Is using rockets to deliver packages a gimmick?
On March 31st, domestic private commercial rocket companies announced the joint exploration of a new model of rocket delivery with Taobao.
As soon as the news came out, it aroused enthusiastic attention from the entire network. Many netizens left comments on the Tide News app, full of expectations for "science fiction like plots": "It's too explosive", "This is about to start the rhythm of 'interstellar logistics'", "Amazing, it's really a global village in the future", "This is prepared for the future, and immigrants to Mars can also buy and buy".
Some netizens left comments
As long as you dare to think, the future is promising. Is rocket delivery a real plan? What kind of scenery will the rocket "Earth Express" depicted bring?
Is it a joke or a real plan?
Throughout history, humanity's journey towards the vast universe has never stopped. According to public information, from a technical perspective, "rocket delivery" has certain feasibility.
One of the missions of rockets itself is to send "express delivery" to space, and reusable rocket sub stages can return to the ground, providing technical support for achieving the ability of point-to-point rapid delivery on the ground.
Overseas, "Rocket Express" has entered the experimental stage, and SpaceX launched a plan in 2022 to use "Starship" heavy rockets to transport goods to various parts of the world in 30 minutes.
In China, reusable rocket technology is catching up, and China Aerospace Science and Technology Group and several domestic commercial aerospace companies have made significant progress in various tests. The exploration of "Rocket Express" this time is based on the large-scale stainless steel reusable liquid carrier rocket "Yuanxing-1" independently developed by domestic private technology enterprise Jianyuan Technology.
Many aerospace technology enthusiasts have discovered that the reusable rocket "Yuanxing-1", consisting of a stainless steel rocket body and liquid oxygen methane, uses offshore splash recovery technology. It successfully completed a static ignition test in January last year and a successful offshore landing recovery test in September.
Jianyuan Technology revealed on its official WeChat account that the initial design volume of the rocket's front-end express delivery compartment was 120 cubic meters, capable of transporting 10 tons of goods. It is worth mentioning that this design means that not only ordinary goods, but also vehicles and engineering equipment can be delivered to your door by rocket.
According to the rocket company's plan, the first cargo rocket recovery test will be conducted within the year, and there is a chance to deliver the first Taobao Aerospace Express. According to calculations, if rocket delivery is used, Taobao Express can deliver to any corner of the world within 1 hour.
Wei Yi, founder of Arrow Yuan Technology, stated in a media interview that "a journey of thousands of kilometers only takes a few minutes.". To ensure the safety of express delivery, the company is developing an escape system for freight warehouses.
If "rocket delivery" were to "shine into reality", "global hourly delivery" would also have significant implications for emergency relief. According to relevant sources, medical equipment and life-saving drugs can be delivered to their destination within a golden hour.
Depicting commercial imagination space for civil aerospace
In today's rapidly developing technology, China's private rocket enterprises are flourishing, and China's commercial aerospace industry is accelerating. Throughout 2023, private rocket enterprises conducted a total of 13 launches and successfully entered orbit 12 times, far exceeding the number in previous years.
Market professionals in the commercial aerospace industry say that rocket delivery is a long-term plan. According to industry estimates, although with existing technology and capabilities, achieving "rocket delivery" in the short term is not easy. Especially the reusable rocket recovery technology, as well as the strength and durability of the rocket body, require multiple tests and inspections.
"Considering the current cost of rocket delivery, it is difficult to meet consumers' daily delivery needs in the short term." Wei Yi said that in the first stage, rocket delivery is specifically designed to provide new choices for emergency delivery, emergency relief, or remote area delivery applications.
Commercial aerospace is a long-term, high-tech field. Regardless, the private aerospace industry, working together with e-commerce platforms, is gradually depicting a new landscape. Four years ago, the "Fuqiangfu" carrier rocket, which was jointly launched by Kuaizhou Rocket and Alipay, explored a new path of commercialization of "rocket advertising coating+naming" for China's commercial aerospace companies. A year ago, the private satellite company Jiutian MSI launched several satellites on Taobao. On March 31st last year, the satellite was sold in the Taobao live broadcast room of Luo Yonghao, setting a precedent for the first physical communication satellite transaction on e-commerce platforms.
In the industry's view, the further development of commercial aerospace requires sustained heavy investment, a mature rocket industry chain, and more commercial application scenarios to be implemented. With technological innovations such as the normalized launch of reusable rockets and the engineering application of stainless steel as rocket body materials, the cost of rocket delivery will be significantly reduced in the coming years. The technological breakthrough of "rocket delivery" will have the opportunity to open up new prospects for China's commercial aerospace industry at the commercial level.
Weibo screenshot
Is rocket delivery a joke or a truth, but scientific exploration is always convoluted. On April 1st, Taobao responded to a large number of netizens on social media: "Many great things initially seem like a joke."
In the journey of human pursuit of the "starry sea", dreams come from far to near. Facing the dawn of the aerospace era, who said "rocket delivery" will not become a reality one day?