China has successfully tested the technology that can accurately¹ control the landing site of falling rocket parts, China Aerospace² Science and Technology Corporation (CASC) said on Sunday.

 

中国航天科技集团公司周天宣布，中国已成功试验脱落火箭零件着陆位置的精准控制。

 

The CASC said that the test was carried out following a Long March-2C rocket launched on Friday, and focused on grid³ fins⁴ which are like "wings" on rocket core part to increase precision in control of its landing location.

 

According to experts from the CASC, the rocket' flight trajectory⁵ is designed to avoid densely⁶ populated areas. But after completing the mission, the rocket debris⁷ falls under no control with a wide range of landing points which sometimes involve inhabited areas.

 

In order to ensure the safety of people's lives and property, the currently practice is to evacuate⁸ people to the safety zone before each mission, which is not only inconvenient⁹ for the local people, but increases the cost and task difficulty.

 

The success of the test is of great significance for improving China's inland rocket landing safety, minimizing the inconvenience to the local people, as well as promoting the follow-up development of carrier rockets' controllable recovery, soft landing and reuse, according to He Wei, an official with the CASC.

 

"The swinging grid fins were used to control the rocket debris' direction and attitude, much like the wings of the debris," said Cui Zhaoyun, the deputy chief designer of Long March-2C rocket. The landing site control of large and medium rockets is much more difficult than that of small rockets, he added.

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