China's Long March-8A carrier rocket has adopted a broader final stage to enhance its carrying capacity, according to its chief designer.
The carrier rocket successfully conducted its maiden flight on Tuesday, sending a group of low Earth orbit satellites into space from the Wenchang Space Launch Site in the southern Hainan Province.
The satellite group is the second of its kind and will form an internet constellation. It was launched at 17:30 Beijing Time, and then entered its preset orbit successfully. The launch was the 559th flight mission of the Long March carrier rocket series.
As the Long March-8A is designed mainly to meet commercial space launch needs, which require a high carrying capacity at a lower cost, the designers have focused on optimizing the design of the second stage.
The core second stage of the rocket features a newly developed universal hydrogen-oxygen final stage with a 3.35-meter diameter, compared with a 3-meter diameter of the previous final stages in the Long March-8A carrier rocket series.
This broader final stage can provide more room for satellites. As a result, the rocket can support a wider variety and larger volume of satellites, significantly enhancing its mission adaptability.
"For the final stage of the Long March-8A carrier rocket, we have newly developed a universal hydrogen-oxygen final stage with a diameter of 3.35 meters. We have also enhanced the thrust of each engine. These improvements have allowed us to boost the rocket's carrying capacity by two tons in the 700-kilometer sun-synchronous orbits," said Song Zhengyu, chief designer of the Long March-8A at the China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology.
Long March-8A rocket adopts broader final stage to enhance carrying capacity: chief designer
An increasing number of German consumers are considering buying electric vehicles (EVs) in the face of high fuel prices, according to a recent survey by the largest German online car trading platform, mobile.de.
As the Middle East tensions continue to drive up international oil and gas prices, the cost of automotive fuel has been rising steadily in many European countries.
According to fuel price data compiled by the German Association of the Automotive Industry, since the United States and Israel launched military strikes against Iran on February 28, gasoline prices in Germany have risen by nearly 20 percent, while diesel prices have shot up by more than 30 percent.
Results from a recent survey by mobile.de show that if gasoline prices remain at current high levels, 43 percent of respondents said they would switch to EVs, and 36 percent cited long-term cost savings as the most important reason for considering an EV purchase.
Additionally, the platform's data show that inquiries about used EVs surged by 66 percent in the first half of March.
"We are absolutely seeing much more interest on mobile.de for electric cars. What the German energy transition couldn't do, this current geopolitical situation has done in terms of transition to electric cars," said Ajay Bhatia, CEO of mobile.de.
In addition to high oil prices, government subsidies are also a key factor driving German consumers to consider purchasing EVs.
The German government announced the resumption of subsidies in January of this year, planning to invest 3 billion euros over the next few years to provide purchase subsidies for some 800,000 EVs.
Driven by the combined effects of high oil prices and subsidy policies, German consumers' interest in EVs has grown clearly. However, it remains to be seen whether this shift will evolve into a more sustained market trend.
"How long it will stay is anyone's guess, but at the moment we're absolutely seeing an increase, and sometimes these transitions need a catalyst. And this is definitely a catalyst that is seeing the transition to electric cars speed up," said Bhatia.
More Germans interested in buying EVs due to high oil prices: survey
