The Smart Dragon 3 launch vehicle is a commercial carrier rocket based on the experience with the existing solid-fuel rocket Long March 11 to meet the growing market demand in China for launching commercial satellites to low and medium orbits. The carrier rocket has the characteristics of integral rocket storage, usable for both sea- and land-based launches, rapid response and cost-effectiveness. It is a solid carrier rocket with the largest lift capacity and the largest fairing envelope successfully flown domestically. This paper introduces the main technical index and overall scheme of the rocket. It also introduces the main difficulties encountered in the development of the rocket focusing on the aspects of the thermal emission at sea, the “Big hood” configuration and low commercial cost, as well as the interfaces with satellites. It is expected to provide a better commercial launch service for users through technological and economic integration.

The Kinetica-1 rocket is designed for small- and medium-sized spacecraft launch missions to sun-synchronous orbit and low Earth orbit. The maiden flight was performed on July 27, 2022. The inetica-1 rocket is characterized by competitive payload capability and cost, robust orbital nsertion accuracy, high reliability, availability at short notice and logistical versatility. 12 new core technologies have been achieved during the development of the rocket. It is of great significance in promoting the innovation of China’s solid carrier rocket technology and science exploration.

In this study, taking China’s Smart Dragon 3 solid launch vehicle, which made its first successful offshore launch on December 9, 2022, as an example, we focus on the technical characteristics and key technologies of various solid motors used for the launch vehicle. The current technological development status is introduced, and the key technologies needed for large solid motors are summarized. For comparison, we also list and analyze the technical characteristics of world-class P80 and P120C solid motors used in ESA’s Vega series of launch vehicles. On this basis, the development trends of large solid motors based on the requirements for launch vehicles is proposed, providing a reference for the development of large solid motor technology for future launch vehicles in China.

In order to improve efficiency of the integrated test of a launch vehicle electrical system while meeting the requirement of high-density, a cloud test platform for the electrical system was designed based on a data-driven approach, using secure private cloud technology and virtualization technology. The platform has a general hardware and software rchitecture, which integrates the functions of graphical editing, automated testing, data processing, fault diagnosis and so on. It can realize multi-task parallel testing. Compared with the traditional test mode, the platform has obvious advantages on testing efficiency and effectiveness.