英语新闻丨China sends world's first methane rocket into orbit

China successfully flight-tested a methane-propelled carrier rocket on Wednesday morning at a launch facility in its northwestern Gobi Desert, marking the first orbital mission of any methane-fueled rocket in the world.

7月12日上午，中国在西北戈壁滩的发射场成功发射了一枚液氧甲烷火箭，该火箭由此成为全球首款成功入轨的液氧甲烷火箭。

The rocket, named ZQ 2 or Rosefinch 2, blasted off at 9 am from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in the Inner Mongolia autonomous region and transported an experimental payload into Earth's orbit, said LandSpace, a Beijing-headquartered private enterprise that designed and built the rocket.

据蓝箭航天空间科技股份有限公司称，这枚火箭被命名为朱雀二号遥二运载火箭，于上午9点从位于内蒙古自治区的酒泉卫星发射中心点火升空，随后进入预定轨道飞行。

The successful mission also made ZQ 2 the largest and most powerful private rocket in China.

这次发射任务的圆满成功，标志着朱雀二号成为我国最强大的商用火箭。

According to LandSpace, the ZQ 2 is 49.5 meters tall and has a diameter of 3.35 meters — the same diameter as most of China's Long March-series rockets. It has a liftoff weight of 219 metric tons and a launch thrust of 268 tons.

据蓝箭航天称，朱雀二号液氧甲烷运载火箭全箭高度49.5米，箭体直径3.35米，与中国大多数长征系列火箭直径相同。它的起飞重量219吨，起飞推力268吨。

The vehicle is capable of placing a 4-ton satellite into a typical sun-synchronous orbit about 500 kilometers above the Earth, or a 6-ton satellite into a low-Earth orbit with an altitude of 200 km.

这枚火箭可实现500公里太阳同步轨道的4吨卫星运载能力，以及200公里低地球轨道的6吨卫星运载能力。

The rocket's main propulsion system — the TQ 12 — is the first methane engine in China. Before LandSpace, only a handful of companies in the United States had developed such engines.

这枚火箭采用的主推进系统——天鹊12，是中国首款液氧甲烷发动机。在蓝箭航天之前，只有少数美国公司开发出了这样的发动机。

Compared with traditional types of rocket engines that can function only once, a methane engine is reusable and more environmentally friendly.

与只能使用一次的传统火箭发动机相比，甲烷发动机可重复使用，更加环保。

The maiden flight of the ZQ 2 model happened in December at the Jiuquan center. The rocket successfully crossed the Karman Line, the globally recognized boundary between Earth's atmosphere and the edge of space, but malfunctioned in its second stage and failed to reach orbit. That was the world's first attempt to achieve orbit with a methane-fueled rocket.

本次任务是朱雀二号火箭第二次发射。去年12月，朱雀二号火箭进行了首次发射，火箭成功穿越了卡门线，即被广泛接受为地球大气层与外层空间之间的边界。但在火箭第二级飞行过程中，发动机管道破裂，导致游机出现异常，载荷未能入轨。

The Chinese model had been in a close race with Relativity Space's Terran 1 and SpaceX's Starship to be the first methane-fueled rocket in orbit.

中国制造的朱雀二号一直在和美国相对论空间公司（Relativity Space）生产的3D打印火箭人族1号（Terran 1）和美国太空探索技术公司（SpaceX）的星舰火箭（Starship）争先成为全球首枚进入轨道的甲烷火箭。

LandSpace is making the ZQ 2 and its engines at its plant in Huzhou, Zhejiang province, the first privately owned carrier rocket factory in China and the largest of its kind in Asia.

蓝箭航天正在浙江省湖州市的工厂生产朱雀二号火箭及其发动机，是中国首家也是亚洲规模最大的民营火箭制造企业。

Zhang Changwu, founder and CEO of LandSpace, said after Wednesday's launch mission that the ZQ 2's success means China now owns key technologies needed to build methane-propelled rockets.

蓝箭航天CEO张昌武在12日发射任务成功后表示，朱雀二号的成功发射意味着我国全面掌握了液氧甲烷运载火箭的关键技术。

Zhang said his company plans to launch the third ZQ 2 rocket in the near future to complete the type's technical verification phase, after which the model can enter commercial operation.

张昌武表示，蓝箭航天计划在不久的将来发射第三枚朱雀二号火箭，以验证产品的整体设计和性能，随后投入商业量产。

"Starting next year, we will launch the ZQ 2's initial commercial operation. We plan to perform three to four launches in 2024, and hope to launch another eight of these rockets in 2025," he said, adding that LandSpace engineers will continue to improve the model's carrying capacity.

他表示：“如果近一年内，蓝箭能够取得朱雀二号火箭的飞行成功，明年开始将面向市场做小批量的交付。明年3-4发，后年翻一倍，连续三年争取每年增长一倍。”他补充道，蓝天航空的工程师将继续改进该型号的运载能力。

According to Zhang, the company has also started designing a reusable rocket and the experience gained during ZQ 2's research and development will help advance the reusable type's design work.

张昌武表示，蓝箭航天已经启动了可重复使用火箭的项目，朱雀二号遥二箭的成功会显著地加速可重复使用火箭的开发进程，对于行业也会有重大的提振作用。

Yang Yuguang, a senior space industry observer and vice-chair of the International Astronautical Federation's Space Transportation Committee, said the ZQ 2 has set a new milestone in the global space industry.

国际宇航联空间运输委员会副主席、资深航天观察家杨宇光认为，朱雀二号在全球航天业中创造了新的里程碑。

"This is the first time a rocket fueled by methane and liquid oxygen has entered Earth's orbit. Methane-liquid oxygen engines are widely recognized as the most suitable propulsion system for reusable rockets," he said.

他说：“这是首个采用甲烷和液氧为燃料的火箭成功进入地球轨道。甲烷液氧发动机被广泛认可为可重复使用火箭最合适的推进系统。”

Rocket engineers around the world have been striving to develop reusable engines for many years and those built previously needed a lot of money and time to undergo maintenance before they could be reused, according to Yang.

杨宇光表示，全球的火箭工程师多年来一直致力于开发可重复使用的发动机，而之前建造的发动机在重新使用之前需要大量的金钱和时间进行维护。

"By contrast, methane-liquid oxygen engines promise the most convenient checks and maintenance for reuse, saving a considerable amount of time and money," he said.

他说：“相比之下，甲烷液氧发动机为重复使用提供了最方便的检查和维护方式，节省了大量的时间和金钱。”

Yang's remarks were echoed by Jiao Weixin, a retired professor of Peking University's School of Earth and Space Sciences and a renowned blogger on space technology.

杨宇光的观点得到了北京大学地球与空间科学学院退休教授、著名空间技术博主焦维新的回应。

"Methane-propelled engines boast many advantages such as lower cost of fuel consumption, easier maintenance and more eco-friendliness," he said.

他表示：“甲烷推进发动机具有燃料消耗成本低、维护容易以及环保等许多优势。”

Methane

英/ˈmiːθeɪn/ 美/ˈmeθeɪn/

n.甲烷

Orbit

英/ˈɔːbɪt/ 美/ˈɔːrbɪt/

n.（环绕地球、太阳等运行的）轨道