The TQ-12 (, lit. ''Sky Lark 12'') is a

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 liquid methane and liquid oxygen (methalox) developed by

LandSpace LandSpace Technology Corporation (doing business as LandSpace) is a Chinese commercial space launch provider based in Beijing. It was founded in 2015 by Zhang Changwu. In July 2023, the company's Zhuque-2 rocket became the world's first methan ...

. TQ-12 is the first Chinese liquid rocket engine developed with private funding. The engine has been designed to produce of thrust at sea level.

History

The engine passed its first powerpack test including the

turbopump A turbopump is a fluid pump with two main components: a rotodynamic pump and a driving gas turbine, usually both mounted on the same shaft, or sometimes geared together. They were initially developed in Germany in the early 1940s. The most co ...

, valves, ignition components, and the

gas generator A gas generator is a device for generating gas. A gas generator may create gas by a chemical reaction or from a solid or liquid source, when storing a pressurized gas is undesirable or impractical. The term often refers to a device that uses a ...

at a LandSpace facility in

Huzhou Huzhou (, ; Huzhou dialect: Romanization of Wu Chinese, ''ghou² cieu¹'') is a prefecture-level city in northern Zhejiang province (Hangzhou–Jiaxing–Huzhou Plain, China). Lying south of the Lake Tai, it borders Jiaxing to the east, Hangzho ...

on March 25, 2019. The engine's first full assembly was delivered in May 2019, and a hot fire test was successfully conducted the same month. The engine passed its first 200 second duration variable thrust test on October 26, 2019. A series of 400s hot fire tests were conducted in January 2021 and the first-stage engine assembly for LandSpace's Zhuque-2 rocket was completed in February 2021. The launch vehicle first stage consists of four TQ-12 engines providing a takeoff thrust of 268 tons. 37 TQ-12 family engines had been built by LandSpace as of July 2022, with cumulative hot fire test duration of more than 20,000 seconds. A record-breaking 3357 seconds of hot fire time were accumulated by one engine over 11 firings. In August 2022, LandSpace successfully tested an improved TQ-12A. Compared with the original TQ-12, the engine thrust is increased by 9%, the specific impulse is increased by 40 m/s, and the weight is reduced by 100kg. On December 14, 2022, Zhuque-2 completed its maiden flight. Four TQ-12 engines powered the first stage, which performed normally during the flight. However, the

TQ-11 The TQ-11 (, lit. ''Sky Lark 11'') is a gas-generator cycle rocket engine burning liquid methane and liquid oxygen developed by LandSpace. It is used as the second stage vernier engine for LandSpace's ZQ-2 rocket. The engine produces of thrust ...

vernier engines used in the second stage failed, and the rocket was lost. In July 2023, the 2nd launch of

Zhuque-2 Zhuque-2 (, ''ZQ-2'') is a Chinese medium-class orbital launch vehicle developed by LandSpace. It is a liquid-fuelled rocket powered by liquid oxygen and liquid methane (methalox) and was the first methane-fueled rocket to reach orbit. Des ...

was successful and the payload reached orbit.

References

Rocket engines of China Rocket engines using methane propellant Rocket engines using the gas-generator cycle {{Rocket-stub