China completes second hot-fire test for new moon rocket, including engine restarts

HELSINKI — China conducted a rocket stage hot fire test Friday in the latest step in the country’s plans to land astronauts on the moon.

A shortened Long March 10 rocket first stage test article fixed with seven YF-100K variable thrust kerosene-liquid oxygen engines ignited at 3:00 a.m. Eastern (0700 UTC, 3:00 p.m. Beijing time) Sept. 12, initiating a 320-second test at a pad at Wenchang Spacecraft Launch Site, Hainan island. 

The tethered hot fire test focused on evaluating the performance and capabilities of the seven clustered engines for the rocket’s first stage for low-thrust operating conditions and secondary restart capabilities, the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation and the China Manned Space Engineering Office (CMSEO) said in statements.

“Complete test data were obtained, and the test was a complete success,” the statement read.

Official video releases show a small portion of the test. Longer videos posted on Chinese social media appear to show three separate burns, indicating successful reignition of the engines. The separate burns likely are for launch, reentry burn and landing burn tests, indicating restart capability consistent with stated recovery and reuse objectives.

The test comes just under a month after a first tethered hot fire at the same facilities in Wenchang, Aug. 15. The two tests have fully validated the performance of the first-stage seven-engine propulsion system as well as the correctness and reliability of the recovery phase program design.

The program is part of the development of the Long March 10 series of rockets, being developed by the China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology (CALT) under CASC. 

The Long March 10 rocket is a three-core, three-stage, 92.5-meter-tall launcher designed for China’s crewed lunar landing program. Two Long March 10 rockets will launch separately in short succession to send a crewed spacecraft and a lunar landing stack to the moon, with China targeting a crewed lunar landing before 2030.

The mission will see Mengzhou and the Lanyue lunar lander dock in lunar orbit. Two astronauts will then descend to the moon aboard Lanyue for a short duration stay on the lunar surface. Beyond this, China is planning a moon base project named the International Lunar Research Station (ILRS) and eyeing a sustained lunar presence.

Also in the series is the Long March 10A, a 67-meter-long, two-stage single-stick variant which will be reusable and launch a low Earth orbit version of Mengzhou to the Tiangong space station, as well as Tianzhou cargo craft. A test flight of the Long March 10A could come as soon as 2026, ahead of a debut flight of the full Long March 10.

Next tests may involve a full first stage, with potential launch and landing attempts also a possibility. In a parallel and pertinent effort, CASC is also looking to attempt an orbital launch and recovery test with the Long March 12A. CASC will also need to perform 21-engine hot fire tests for the full Long March 10.

The Sept. 12 test follows a number of recent hardware tests for China’s moon landing program. These include landing and takeoff tests of the crewed Lanyue lunar lander Aug. 6 at a landing simulation test site in Hebei province, apparent structural tests for the Long March 10 moon rocket in July, and a pad abort test for the Mengzhou crew spacecraft at Jiuquan spaceport June 17.

China’s apparent smooth progress has drawn attention in Washington. This, coupled with perceived challenges and complexities facing NASA’s Artemis crewed landing plans, have prompted concerns that China may land astronauts on the moon before the U.S. can return theirs to the lunar surface.

“Look at the architecture that we have developed to land American astronauts on the moon,” former NASA administrator Jim Bridenstine told a hearing by the Senate Commerce Committee Sept. 3, describing the keystone Starship system as very complex. “It is highly unlikely that we will land on the moon before China.”

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, also serving as NASA’s acting administrator, said he was “angry” after learning that Bridenstine had told Congress the agency was behind China in sending astronauts to the moon.

The U.S. plans to send astronauts around the moon aboard Artemis 2 in early 2026 using the SLS rocket and Orion spacecraft. This is to be followed by the crewed Artemis 3 mission, currently scheduled for 2027, which relies on SpaceX’s Starship Human Landing System.