Design work starts on two big carrier rockets

Design work has begun on two new-generation solid-fuel carrier rockets at China Aerospace Science and Industry Corp, according to a project insider.

Zhang Di, a senior space engineer and chairman of Expace Technology, a subsidiary of CASIC that provides commercial launch services, said on Monday that the Kuaizhou 21 will mainly be tasked with serving State space programs, such as the space station, while Kuaizhou 16 is targeted at commercial satellite makers.

With a diameter of 4.5 meters, Kuaizhou 21 will be the largest and tallest in the Kuaizhou rocket family. The rocket's launching capacity is similar to that of the United States' Falcon 9 Full Thrust, and it will be capable of sending a 20-metric-ton spacecraft to a low-Earth orbit. It also will be powerful enough to transport supplies to the country's future space station or to ferry robotic probes to planets far from Earth, Zhang said.