Jielong-1 successfully made its first flight. As the youngest new member of the China launch vehicle family, what's so special about it?

A thunder resounded through the Gobi, and a jet dragon took off. At noon on August 17, the Jielong-range rocket No.1, developed by China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology under China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation, was successfully launched at Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, China, and three satellites were successfully put into the scheduled orbit by means of "one arrow and three satellites". This is the first mission of Jielong-1 carrier rocket, and it is also a brand-new exploration of China national team in the field of commercial rockets.

Jielong-1 has a total length of about 19.5m, a diameter of 1.2m and a takeoff weight of about 23.1t. It is the smallest and lightest solid rocket in China. It was built by China Long March Rocket Co., Ltd., a subsidiary of China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology, in a commercial mode for the commercial small satellite launch market. At the same time, it is also the first pure commercial launch vehicle of China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation. From February 20 18, the development work was officially started, and today the first flight was successful. Jielong-1 took less than 18 months, becoming one of the rockets with the shortest space development cycle in China, and creating a "Jielong model" for commercial rocket development.

"Exploring the vast universe is our unremitting pursuit of space dreams. Now a Jielong has been born, which has opened up a new world for the China launch vehicle national team. " Long Lehao, an academician of China Academy of Engineering who was the chief designer of China's "Golden Rocket" model Long March 3 B, said excitedly at the launch site.

Although Jielong rocket is small, it is complete and has excellent performance. It can carry 200 kilograms in a 500-kilometer sun-synchronous orbit, and its carrying efficiency is the highest among solid commercial rockets in China. Gong Min, technical manager of Jielong-1 launch vehicle project, said that Jielong rocket innovatively adopted the inverted space layout of satellites in China, which can provide two kinds of complete cabin space for satellites, meet the launch requirements of users with one rocket and one satellite or multiple satellites with one arrow, simplify the design of all-rocket control actuator, and provide safer, more flexible, more economical and faster services for micro-satellite technology verification, constellation networking and network replenishment.