Bearing Research Institute Assists the Successful Launch of Shenzhou 13 Manned Spacecraft

At 0:23 on October 16, 2021, Beijing time, the Long March 2 F carrier rocket ignited at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center. Astronauts Zhai Zhigang, Wang Yaping, and Ye Guangfu set off on the Shenzhou 13 manned spacecraft to the China Space Station for a period of 6 Months of space travel.

The construction of the Chinese space station in orbit is divided into two stages: key technology verification and construction. The Shenzhou 13 mission is to complete all the on-orbit verification of all functions of the space station’s manned spacecraft. It has the requirements to support the subsequent construction and operation of China’s space station and is the key to the space station. The decisive battle and the final battle in the verification phase play a role in linking the past and the future during the construction of the space station.

In this mission, as the sole supplier of bearings for carrier rocket turbopumps and life support systems, Luoyang Bearing Research Institute Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as the Bearing Research Institute) once again completed the rocket engine supporting mission with high quality, helping the astronauts long-term residing on the space station.

The turbo pump is the power and heart of the rocket. The bearing speed is extremely high and the burning agent and oxidant flowing can reach minus 200 degrees Celsius as low as minus 200 degrees Celsius, which has almost no lubrication effect. This puts forward extremely high requirements on the reliability of bearings. Relying on the deep accumulation of bearing materials, design, processing, lubrication and other professional fields, the bearing research institute has designed a meeting the requirements through years of technical research and sufficient performance tests. The product guarantees the smooth operation of the rocket engine.

Astronauts stay in the space station for a long time, but the cost of transporting materials from the earth is high, so the environmental control and life support technology must go from non-regeneration to regeneration. There is no domestic precedent for this system before, and the information available abroad is also very limited, and the difficulty of its research and development can be imagined. After seven years of unremitting efforts, the research and development personnel of the Bearing Research Institute have developed bearing products that meet the overall required life target of the space station, which provides a strong guarantee for the long-term and reliable operation of the renewable environmental control life support system in orbit.

Great undertakings all start from dreams, based on innovation, and accomplish hard work. As the only national first-class comprehensive research unit in China’s bearing industry, the key stand-alone machines and a variety of bearing products developed by the Bearing Research Institute have successively made contributions to the Tiangong laboratory,  Shenzhou series manned spacecraft, Chang'e lunar exploration project, space station and other Republic's first projects. In the future, the Bearing Research Institute will accelerate the transformation and upgrading of the industry, continue to make efforts in the field of special bearings, and help the construction of the space station to a new level.