China eyes to challenge Falcon 9 with new commercial medium-sized rocket

China is scheduled to launch its first commercial mediumsized rocket by 2020, which is capable of carrying up to a fourton payload to low earth orbit (LEO).

The ZQ-2, powered by liquid methane-liquid oxygen fueled engines, was developed by LandSpace, a private rocket manufacturer based in Beijing.

At 48.8-meters tall and weighing 216 tons, the ZQ-2’s four-ton payload capacity to low earth orbit would rank third in the world in terms of payload, the company said at a press conference on Thursday.

A future version of the rocket is expected to surpass the SpaceX Falcon 9’s payload capacity, according to the company.

The company owns complete intellectual property rights of the ZQ-2.

The ZQ-2’s liquid methaneliquid oxygen propellant, which at 5 yuan ($0.75) per kilogram, gives it a lower per-kilogram cost than the Falcon 9, Kang Yonglai, the company’s CTO, told the Global Times.

The company plans to send the LandSpace-1 (LS-1), a threestage rocket carrying a satellite, to LEO by September, a first by a private Chinese company.

The satellite will be used by China Central Television (CCTV).

According to Ge Minghe, the director of the company’s power research and development, demand for space launches has not been met despite China’s 30 rocket launches per year.

“This limits opportunities for the launch of smaller satellites,” Ge said, adding commercial rockets can fill this role.

LandSpace is not the only commercial rocket producer in China.

OneSpace Technology in May successfully launched the country’s first privately designed commercial rocket, Chongqing Liangjiang Star.

China has more than 60 private aerospace companies, the Xinhua News Agency reported in May.