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LinkSpace

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LinkSpacecite-ref-1[1] (Chinese: 翎客航天cite-ref-2[2]cite-ref-3[3]; pinyin: Líng-kè Hángtiān; lit. 'LINK Aerospace') or Link Space Aerospace Technology Inc. is a Chinese private space launch company based in Beijing. It is led by CEO Hu Zhenyu,cite-ref-astrowatch-2017-09-17-4-0[4] and founded as the first private rocket firm in China.cite-ref-ansa-2014-07-31-5-0[5] The company was founded in 2014, by Hu Zhenyu, a graduate of South China University of Technology; Yan Chengyi, a graduate of Tsinghua University; and Wu Xiaofei, a manufacturing expert. The company is registered in Shenzhen.cite-ref-spacedaily-2014-08-19-6-0[6]

Contents

• Rockets

• Test rockets

• Reusable Rocket Landing

• VTVL prototypes

• New Line 1

• Future New Line rockets

• Services

• Marketplace

• See also

• References

• External links

Rockets

Test rockets

In 2013, before the official registration of the company, Hu's team was testing the KC-SA-TOP suborbital rocket with 50 kg (110 lb) payloads in Horqin Left Rear Banner, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region.cite-ref-ansa-2014-07-31-5-1[5]cite-ref-spacedaily-2014-08-19-6-1[6]

Reusable Rocket Landing

LinkSpace launched a new prototype for a reusable rocket in Eastern China. The launch took place on April 2, 2019.cite-ref-7[7]

VTVL prototypes

LinkSpace has built flying vertical-takeoff/vertical-landing (VTVL) prototype test rockets, to develop its reusable rocket technology. By July 2016, it achieved hover flight with a single-engine thrust-vectored rocket. By September 2017, it had built three hovering rockets, tested in Shandong Province.cite-ref-astrowatch-2017-09-17-4-1[4]

On 19 April 2019, the VTVL prototype test rocket RLV-T5 flew to a height of 40 m (131 ft) and landed safely after thirty seconds of flight.cite-ref-8[8] RLV-T5, also known as NewLine Baby, is 8.1 m (27 ft) in length, weighs 1.5 t (1,100 lbs) and has five liquid engines.cite-ref-9[9]

On 10 August 2019 the company reported a test flight reaching a height of 300 meters.cite-ref-10[10]

On 5 May 2022, the company announced that it had conducted a static fire test of its RLV-T6 test vehicle in preparation for a 100 km (62 mi) altitude test flight in late 2022, but in September it was expected to be launched no earlier than mid-2023.cite-ref-11[11] The rocket will launch from Lenghu, in Qinghai Province.cite-ref-12[12]

New Line 1

The New Line 1 (Xin Gan Xian 1; Chinese: 新干线一号; pinyin: xīn gàn xiàn 1) is a two-stage rocket under development to launch microsats and nanosats, with a reusable first stage. It is to be a liquid-fuelled rocket, with a diameter of 1.8 m (5.9 ft), height of 20 m (66 ft). It would have a lift-off mass of 33 t (32 long tons; 36 short tons) and take-off thrust of 400 kN (90,000 lbf), allowing a payload of 200 kg (440 lb) to be lifted into a Sun synchronous orbit (SSO) of 249–550 km (155–342 mi) high.cite-ref-futurism-linkspace-2017-13-0[13]

The first stage would have four liquid engines, fueled by kerolox (liquid oxygen and kerosene), each producing 100 kN (22,000 lbf) of thrust.cite-ref-wsp-2017-09-26-14-0[14] It is projected to have an initial launch cost of $4.5 million, dropping to $2.25 million using a reused first stage.cite-ref-futurism-linkspace-2017-13-1[13] As of the end of 2017, the main rocket engine has been tested over 200 times, and first launch was planned for 2020.cite-ref-popsci-2017-12-18-15-0[15]

Future New Line rockets

Future development of a reusable second stage, in addition to the reusable first stage, is anticipated for in a future vehicle, such as New Line 3.cite-ref-astrowatch-2017-09-17-4-2[4]

Services

LinkSpace is planning to also be a transport and rocket services company, providing rocket parts, and transportation. As part of the transportation, it will not just send payloads into orbit, or on suborbital jaunts; it also plans to send packages from one point on Earth to another point. This is similar to SpaceX's plan for suborbital rocket passenger transport anywhere around the world with Starship.cite-ref-motleyfool-2017-10-08-16-0[16]

Marketplace

LinkSpace is in competition with several other Chinese space rocket startups, being LandSpace, Galactic Energy, ExPace, i-Space, OneSpace and Deep Blue Aerospace.cite-ref-parabolicarc-2017-12-20-17-0[17] With rocket reusability and point-to-point transport, it is similar to SpaceX.cite-ref-motleyfool-2017-10-08-16-1[16]