The TH-12 (, lit. ''Sky Fire 12'') is an oxidizer-rich

gas-generator cycle The gas-generator cycle, also referred to as the GG cycle or colloquially as an open cycle, is one of the most commonly used power cycles in bipropellant liquid rocket engines. Propellant is burned in a gas generator (analogous to, but distinct ...

rocket engine A rocket engine is a reaction engine, producing thrust in accordance with Newton's third law by ejecting reaction mass rearward, usually a high-speed Jet (fluid), jet of high-temperature gas produced by the combustion of rocket propellants stor ...

burning

LOX Lox is a fillet of brined salmon, which may be smoked. Lox is frequently served on a bagel with cream cheese, and often garnished with tomato, onion, cucumber, and capers. Etymology The American English word ''lox'' is a borrowing of Yiddi ...

and

kerosene Kerosene, or paraffin, is a combustibility, combustible hydrocarbon liquid which is derived from petroleum. It is widely used as a fuel in Aviation fuel, aviation as well as households. Its name derives from the Greek (''kērós'') meaning " ...

under development by

Space Pioneer Space Pioneer (), also known as Beijing Tianbing Technology Co., Ltd., is a Chinese aerospace company developing reusable orbital rocket technology—both launch vehicles and liquid rocket engines—to access the market for low-cost space laun ...

. The TH-12 utilizes 3D printing and has the highest target thrust among all commercial rocket engines in China. The engine features deep throttling for reusability, re-ignition,

thrust vectoring Thrust vectoring, also known as thrust vector control (TVC), is the ability of an aircraft, rocket or other vehicle to manipulate the direction of the thrust from its engine(s) or motor(s) to Aircraft flight control system, control the Spacecra ...

, and multi-mode starters.

History

Space Pioneer proposed the TH-12 engine for its

Tianlong-3 Tianlong-3 (, ''TL-3'') is a medium-lift orbital launch vehicle developed by the Chinese private aerospace manufacturer Space Pioneer. It is designed to be partially reusable, with the first stage capable of performing an autonomous vertical landi ...

launch vehicle. Engine development was underway in December 2020, with the first gas generator test performed in September 2022. In November 2022, a full-stage developmental TH-12 engine successfully completed its first static fire test. On July 24, 2023, the TH-12 engine, in the flight configuration of the first Tianlong-3 rocket, successfully completed a full-duration hot fire test at rated conditions for a single burn duration of 100 seconds, accumulating a total test duration of 200 seconds. This test demonstrated that the engine met the flight requirements for the Tianlong-3 rocket. In early January 2024, the TH-12 engine completed a calibration hot fire test for the first flight batch, subjecting the engine to a 50-second process verification test at rated conditions, demonstrating rapid startup, smooth operation, and normal shutdown. Later that month, the TH-12 engine underwent a spot check hot fire test for the first flight batch, fully simulating the flight conditions of the inaugural Tianlong-3 launch. The test involved 6 consecutive ignitions of the engine without removal from the test stand, accumulating a total test duration exceeding 1,000 seconds, with the single engine operating time surpassing the planned flight duration by a factor of 6.

References

Rocket engines of China Rocket engines using kerosene propellant {{Rocket-stub