China Tests Its Strongest Rocket Engine for Deep Space Exploration

DEFENSE AND TECHNOLOGY -- China’s space industry has reported progress on a number of new rocket engines that would provide huge capabilities for outer space, including crewed lunar landings and deep space exploration.

On Monday it was announced that tests had been successfully performed on a rocket engine that could power a super-heavy launch vehicle, similar to the monstrous, 2,900-ton Saturn V rocket that sent US astronauts to the Moon.

It’s still early days, as the tests by the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC), the main contractor for the country’s space program, were of a combined gas generator and turbopump structure, rather than a firing of the engine.

More