On May 15th, China`s first Mars exploration mission "Tianwen-1" landed in a pre-selected landing zone in the southern Utopia Plain of Mars, leaving a Chinese mark on Mars for the first time, marking an important step in China's interstellar exploration journey. The new type of magnesium-lithium alloy material used on the "Tianwen-1" Mars rover was developed and produced by XASF Ultralight Material Technology Co., Ltd. to help the development of China's aerospace industry.
As the lightest metal structural material in the world, magnesium-lithium alloy has broad application prospects in aerospace, electronics, medical and other fields. XASF was founded more than ten years ago and has concentrated on the research and development, production and market application of magnesium-lithium alloy materials. It has successfully developed magnesium-lithium alloy materials with independent intellectual property rights in China. With the joint efforts of aerospace researchers, it has been successfully applied in 2015. Many models of satellites and model projects have made significant contributions to the weight reduction of China's aerospace products. In addition, XASF was responsible for drafting China's first national standard for magnesium-lithium alloy materials "Mg-lithium alloy ingots", which has been officially promulgated and implemented.
In the initial stage of the Mars exploration mission in 2016, XASF participated in the design plan for weight reduction of "Tianwen-1". In 2019, after years of verification and application, the company successfully passed the supplier audit of China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation and became the only magnesium-lithium alloy supplier of China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation. China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation finally decided to use magnesium-lithium alloy to make the "Tianwen No. 1" part Components. In addition, "Tianwen No. 1" also uses magnesium-lithium alloy to make a batch of electronic device housings and other parts, which can effectively reduce the weight of the equipment and increase its effective load.
In 2010, XASF successfully built the first domestic magnesium-lithium alloy production line, and achieved breakthrough results in magnesium-lithium alloy smelting process, quality control, surface treatment, preparation and processing, and its overall technical level is at the leading domestic and internationally advanced level. After the first and second phases of development and construction, the company has three magnesium-lithium alloy production lines with independent intellectual property rights, with an annual output of 200 tons of magnesium-lithium alloy. At present, the company is carrying out the construction of the third-phase magnesium-lithium alloy production line. After the construction is completed, it can produce 500-1000 tons of magnesium-lithium alloy annually, which can effectively meet the needs of civilian production.
The magnesium-lithium alloy material developed by XASF has been successfully applied in the "Tianwen-1" Mars probe, again verifying the superior weight reduction performance and reliability of the magnesium-lithium alloy. In addition to the "Tianwen-1" application, the new magnesium-lithium alloy is also used in the Chang'e-5 detector, the lobster eye X-ray detection satellite of the fifth academy of aerospace, the "Pujiang-1" satellite, the first global carbon dioxide monitoring scientific experiment satellite High-resolution micro-nano satellites, "Communication Technology Test Satellite III" and other spacecraft have been successfully applied.