Lijian-2 First Flight Matches Falcon 9 Reusable Cost
China's commercial space sector marked a major milestone on March 30, when CAS Space successfully launched its Lijian-2 medium-lift liquid rocket at 19:00 UTC+8 from the Dongfeng launch site. The inaugural mission deployed three satellites, but its primary impact was a direct economic challenge to the global launch market. Company officials stated the rocket's non-reusable unit cost is already on par with SpaceX's reusable Falcon 9, the industry's benchmark for low-cost access to orbit. This claim, if substantiated, repositions the competitive landscape, introducing new pricing pressure on established Western providers.
The Lijian-2 has a payload capacity of 12 tons to low-Earth orbit (LEO) and 8 tons to a 500-kilometer sun-synchronous orbit (SSO). This positions it to compete directly for contracts to deploy the large satellite constellations that are driving global launch demand. The successful flight serves as a critical validation of CAS Space's design and production capabilities, signaling an intent to capture a significant share of the commercial market.
Design Innovations Boost Production Efficiency by 40%
The Lijian-2's cost-competitiveness stems from a strategy focused on mass production from the initial design phase. The rocket is China's first to use a "Common Booster Core" (CBC) configuration, where the core stage and strap-on boosters are nearly identical. This modular approach simplifies manufacturing, allowing for shared designs, production lines, and launch facilities. By standardizing components like the nine engines on the first stage and the single engine on the second, CAS Space significantly reduces development cycles and associated costs.
Key manufacturing process changes further drive down expenses. The company abandoned complex and costly grid-style fuel tank structures in favor of flat-milled panels. This shift alone reportedly improved overall production efficiency by 40% and lowered manufacturing costs. This focus on scalable production is tailored to meet the demands of China's burgeoning low-orbit internet constellations, providing a domestic, high-capacity launch vehicle.
Future Reusability Aims to Halve SpaceX Launch Costs
Following its successful debut, CAS Space is pursuing an aggressive roadmap toward rocket reusability to further undercut market prices. The company plans to first validate its recovery technologies on its smaller Lihong series of rockets before applying them to the larger Lijian-2. This incremental approach is designed to mitigate risk while gathering crucial flight data. The company has already completed initial technology verifications with its Lihong-1 vehicle and plans a 100-kilometer-level recovery test with Lihong-2 later this year.
Once the technology is proven, CAS Space intends to implement a cluster recovery system for the Lijian-2's boosters. According to General Director Yang Haoliang, this advancement is expected to cut the rocket's unit launch cost to half that of SpaceX's Falcon 9. Achieving this goal requires overcoming significant technical challenges, including developing advanced thermal protection, real-time guidance systems for atmospheric re-entry, and liquid engines capable of multiple restarts.
