LinkSpace

Test rockets

In 2013, before the official registration of the company, Hu's team was testing the KC-SA-TOP suborbital rocket with 50 kg payloads in Horqin Left Rear Banner, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region.[5][4]

Reusable Rocket Landing

LinkSpace launched a new prototype for a reusable rocket in Eastern China. The launch took place on April 2, 2019.[6]

VTVL prototypes

LinkSpace has built flying vertical-takeoff/vertical-landing (VTVL) prototype test rockets, to develop its reusable rocket technology. By July 2016, it achieved hover flight with a single-engine thrust-vectored rocket. By September 2017, it had built three hovering rockets, tested in Shandong Province.[7]

On 19 April 2019, the VTVL prototype test rocket RLV-T5 flew to a height of 40 m (131 ft) and landed safely after thirty seconds of flight.[8] RLV-T5, also known as NewLine Baby, is 8.1 m (27 ft) in length, weighs 1.5 t (1,100 lbs) and has five liquid engines.[9]

On 10 August 2019 the company reported a test flight reaching a height of 300 meters.[10]

On 5 May 2022, the company announced that it had conducted a static fire test of its RLV-T6 test vehicle in preparation for a 100 km altitude test flight in late 2022, but in September it was expected to be launched no earlier than mid-2023.[11] The rocket will launch from Lenghu, in Qinghai Province.[12]

New Line 1

The New Line 1 (Xin Gan Xian 1; ) is a two-stage rocket under development to launch microsats and nanosats, with a reusable first stage. It is to be a liquid-fuelled rocket, with a diameter of 5.9 ft, height of 66 ft. It would have a lift-off mass of 33 t and take-off thrust of 400 kN, allowing a payload of 440 lb to be lifted into a Sun synchronous orbit (SSO) of 155 - 342 mi high.

The first stage would have four liquid engines, fueled by kerolox (liquid oxygen and kerosene), each producing 100 kN of thrust.[13] It is projected to have an initial launch cost of $4.5 million, dropping to $2.25 million using a reused first stage.[14] As of the end of 2017, the main rocket engine has been tested over 200 times, and first launch was planned for 2020.[15]

Future New Line rockets

Future development of a reusable second stage, in addition to the reusable first stage, is anticipated for in a future vehicle, such as New Line 3.[7]