China tests Mosasaurus V rocket engine to compete with SpaceX

China's Aerospace Propulsion company announced the successful completion of hot-fire tests for the Mosasaurus V (CL-5) liquid-propellant rocket engine. This new engine runs on liquid oxygen and methane and is capable of generating approximately 100 tons of thrust. As part of the test program, three full-duration firing sequences totaling 100 seconds were conducted. This is reported by Ixbt.com .

According to the developers, all stages from ignition to stable operation and shutdown proceeded in standard mode. Specialists monitored critical parameters such as pressure, temperature, fuel consumption, turbine rotation speed, and vibration levels during the test. All results fully matched the design calculations.

The Mosasaurus V engine is a key model in the CL family, planned for use in the first stages of prospective heavy-lift launch vehicles. A technical inspection conducted after the tests confirmed that there was no damage to the engine structure and all systems were in working order.

At the same time, Aerospace Propulsion announced that it has begun work on more powerful, next-generation engines. A complex liquid oxygen-methane engine with 200 tons of thrust is currently under development. This technology aims to approach the capabilities of the Raptor 3 engine used in the SpaceX Starship V3 rocket.