Private firms race to build carrier rockets

It expects to make its debut flight in 2020.

The company said in a statement sent to China Daily that the design of the ZQ 2, a 48.8-m, liquid-propellant rocket, was completed in June and construction of the rocket's key components has begun.

It said the rocket will go through a series of ground tests before the end of 2019 and if everything goes well in accordance with its schedule, ZQ 2 will conduct its maiden flight in 2020.

The ZQ 2 will have a diameter of 3.35 m, the same as most of China's Long March-series rockets, and a weight of 216 tons.

With a liftoff mass of 268 tons, it will be capable of placing a 2-ton payload into a sun-synchronous orbit 500 kilometers above the Earth or a 4-ton spacecraft to a low-Earth orbit with an altitude of 200 km.

Zhang Changwu, founder and CEO of LandSpace, said that upon its completion, the ZQ 2 will become the biggest and mightiest carrier rocket that has been developed by a Chinese private enterprise.

"The participation of private firms will substantially reduce the launch cost and help to boost the commercialization of the entire space industry," said Wu Zhijian, director-general of China Space Foundation.

He said private players with creativity and technology are crucial to achieving the nation's goal of building a strong space power.