China to launch new upper stage rocket for 2018 mission

Chinese rocket researchers are working on a new upper stage, Yuanzheng 1B, for the sun-synchronous orbit mission in 2018, according to the China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology (CALT) on Monday.

It is tasked with improving the launch capabilities of the Long March 2C.

Capable of restarting engines multiple times in space like other upper stages, Yuanzheng 1B could send different payloads directly to varying high-energy orbits, such as medium Earth orbit.

Since the Long March 3B and 3C couldn’t restart by itself, the CALT launched the Yuanzheng 1A to 'help' the Long March launch vehicles in 2015.

Compared to Yuanzheng 1A, the new upper stage will be a simplified one. It will be combined with the Long March 2C rocket to improve the whole mission adaptability. At the same time, Yuanzheng 1B will be able to complete the mission in about one hour, which could reduce the launch cost.

China started to develop upper stages on rockets in the 1980s.

On March 30, 2015, Yuanzheng 1 completed its first flight and successfully launched a Beidou navigation satellite into orbit after being lifted by a Long March 3C carrier rocket.

(CHINA DAILY)