in the afternoon of sep 30 this year, the target-spacecraft tiangong 1, also known as the heavenly palace space module, accomplished its second orbital transfer. the successful injection of the space module and its orbital transfers were particularly significant for mr. li zhiqiang, president of liming research institute of chemical industry (lrici), a chemical propellant manufacturer in china.
according to mr. li, lrici is a comprehensive research unit that specializes in the development of new chemical and raw materials of chemical propellants for prolonged periods of time that boosted the development of technology for space propellants
the fire that thrusts the rocket into the sky indicates a successful launch, while representing another achievement for lrici. mr. li, an academician of china engineering academy and senior engineer of lrici, is recognized as one of the founding fathers” of space propellant technology in china. the “long march launch vehicles” propellant epitomizes the remarkable research achievements conducted by a team of scientists led by him.
mr. li zhiqiang said the tiangong 1 space shuttle has mainly been powered by solar panels after it entered into space. the shuttle was filled with liquid fuel that can last for two years, since it must conduct multiple missions and remain in space orbit for lengthy periods of time.
all the liquid fuel used by senzhou i-vii spacecrafts has been developed and produced by lrici. the unmanned shenzhou ⅷ, already completed a succesful mission to dock with tiangong 1 in 2011.
lrici, founded in 1956, was originated from the research institutes of the chemical industry in beijing, tianjin, shenyang and shanghai that were under the guidance of the ministry of chemical industry of china. lrici has developed a series of raw materials for solid and liquid chemical propellants that meet the requirements of china’s national aviation and spaceflight development, which contributes to the national defense and aerospace industries.
