(ECNS) -- Asia's largest high-altitude simulator stand for space engines was put into operation in Tongchuan City, northwest China's Shaanxi Province on Tuesday.
It marks a breakthrough in the key technologies of the high-altitude testing of the main deceleration engine and will be used to ensure smooth execution of China’s manned lunar probe program.
Developed by the Institute 165 of the Sixth Academy of the state-owned space giant China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC), the stand was built in eight months.
The test bench adopts advanced steam active ejector technology, with the largest pump set in the country. It can simulate high-vacuum conditions at 100 pascals during the engine's full-window operation.
According to Li Guanghui, head of this research project, the stand can simulate the real working environment in space so as to test the engines’ performance. Due to huge technological difficulties, only a few countries are capable of doing that.
China plans to realize manned lunar landing by 2030 for scientific exploration and related technological experiment purposes, the China Manned Space Agency announced last May.
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