TQ-12, the first 80-tonne liquid oxygen-methane carrier rocket engine developed by China’s private rocket-maker LandSpace, was assembled in Huzhou City, east China’s Zhejiang Province on May 7.

TQ-12 can be used as the first stage engine of a carrier with medium carrying capacity through multistage parallel connection, or serve independently as the engine of the vacuum boosting stage of a carrier rocket.

All the components of the new engine have passed a cold functionality test, hot extrusion test run, and semi-systematic commissioning, and are now qualified for ground commissioning.