Beijing, January 12 (Reporter Ma Shuaisha) – According to the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC), the Lihong-1 Y1 spacecraft was launched from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center at 16:00 on January 12, successfully completing its suborbital flight test mission. The recoverable payload capsule landed smoothly and was recovered via parachute system.
It is reported that the Lihong-1 Y1 spacecraft carried a microgravity laser additive manufacturing recoverable scientific experiment payload and space radiation-induced mutation rose seeds. The spacecraft flew at an altitude of approximately 120 kilometers, crossing the Kármán line into space. This flight test primarily verified two technologies: a highly reliable parachute system for aerodynamic deceleration of the recoverable payload capsule and precise landing point control of the spacecraft's stage return. The landing accuracy at a distance of 100 kilometers reached the order of 100 meters, laying a solid technical foundation for future space manufacturing, space experiments, space medicine, and space tourism.
The Lihong-1 spacecraft has advantages such as low launch cost, high flexibility, and support for experimental payload recovery. It is mainly designed for applications such as microgravity science experiments and near-space in-situ exploration, and can provide scientific experimental payloads with a highly stable, reliable and versatile experimental environment for more than 300 seconds.
Shi Xiaoning, chief designer and commander of the Lihong-1 spacecraft at CAS Space Technology, stated that the Lihong-1 spacecraft is primarily designed for low-cost suborbital scientific experiments. It can provide minute-level high-level microgravity environments that are unattainable by drop towers or airplanes, supporting multiple technological directions such as space breeding, biomedicine, and space microgravity experiments. In the future, once the technology matures, it can also provide suborbital space tourism services, offering humans a short-term experience of weightlessness in space, making space accessible to ordinary people.
According to reports, in the future, the return payload capsule of the Lihong-1 spacecraft will be upgraded to an orbital-class space manufacturing spacecraft with a maximum orbital dwell time of no less than one year and a reuse count of no less than 10 times.
Shi Xiaoning stated that the Lihong series of aircraft will be further expanded in scale, incorporating technologies such as multi-parachute recovery and airbag landing to achieve multiple reuses. Currently, the company's self-developed Liqing-1 variable-thrust needle-bolt engine has completed over 1300 seconds of testing, with its variable thrust capability, combustion efficiency, and stability performance indicators leading domestically. The Lihong-2 reusable aircraft uses three Liqing-1 engines as its primary propulsion system and plans to conduct 100-kilometer recovery technology verification in 2026, significantly reducing the launch cost of the Lihong series and fully validating launch vehicle recovery technology. Furthermore, the Lihong series of aircraft is currently undergoing extensive reliability testing and expanding technologies such as manned life support and highly reliable escape, with plans to achieve low-cost suborbital scientific experiments and commercial space tourism capabilities by 2027. (End)
