Why are rockets an important means of transportation for human beings to explore deep space?

It is reported that Mars and the moon became the focus of attention at the 20 17 Global Space Exploration Conference held in Beijing recently. Officials, scientists and engineers from space agencies around the world discussed topics such as Mars exploration, lunar exploration and manned deep space exploration. At the meeting, the European Space Agency, which is keen on landing on the moon, put forward a plan to build a "Moon Village" and invited global partners including China.

It is reported that space exploration technology company Space Exploration Company was established because American technology dreamer Musk has been eager to send humans to Mars and is developing heavy falcon rockets to realize this grand blueprint. As the basis of this plan, Space Exploration Technology Company invested heavily in developing rocket recycling technology, with a view to greatly reducing the cost of emigrating to Mars. The lack of more powerful means of transportation is one of the main reasons why humans can't walk on the red planet and go further into space.

Lu Yu, director of the Science and Technology Committee of China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology of China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation, revealed at the Global Space Exploration Conference that China is developing key technologies for heavy-duty launch vehicles, which are mainly used for future deep space exploration, especially for the needs of establishing a lunar base and manned landing on the moon. The heavy-duty launch vehicle under development, temporarily called Long March 9, will have a low-earth orbit carrying capacity of 1.40 tons, and a transfer orbit carrying capacity of 50 tons, with the goal of making its first flight from 2028 to 2030.

China is also conducting research on reusable launch vehicle technology, including parachute recovery and vertical takeoff and landing technology. At present, some tests have been completed and some key technologies have made breakthroughs. China has defined the "three-step" development idea of developing lifting body-type reusable launch vehicle, that is, from partial reuse of rocket power to complete reuse of rocket power, and finally developing combined power aircraft.