrying 150,000 kg to Low Earth orbit, 65,000 kg to geosynchronous transfer orbit, or 50,000 kg to trans-lunar injection.

The original Long March 9 second stage will use 220-ton-thrust liquid hydrogen-liquid oxygen staged-combustion YF-90 engines with significant progress already made on both YF-130 and YF-90 development.

A more economical reusable Long March 9 variant could be ready to support a proposed space-based solar power program in geostationary orbit.

Long Lehao indicated that the new reusable Long March 9 launches are to be ready by 2035 and likely developed in parallel with the expendable version.

The expendable Long March 9 is planned to be operational by 2030 to support megaprojects including the International Lunar Research Station.

Dual-nozzle 500-ton-thrust kerosene-liquid oxygen YF-130 engines will power the first stage and boosters of the original Long March 9 design.

Long presented a proposed reusable version of the under-development Long March 9 super heavy-lift launch vehicle last year that could be used for construction of large space-based solar power facilities in geostationary orbit.