Recently, the Pre cooling Power Technology Center of the 31st Institute of the Third Academy of China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation completed the first "Yunlong" engine pre cooler Ma5 hot state test at a test bench in Yungang, Beijing, achieving a millisecond level temperature drop of nearly 1000 ℃ and meeting the expected test goals. This experiment is the first Ma5 large temperature drop heat transfer test of the precooler in China, fully verifying the rapid cooling ability of the precooler. Multiple indicators such as maximum flow rate, maximum temperature, and maximum temperature drop have reached the leading domestic and international advanced levels.

The "Yunlong" engine is a multi cycle deep coupled pre cooled engine (ICE engine) based on liquid hydrogen fuel, proposed by 31 research institutes to meet the power requirements of reusable single-stage/two-stage orbital vehicles and aerospace vehicles in China's future.

If the "Yunlong" engine is successful, it can assist the aircraft in taking off horizontally from the ground like an airplane, and then landing horizontally to the ground, achieving reusable air and space transportation. But it will fly faster and higher than airplanes, and it is also different from the common vertical takeoff and landing carrier rockets nowadays.

Starting from the 13th Five Year Plan, 31 institutes have jointly conducted a large amount of basic research with domestic partners, and in 2017, established the Luzhou Pre cooling Power Research and Development Center in cooperation with Luzhou Aviation Development Investment Group Co., Ltd. After years of hard work, the team has successively solved key technologies such as design, process, assembly, and testing, and successfully developed the largest scale pre cooler prototype in China. The success of this experiment marks a milestone in the technological research and development of the 31 "Yunlong" engine.

background information

In April 2021, the pre cooling device of the combined power engine "Yunlong" developed by the institute has completed the largest scale and maximum air flow temperature drop test in China, and the test results exceeded expectations.

In 2020, 31 institutes completed the overall trial production of the prototype of this type of engine and passed the first phase of system level ground testing verification. This type of engine has achieved breakthroughs in multiple key technologies.

In 2018, the head of the Third Academy publicly stated to the media that China was developing a reusable "spaceplane" for round-trip transportation between heaven and earth. According to the plan, the "Yunlong" engine will provide power for spacecrafts.